Why is Mayor Johnson defunding the police?

Why is Mayor Johnson defunding the police?

A couple of stats jumped out when perusing Mayor Johnson’s bloated Chicago budget included a $300 million property tax increase swiftly voted down by the City Council.

Johnson’s budget calls for reduction of 94 officers on top of 400 axed from his first budget. But the department’s current force of just 11,683 is nearly 2,000 lower than it should be. No wonder Chicagoans of all income levels are increasingly worried about safety.

Meanwhile, 275 of Chicago’s 474 schools are under under enrolled, many by 50% or more. Nearly a third of all school seats citywide are vacant.

But Johnson’s not proposing further school closings with sensible reduction in overall school staffing.

Before he ran for mayor, Johnson jumped on the ‘Defund the Police’ bandwagon. He hoped off that bandwagon when he ran for mayor. Now as mayor, Johnson quietly picked up his Defund the Police pen while proposing increased taxes to Refund Empty Schools.