The Seattle City Council will reduce the state police department's budget and allocate some money to fund community programs.

The move was made after the City Council voted on Tuesday evening to override Mayor Jenny Durkan's vetoes of adjustments to this year's budget.

The council's proposals approved last month were backed by demonstrators who have protested in the city for months. The protests were due to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Durkan and former police Chief Carmen Best both strongly opposed these protests.

Council President M. Lorena González said that divestment from a broken policing model is not the right thing to do. González said she believes it is the needed course of action.

"We cannot look away from this, and we can no longer accept the status quo if we truly believe that Black lives matter," González said in a report.

The mayor said she disagreed with losing officers and plan to take officers off a team that removes camps of people experiencing homelessness.

She also said that the Seattle City Council did not discuss their plans with her or the police chief before taking action. However, at least one council member said on Tuesday that the police chief had been consulted. 

Best is the city's first Black female police chief. She is officially retired earlier this month amid the issue over proposed police cuts and the department's response to protests.

Legislation passed by the Seattle City Council will cut less than $4 million of the department's $400 million annual budget this year. The exact number of officers to be cut was not clear. Council members suggested it would total to several dozen. Seattle now has around 1,400 police officers.

The proposed reductions fell far short calls from protesters for a 50 percent cut to the department. Some members of the council described the cuts as "down payment" on future reductions.

The majority of people spoke during the public comment period on Tuesday, urging the council to overturn Durkan's vetoes. Many people told the council that "if Black lives matter, prove it." Members of business groups were among those who spoke in favor of upholding the veto.

As U.S. attorney in Seattle, Durkan pushed a Justice Department investigation that found officers too quick to use force. It led to a 2012 consent decree with the federal government.

A review by an independent monitor saw that changes made under the decree have decreased how often police use force. However, critics have said that the department's actions during recent protests show not enough progress has been made.

Councilmember Dan Strauss said police had utilized excessive and indiscriminate force against Seattle residents, who are exercising their First Amendment rights. 

Strauss noted that these prompted the council to make the budget changes. Strauss added that the changes proposed in the 2020 budget are not radical or earth-shattering.

"They are reasonable and responsible first steps in a long process to re-envision the way we handle public safety," Strauss noted in a report. 

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