Activists call to defund Phoenix police as roughly $43M budget increase nears vote Jamie Landers, Arizona Republic About 150 people gathered Tuesday evening in downtown Phoenix to protest the proposed budget increase of nearly $43 million for the Phoenix Police Department. The rally, hosted by Black Lives Matter Phoenix Metro, Poder In Action, Semillas Arizona and the Phoenix Local Organizing Committee, among others, took place outside the Phoenix City Council chambers as council members sat inside discussing the budget proposal for fiscal year 2022. A budget proposal included in the City Council agenda for Tuesday shows Phoenix police was given a budget of $743,792,000 for 2020-2021, while their proposed budget for 2021-2022 is $786,708,000, a 5.8% increase.