Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) is taking aim at elected officials who believe that defunding police departments is a workable policy position.
During an appearance on MSNBC on Thursday, Torres took an apparent shot at members of the so-called “Squad” over their support of the “defund the police movement.”
Host José Díaz-Balart showed a video of New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) saying that “defund the police” does not work.
When asked what he thought of Adams’ comments, Torres responded, “The defund police movement is dead in New York City and good riddance.”
“Any elected official who’s advocating the abolition or even defunding of police is out of touch with reality and should not be taken seriously,” he added.
Watch the video below:
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) backs Mayor Eric Adams and slams Dems still advocating Defund the Police:
— The Recount (@therecount) February 3, 2022
"The defund police movement is dead in NYC and good riddance. Any elected official who's advocating the abolition or even defunding of police … should not be taken seriously." pic.twitter.com/zObtU7LsWu
Those comments might make for awkward encounters with his fellow New York Democrat, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has been a fervent proponent of defunding police departments.
In June 2020, she said in a statement, “Defunding police means defunding police.”
“It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education’s budget, so the exact same police remain in schools,” she added.
Other members of the “Squad” probably will not be too happy with his comments either. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) called for the Minneapolis Police Department to be “dismantled.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) arguably proposed the most radical idea by saying last year that there should be “no more policing, incarceration, and militarization.”
Several cities decided to “defund” their police departments after the 2020 killing of George Floyd. Some idealistic protesters in Seattle, Washington, also tried to establish a police-free community, but that ended after a wave of gun violence and sexual assaults erupted in the law-enforcement-free zone.
The results of the “defund the police” movement clearly show that it does not work.
In 2021, major cities around the country saw a 5% increase in homicides over 2020, and a 44% increase compared to 2019. Retail and car thefts also surged around the country last year.
According to CBS News, “Experts believe pandemic pressures and changes in policing tactics have contributed to the uptick in homicides.”
San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) slashed the police department’s budget in 2020. But facing a surge in crime, she railed against the “reign of criminals” and “bullsh*t that has destroyed our city,” and announced a plan to crack down on crime.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also in part blamed the surge in crime on the “underfunding of some police departments and their need for additional resources.”
Several other cities have reversed course and are re-funding their police departments.
As Torres said succinctly, any elected official who chooses to push for defunding police departments is out of touch with reality. All you have to do is look at the data to see that.
