The far left stance that police budgets are made for cutting is getting old. Especially as progressive cities around the country are backtracking and finally getting tough on crime.

Less than two weeks after Mayor Michelle Wu unveiled a summer safety plan which centers on gun-violence prevention and crime-fighting efforts already done by the Boston Police Department, city councilors submitted amendments that would collectively cut millions of dollars from the mayor’s proposed $454.1 million spending plan for BPD, the Herald has learned.

We’ve been here before, when the council voted to cut $31 million from the BPD last year and was vetoed by Wu. The suggested BPD budget cuts didn’t make sense then, and they don’t now. Especially if one claims to care about community safety.

There were 144 shooting victims in Boston in 2023, a decrease from the year before. BPD Commissioner Michael Cox attributed the drop to enhanced “partnership” with residents of the community.

“I’m pretty proud of the work we’ve done this year,” Cox told the Herald in an interview. He should be. Considering the number of firearms taken off the streets by BPD during traffic stops and calls, there’s clearly a potential for violence and crime that requires the vigilance of law enforcement.

Once again, Boston police had to plea their case.

“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, said in a statement. “We should be increasing the police budget and hiring more officers, not decreasing it.”

Washington, D.C. got the memo. In March its progressive City Council passed a crime package that will keep more people in jail while awaiting trial, Politico reported.

“What we’re seeing now is a recognition that we have to lean in and do more as government to provide for the safety and well-being of our residents,” said Democrat Brooke Pinto, the Washington councilor behind the crime package.

As crime in New York City’s subway system spiked this year, Mayor Eric Adams flooded stations with more officers who have focused on boosting arrest numbers to historic levels.

“Nothing encourages the feeling of safety more than having a uniformed officer present from the bag checks when you first come into the system to watching them walk through the subway cars to the platforms,” he said during an interview on FOX 5.

This is what city leaders should do: take steps to make their communities safe and to make their constituents feel safe. Boston law enforcement shouldn’t have to explain over and over again how policing helps the city and is a must-have budget item.

Not all council members have the knives out for the BPD. Councilor Ed Flynn noted “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.”

Let this be the last time the subject of police cuts is raised in Boston budget meetings.

Editorial cartoon by Steve Kelley (Creators Syndicate)