The same thing happened in Seattle. The council talked about defunding police but only parking enforcement was moved out. And because of the hiring crunch, we lost police officers and weren't able to replace them (but this was a problem nation wide).
What I do blame the city and county for is not taking crime seriously enough. Even when police arrest someone who has broken the law, the DA refuses to prosecute, the jail refuses to book them in, and judges let them off repeatedly with light to non-existent sentences. People shop lift with impunity these days because the system simply doesn't care if they do. It isn't really the police's fault (though they are understaffed also).
What I do blame the city and county for is not taking crime seriously enough. Even when police arrest someone who has broken the law, the DA refuses to prosecute, the jail refuses to book them in, and judges let them off repeatedly with light to non-existent sentences. People shop lift with impunity these days because the system simply doesn't care if they do. It isn't really the police's fault (though they are understaffed also).