California Governor Plans to Defund the Police

California Governor Gavin Newsom and California law makers make plans to slash public safety funding. To mitigate the state’s huge budget deficit, Newsom plans to slash funding to law enforcement, prisons, and probation.

Newsom lied to reporters stating “no cuts to law enforcement” while planning to make cuts to law enforcement. The Governor’s plan includes a $97 million cut to trial court operations, $10 million to the Department of Justice’s Division of Law Enforcement and more than $80 million to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

California is in a major crisis with much of its taxpayer base fleeing the state. This is the second year in a row the nation’s most populous state has earned a multibillion-dollar shortfall. Due to Newsom’s efforts to let more people out of prison early, and defund law enforcement, the crime rate in the state has risen. Meanwhile homelessness jumped 6 percent to more than 180,000 people in California last year. And since 2013, the numbers have exploded by 53 percent with the state accounting for a third of America’s entire homeless population.

Crime data shows the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles saw a steady increase in shoplifting between 2021 and 2022. Newsom’s plan to defund law enforcement comes as major national stores and local businesses in California say they continue to face rampant theft. Many businesses have made plans to leave California as the high crime makes it impossible to stay open.

Taxpayers are leaving California for several reasons. The state experienced the largest net loss of one-way movers, according to a United Van Lines study published earlier this year. California’s green energy policies have caused blue-collar businesses to suffer from stagnation and decline, a Chapman University study published in April found. Soaring home prices in California, exacerbated by environmental regulations, are also causing historically White middle class people to join the exodus, according to the study. Even so, Newsom proposed shifting money from the general fund, offering $1.7 billion for climate goals, particularly those related to “equity programs.”

Newsom’s failures as a governor are going to be exacerbated if his budget plan becomes a reality. People don’t want their tax dollars being spent on programs to allow more victimization. People don’t want to pay top dollars to live in a high-crime state.