As crime rates rise, cities have walked back defunding efforts, pouring money into their police departments. Experts say, however, that it will take more than just money to reduce crime rates.

From WORLD. Ten billion dollars of federal COVID-19 relief funds will bolster police departments and public safety across the United States, President Joe Biden announced in remarks in the Rose Garden earlier this month after a meeting with mayors and police chiefs at the White House….

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On the two-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis, local officials are still struggling to contain rising crime in most major cities. Floyd’s death sparked anti-police protests that, in December 2020, prompted the Minneapolis City Council to eliminate $8 million from its police budget. At least a dozen cities followed suit. COVID-19 lockdowns strained police departments further as cities lost revenue and cut their budgets across the board.

Those same cities are now walking back their police budget cuts. Pressure from residents and political action groups to deal with the rise in violent crime has pushed city councils to re-fund police — and many have used COVID-19 relief dollars to do so. Cities have already allocated about $6.5 billion in pandemic relief to boost public safety, including by preventing layoffs of police officers and adding equipment. While passing bigger budgets will help, experts say that staffing shortage solutions and broader criminal justice reforms are needed to quell the rise in crime….

The New York Police Department announced that crime had risen 22 percent in May 2021… The New York City Council responded by adding $200 million to the police budget. Los Angeles approved a $150 million cut to its police budget in 2020, but raised it by 3 percent after homicides rose by almost 30 percent…

The City Council in Austin, Texas, voted unanimously to cut $150 million from its $434 million police budget in 2020… Meanwhile, homicides in Austin reached a record high last year. The City Council reversed cuts when it passed its 2021-2022 budget, and at $442 million, the police department has more funding than ever before….

Austinites also voted on Proposition A, a measure to mandate minimum police staffing levels that ultimately went down in defeat. Matt Mackowiak, the co-founder of the political action committee Save Austin Now, which advocated for the initiative, said budget increases are not enough. Though Austin has restored police funding, the city still needs to address its staffing shortage, a crisis plaguing departments in most major cities across the country.

Lars Trautman, a former prosecutor who works with the conservative criminal justice reform initiative Right on Crime, agreed about the need to prioritize police department staffing. As cities re-fund their departments to counter rising crime, he said, they must do so in a “smart and targeted manner” by boosting incoming cadet classes, retention incentives, and paid time off.

Ralfael Mangual from the Manhattan Institute added that police departments are only effective if supported by the broader criminal justice system. If arrests are undermined by progressive prosecutors who let criminals off the hook, he argued, cities will see little reprieve from crime and violence….

How are you praying for our cities and our police? Share your thoughts and prayers in the comments.

(Excerpt from WORLD. Photo Credit: AJ Colores on Unsplash)