NYPD Commissioner '1,000 Percent' Supports Police Funding Cut

New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea on Monday said he "1,000%" supports Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to shift some funding from the police department to youth programs.

Shea said rumors he and Chief of Department Terrence Monahan planned to resign in wake of the mayor's Sunday announcement were "absolutely false," the New York Post reported.

"To help the kids of our city, I'm 1,000% behind shifting some funding from the police to youth programs," Shea said on Twitter. "It's incumbent upon all of us to dig down and do what's needed."

Defunding police departments has been one of the demands of protesters in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who was killed after now-fired white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin put his knee on his neck for almost nine minutes in a videotaped incident that has fueled calls for police reforms.

Chavin has been charged with second-degree murder in Floyd's death.

De Blasio has said public safety will not be sacrificed in his plan, and details will be ironed out during budget talks.

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