Defunding the police means reducing police budgets at a local level and investing those funds into communities of color through public services. 

In cities across the country, various public services have been cut, such as mental health funding, addiction services, hospital budgets, school lunch programs, and other social services. Simultaneously, police force budgets continue to increase.

In the 2019/2020 Fiscal Year, the town of Manchester increased the Manchester Police Department’s budget by 2.7% while decreasing the budget for Recreation by 3.1% and decreasing the budget for our Library by 1.7%.

By divesting from the police department, the town can invest those additional resources into addressing the issues faced by our communities of color. Defunding the police is simply about redistributing money to areas disproportionately affected by poverty, lack of infrastructure, and lack of resources.

Lastly, defunding the police reduces police presence in poor communities of color therefore reducing police-civilian interaction which in turn results in lower violent altercations at the hands of the police.