Boston lawmakers, who are considering slashing millions from the police department budget for the third year in a row, have come under fire from the head of the city's largest police union, according to a new report.
"With social unrest so high and police departments across the country struggling to hire and retain officers, any talk of defunding the police is absurdly irresponsible for the citizens of Boston," Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, told The Boston Herald. "We should be increasing the police budget and hiring more officers, not decreasing it."
Last Thursday, city councilors individually submitted amendments to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu's proposed budget for the 2025 fiscal year. Combined, their proposed changes would slash $30 million from the budget with $18 million in cuts to the Boston PD, The Herald reported on Friday.
The 13 councilors will meet this week for two more working sessions to make changes to the budget before voting to approve or reject it on Wednesday.
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Council Vice President Brian Worrell emphasized that budget cuts were not final, and the budget was "a work in progress," in comments to The Herald.
"In this process, we are not looking to impact any city services or the quality of life that our city services provide to our constituents in any way," he continued. "That is completely not our goal. We’re looking to increase the investments and services that our city provides to our residents."
Councilor-at-Large Erin Murphy added that her colleagues seemed less in favor of large police budget cuts at last Friday's meeting.
"It appears that many of my colleagues will not be in favor of decreasing the police budget by that much," she said in the report.
Murphy and City Councilor Ed Flynn were two members who were against the potential budget cuts to law enforcement and the Boston Fire Department, the report said.
"As we debate the city budget, we should not cut services and programs that impact public safety and neighborhood services. Any budget cut to the Boston Police Department would be irresponsible and reckless. We must not turn our backs on Boston’s first responders," Flynn said, according to The Herald.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Boston city council and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu's office for comment.
This would be the third year in a row that the city lawmakers have proposed big cuts to the Boston PD.
Mayor Wu rejected a proposal to slash funding for the Boston PD by $31 million in 2023, after rejecting a vote to cut $13.3 million from the police budget in 2022, according to The Herald.
Last month, The Boston City Council attracted headlines after a resurfaced video of Democratic council member Tania Fernandes Anderson cursing and screaming at her colleagues during a council meeting went viral.
