Murders spiked in major American cities since the death of George Floyd amid a push to slash police funding, according to a new analysis.
The rise in homicides in 10 major cities last year coincided with police making fewer arrests and stops, the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund found.
In Chicago, for example, arrests and stops dropped by 53 percent while murders rose 65 percent, when comparing June 2019 through February 2020 and June 2020 through February 2021.
In Minneapolis during the same time period, arrests and stops decreased by 42 percent while murders increased 64 percent.
Chicago cut approximately $59 million from police in its 2021 budget, largely by axing vacant positions in the force. Minneapolis, which slashed $7.8 million from its police department in December 2020, approved an infusion of money a month prior and backed away from one proposal to decrease the number of police officers and another to entirely dismantle the department.
The Chicago and Minneapolis police departments did not respond to inquiries.