On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee made a unanimous decision to submit their budget proposal to the City Council.

Once approved, the budget can cut as much as $150 million from the city’s police department. The plans were to cut off law enforcement spending and reinvest the fund elsewhere, specifically among “disadvantaged communities and communities of color.” The Council also claimed that they would use the City’s General Fund to generate “improvements” in public safety.

The proposal was a result of mounting pressure on Democrat Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to defund the police. Initially, activists such as Jane Nguyen of Ktown for All had already been fighting to make budget cuts in the police department. Unfortunately, the death of an African-American man, George Floyd, gave the group a perfect opportunity to rally for their cause.

To make matters worse, the Council have also expressed their strong support on anti-police sentiments. In fact, they also made a unanimous vote to abolish the city’s police department in favor of a “community-led public safety system.” In a resolution, five council members issued a statement claiming that Floyd’s death was proof that “no amount of reforms” will be able to resolve police brutality and abuse of power among members of the city’s police department.

However, law enforcement officers pushed back amidst increasing concerns. In fact, The Los Angeles Police Protective League had issued a stern warning on the possible implications of the budget cut on public safety. In a social media post, the League claimed that “Cutting the #LAPD budget means longer responses to 911 calls,” and “officers calling for backup won’t get it.” They also believed that the budget cut would possibly “lengthen” various criminal offenses such as rape, murder, and assault. “An arbitrary cut of $150m will have a huge impact on our community,” the League concluded.

Potentially, the City Council’s decision might even do more harm than good. As riots and violence ensue, law enforcement officers have a hard to respond, specifically, since the city saw a 250 percent increase in weekly murder rates, as the country gears towards economic re-opening. On June 6, the law enforcement officials were able to see a 56 percent increase in shootings. This puts into question if the city’s law enforcement can handle the budget cut.

Most surprisingly, most Americans have a negative opinion about defunding the police. On Friday, the new ABC News/Ipsos poll revealed that most people do not support the increasing anti-police sentiments. While 55% of Democrats are backing the movement, it comes as a smaller percentage compared to the rest of American voters.

According to the data, an overwhelming 64 percent of American voters do not support to “defund the police” or the concept of reinvesting the money into mental health, housing, and education programs. In fact, it comes as a great surprise that only 34 percent of American voters support the movement, given the huge volume of crowds of protesters in the past few weeks.