IOWA, USA — Calls to defund police agencies have echoed across the country in the wake of George Floyd's death while in Minneapolis police custody.
But what does defunding police really mean?
To get a better understanding of how your tax dollars fund public safety, Elias Johnson took a look at police departments around the metro.
I'm sure you've all heard it by now, the idea of defunding police by taking your tax dollars allocated for police and moving it in a different direction.
Some are calling for overall reform and there are as many ideas about how to do it as there are communities across America.
"Defund the police does not mean zero out public safety budgets. What it means is taking money from law enforcement and reallocating it," Innovative Policing Program at Georgetown Law co-director Christy Lopez said.
Here's a fiscal breakdown how much money metro cities allocate to police departments.
The largest budget goes to the largest city with Des Moines at over $70 million.
It then goes West Des Moines, Ankeny, Urbandale, Clive, Johnston, Waukee and Pleasant Hill.
Protesters with Black Lives Matter have called for defunding the Des Moines Police Department.
According to the justice department, here's where the money goes within those agencies.
80 to 95 percent pays for salaries, retirement and insurance.
The remainder goes into a capital fund, paying for renovations, equipment and patrol cars.
"I think you need to be careful with the defunding," former police chief in Camden County, New Jersey J. Scott Thomson said. "First of all, I'm not sure which definition we're going with. I heard it from abolishing the police, I don't think that is really an option to repurposing money to get to issues."
Los Angeles announced major cuts to police funding. Seattle is considering a fifty percent reduction. New York is redirecting funds to youth programs, as well as moving a bill forward that would ban chokeholds.
It's a battle putting police unions and citizens who support local police against the push to reform law enforcement.