#Cuomo questions whether NYPD’s $1B cut will lead to real change

Gov. Cuomo went on a snark-filled rant about the NYPD at a Wednesday press conference — questioning whether the city’s cutting $1 billion from the police budget would lead to any real change.

“Well they have a billion dollars less — what does that mean – does that mean I’m less safe?” he asked. “Does it mean I’m more safe? Does it have any effect on police abuse?”

Cuomo stated again that he fully backs the George Floyd protesters the NYPD has been struggling, and sometimes clashing with,  in the city for weeks.

“I said great, what this nation has done standing up after Mr. Floyd’s murder,” Cuomo said of Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis cops.

“Do something — and you know where it starts?” he asked. “Start at home.”

“NYPD — change the NYPD,” he said. “Change it, but we took money from them. But what does that do? The problem is bigger than that — the problem is worse than that.”

During the 10 to 15 minute diatribe, Cuomo said that budgetary cuts alone won’t solve the problems some community members have with police.

“There is no respect and trust between the community and the police,” he continued. “That’s what’s going on.”

“It’s like a marriage — no respect, no trust, it doesn’t work.”

“So what do you do?” he asked. “The police department was not formed in the bible. It’s not written in stone.”

He then asked what the police department should be, playing the role of a protester.

“If I’m you, if I’m a community activist, we haven’t even started talking about the new plan for the police,” Cuomo said. “‘Well they cut a billion dollars,’ so what! Does that mean they’re not going to beat protesters? Does that mean they’re not gonna drive them over with a car? What did that actually change? The protesters are saying: ‘I want a new police department, I want all this stopped. Use of force policy, demilitarized, bias training, de-escalation — that’s what we want addressed.’”