DAVENPORT, Iowa – The racial justice protests following the death of George Floyd earlier this year prompted calls to “defund the police” in cities across the country, a priority for activists that has now become a central point in the presidential contest.A review by The Associated Press finds that while local governments have trimmed police budgets over the past four months, the cuts have been mostly modest.
They have been driven as much by shrinking government revenue related to the coronavirus pandemic as from the calls to rethink public safety.Advocates want to overhaul a policing system that has repeatedly been linked to brutality against Black people, including the death of Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May.