(Bloomberg) — The call to defund the police after the murder of George Floyd has been a setback for ongoing efforts to reform the criminal justice system, said Michael Novogratz, chief executive officer of Galaxy Digital and chairman of The Bail Project, a bail reform non-profit.
Novogratz called “defund the police” the “worst” words “ever uttered” during a panel discussion during the Bloomberg Equality Summit Tuesday in New York City. “Since then, criminal justice reform has been on its back foot. Right now we kind of need to win the narrative back.”
Despite calls to defund the police and shift resources to other services after Floyd’s murder in 2020, major U.S. cities have been increasing their policing budgets. The five biggest cities in the U.S. expect to spend nearly $11 billion on policing this fiscal year, up from the $10 billion they allocated before the pandemic. In aggregate, spending on police has increased every fiscal year since 2012.
Novogratz has been a leading proponent of hiring formerly incarcerated people. The Bail Project primarily provides bail assistance and lobbies to eliminate cash bail, but Novogratz also works with companies to hire people with criminal records. He said he successfully pushed Bojangles to change its policy on hiring formerly incarcerated people, which ultimately helped the fast-food chain keep turnover low.
During his State of the Union Address, President Joe Biden also cast aside calls to defund the police. “The answer is not to defund the police. It’s to fund the police,” he said. “Fund them. Fund them. Fund them with resources and training. Resources and training they need to protect their communities.”
Novogratz had an early experience with the criminal justice system that shaped his perspective on policing. When he was a teenager he got caught shoplifting from the mall; security called his mom and sent him home. He later learned a Black teen from a poor neighborhood got nine years in jail for the same crime at the same place.
The impacts of incarceration rarely ends after a prison sentence is completed. Employers are often unwilling or hesitant to hire those with criminal records, which helps explain why some 45% of formerly imprisoned people report no earnings for the first year after their release, according to a Brookings Institution study.
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