Homicides continue to decline in cities that abandoned 'defund the police' movement

Portland, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Denver, Minneapolis: these are six cities that in 2020 opted to "defund the police." However, just a few months later, they backed away in the face of citizen complaints and rising insecurity. Five years later, this reversal has continued to pay off.

This is revealed by data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association, an organization that brings together 79 police chiefs and sheriffs from the United States and Canada.

Reports from past years reviewed by VOZ reveal that homicides nationwide have been falling since 2022, after a peak in 2021 (more than 9,500 homicides). That increase coincides with protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and attempts by local Democratic authorities to cut law enforcement budgets.

The national downward trend was again confirmed during the first quarter of this year, with 314 fewer homicides between January and March. The downward trend was also reflected in the six cities that reversed these measures. All recorded fewer homicides in the first quarter of 2025 than in the first quarter of 2024.

Declines that were echoed in the rates of aggravated assault, robbery and rape, with two notable exceptions: Denver and Philadelphia saw increases in rapes.

"I really do believe that what we are seeing in 2025 is an absolute rejection of the ‘defund the police movement,' the 're-imagining police movement,'" National Police Association spokeswoman Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith told Fox News Digital, commenting on the Major Cities Chiefs Association's figures.

"The law enforcement profession always has room for reform. There is always room for change, but this whole cloth 'let's eliminate the police by defunding them' didn't work. People died because of it, and now the American public is wholeheartedly rejecting it," she added.