The Baltimore City Council eliminated $22 million from the police budget. What does that look like?

As the Baltimore City Council met to debate the police budget, protesters gathered outside City Hall hoping to make their views clear. In tall, pink letters, they painted DEFUND THE POLICE on a downtown street.

Protesters across the country have made the same call, spurred by the Memorial Day death of George Floyd as a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.

That’s not what the Council voted to do Monday night in a contentious budget hearing. Rather, it voted to eliminate roughly $22 million in police spending for the upcoming fiscal year — a move that City Council President Brandon Scott says is a signal of what’s to come.

“I am proud to lead a City Council that took the first step to responsibly reduce Baltimore’s budget dependence on policing,” said Scott, who is the Democratic nominee for mayor. “This is just the beginning, and I intend to continue leading this process to redirect our public dollars and reimagine public safety in Baltimore.”