The calls to defund police departments have gained momentum across the country, and here in San Diego.
During Monday night's city council meeting, council members heard from several callers who opposed a $27-million increase in department funding laid out in Mayor Kevin Faulconer's 2021 budget.
The budget was ultimately approved, and City Council member and mayoral candidate Barbara Bry was among its supporters.
"Defunding or reducing the police budget at this time would be a terrible mistake for our city... I’m all about recruiting good police officers, giving them the right kind of training and then holding them accountable," Bry said.
Bry's support is behind a November ballot measure creating an independent police review commission, and said she was pleased to see law enforcement agencies throughout San Diego move to ban the carotid restraint.
State Assemblymember Todd Gloria, Bry's opponent in the mayoral race, co-authored legislation this week to ban the use of the carotid restraint statewide.
In a statement to NBC 7, Gloria said: “The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by four police officers demands that we revisit, reconsider, and reimagine how police operate in our community and how we expect them to interact with the public. It’s clear we need greater investments in our people and our communities but the answer isn’t to abolish or defund police altogether.”
