OTTAWA HILLS, Ohio — The push for police reform continues in our community and across the country. It's been more than three months since the death of George Floyd sparked nationwide protests for change.
Protesters from Justice and Equality for Toledo gathered at Arrowhead Point Park in Ottawa Hills on Sunday pushing for change.
They say they are not looking to abolish the police, but claim nationwide more policing has not led to better communities and it's time to try something new, like reallocating funds from the police's budget to community programs.
The leaders created the group back in August after meeting at several other protests this summer.
They say "defund the police" is not the best way to describe what reform is needed. But instead "refunding the community" with more funding for healthcare, education and child and youth programs.
"We got rid of riot gear. We got rid of this," said protest leader Reily Mulholland. "We're going to hold these people accountable. We want accountability. We want transparency. We want to know what our $84 million in tax dollars are going towards. And I think that's a fair thing. It's our community. It's our city. We're not trying to abolish the police force. But we want to make our police better."
That $84 million number was Toledo's police budget for 2019. The budget actually decreased from 2017 to 2018 but then increased by 10 million last year. The approved budget for 2020 was nearly $87 million.
Mulholland believes the recent gun violence among youth shows we need to try something different to fix this problem.