Listen to Geraldo In Cleveland, Weekdays 9-10 am on Newsradio WTAM 1100, also available on 106.9 FM and the Free iheartradio app.
New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez voiced her support for reducing and redirecting police department funds as a way to combat systemic racism and excessive use of force by police and other law enforcement officers.
Ocasio-Cortez expressed her support during a broadcast on New York Spectrum News 1.
"The reduction of our NYPD budget and defunding a $6 billion budget, that costs us books in the hands of our children and costs us very badly needed investment in NYCHA and public housing," Ms Ocasio-Cortez said.
Protesters of systemic racism and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's killing have demanded that police departments are defunded and the money saved to be given to addressing other community programs.
The argument they make is that by addressing underlying community issues, there would be fewer crimes of desperation and thus less need for police and fewer deaths caused by police encounters.
In Minneapolis, protesters shouted down Mayor Jacob Frey when he said he wouldn't commit to defunding the Minneapolis Police Department. During a visit to a demonstration, protesters chanted for him to leave when he refused to make the commitment.
In New York City, Ms Ocasio-Cortez and a handful of other progressive city council members have called on New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio to cut $1bn from the NYPD's $6bn budget.
Listen to Geraldo’s “Roadkill” Podcast on wtam.com and the iheartradio app.
Follow Geraldo on Twitter @GeraldoRivera