An ABC OTV analysis of state and local police funding and violent crime data in the U.S. overall between 1985 and 2020 found no relationship between year-to-year police spending and crime rates. (An analysis by the Washington Post found similar results from 1960 to 2018.)
This isn’t a matter of agreement or disagreement, the numbers are there. The number of police, their training, and their equipment have nothing to do with crime rates whatsoever. Cutting police budgets doesn’t increase the crime rate. Getting more cops and giving them better toys doesn’t decrease the crime rate.
Interestingly enough, Portland was almost twice as violent 20 years ago as it is today. The violent crime rate has wiggled in the past few years, but mostly has leveled off after a steep plunge that began in 2004.