Sacramento says ‘no’ to defunding the police, proposes highest law enforcement budget in city’s history

The annual budget was presented by Sacramento City Manager Howard Chan, reports Fox News, and is set to take effect on July 1st with the beginning of the next fiscal year.

Included within is the police budget, which has been set at $165.8 million. According to Fox News, this is a $9.4 million increase from last year.

The budget allocates $1.6 million to hiring "five new officers and necessary equipment, such as body cameras", as well as $1.5 million for "IT infrastructures such as data storage, software and backup solutions", and $880,740 for "less than lethal equipment."

Many are unhappy about the proposed increase, stating that it goes against statements made by officials last year wherein they discussed moving away from reliance on the police.

The budget still needs to be approved by City Council, and some are already coming out and saying they will vote against it. According to the Sacramento Bee, Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela justified her decision to vote no, saying "To put more money into law enforcement when we’ve said as a city we want to move in another direction, it doesn’t line up."

The Bee goes on to detail that the "other direction" involves the Department of Community Response. The DCR is the creation of Mayor Darrell Steinberg, and "will respond to some 911 calls involving mental health issues, homelessness and domestic violence, shifting response to those calls away from police."

Steinberg stated that "it will result in at least $10 million being redirected away from the police department over two years", but that it "doesn’t necessarily mean the police budget won’t keep increasing." According to The Bee, Steinberg is "not for defunding", calling the police "part of running a city."

The DCR is set to receive $5.8 million in funding if the budget is passed.