Joe Biden tells civil rights leaders 'defund the police' slogan disastrous for Democrats in congressional races

President-elect Joe Biden reportedly told civil rights leaders that calls to “defund the police” by liberal Democrats was the reason the party performed poorly in congressional races last month.

Mr Biden made clear during campaigning for the presidential election that he did not support the reallocating of money away from police forces, which grew in popularity following a summer of anti-police protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.

'That's how they (Republicans) beat the living hell out of us across the country, saying that we're talking about defunding the police,' Mr Biden said during a two-hour closed-door meeting on Tuesday, according to audio of the meeting obtained by The Intercept website.

His statements echo ones made by former President Barack Obama, who said last week that the criminal justice system needed reform, but “snappy slogans like ‘defund the police’” risks doing more harm than good.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has pushed the slogan, and establishment Democrats blame her and others for this rhetoric allowing Republicans to flip 14 House seats from blue to red.

It came as the Minneapolis city council yesterday voted to cut nearly $8 million (£6m) from its police budget as it sought to reform the force in the wake of the killing of Mr Floyd.

The city was the first to be hit by protests for racial justice following the killing of the 48-year-old African-American by Minneapolis police officers who knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Jacob Frey, the city’s mayor, had threatened to veto the entire budget if the council went ahead with a plan to cap police staffing.

The money reduced from the mayor's $179 million police spending proposal will be moved to other areas, including financing mental health crisis teams.

But the budget maintains staffing projections of 888 officers for the police department as sought by Mr Frey amid an increase in violent crime in the Midwestern city.

The vote came after days of contentious public hearings and emotional debate among council members, who have openly struggled to balance concern about historically high crime across Minneapolis against public calls to reform a police department that has long been accused of racism and excessive force, especially against residents of colour.

Police have recorded 532 gunshot victims this year as of last Thursday, more than double the same period a year ago.

Carjackings have also spiked to 375 so far this year, up 331 per cent from the same period last year. And violent crimes have topped 5,100, compared with just over 4,000 for the same period in 2019.

Around 160 officers are said to have resigned or taken leave from the force, citing post-traumatic stress disorder from the civil unrest that erupted after Mr Floyd’s death.

“Tonight the city council passed a budget that represents a compromise, and also a big step forward into a more compassionate and effective public safety future,” said city council member Steve Fletcher, co-author of the proposal to lower the cap on staffing.

He said the city council has more work to do and “we cannot afford to remain stuck in the past any longer.”