Calls to defund the Jersey City Police Department are continuing to grow, transitioning from protesters’ chants and signs to the latest City Council meeting.
Most of the residents who spoke during the public comment portion of Wednesday’s meeting are calling for the city to shift funds from the police department budget to other city programs. At least 58 people had signed up to speak.
The killings of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis May 25, as well as deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, have sparked calls nationwide to change the way municipalities are policed
In an interview with The Jersey Journal, Council President Joyce Watterman said she wanted to know what “defunding police” means to residents and how that would work.
To Trevor Batchelder, one of the residents who spoke, it means taking "action to put a greater emphasis and provide funding for community programs by maintaining public safety, while reducing the need for additional policing. We must continue to say to no to outlandish budget requests for equipment that will perpetuate violence from the police.”
Batchelder asked council members to look at the city of Camden, which disbanded its police department in 2012 because of budget cuts and replaced it with a regional force. Once considered one of the most dangerous cities in the nation, Camden’s violent crime total has dropped by 47% since 2012 and excessive force complaints against officers are down 95% since 2014.
Jersey City officials say they don’t plan on cutting police spending anytime soon. Mayor Steve Fulop said reducing the police department’s $111 million budget would mean laying off newer officers who have helped diversify the department.
But Akasha Maples, a member of community group Solidarity Jersey City, said if the city was truly concerned about officers losing their jobs they could retrain those newer officers in pivoting their careers.
“Just like the ad hoc committee, this is merely another Band-Aid to the symptom of the issue,” said Maples. “Jersey City citizens do not want Band-Aids to treat symptoms of systemic issues, we want to pluck the issues of white supremacy from their roots, starting with divestment in JCPD.”
Not every resident supported the idea of defunding the police. Rod Hezarkhani referred to the thought of defunding the police as dangerous.
“You are risking our way of life,” Hezarkhani said. "We are lucky with what we have. It is sad and it is scary the ideas put forward.”
The city council passed a resolution to create an ad hoc committee for the city’s civilian police review board, with only Ward C Councilman Richard Boggiano, a former police detective, abstaining from the vote.
Boggiano, James Solomon and Rolando Lavarro Jr. voted against the city’s deal for vertical farming, questioning whether the program is worth the near $1 million cost.
“You hear all these people about budget and money and everything, we used to have community gardens — they’re gone,” Boggiano said. ”At a time like this we don’t need this.”
There are currently 17 community gardens in Jersey City, according to Sustainable Jersey City, a network of green community groups.
Solomon called the vertical farming plan “half baked” in a tweet after the meeting.
“I voted no because of all the arguments thoughtfully laid out in the thread below. The administration now says the program is voluntary...which just shows the idea is still half-baked.”
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Jersey City council members hear calls to defund police; review board, vertical farming approved - NJ.com
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