— The Durham City Council on Thursday voted to remove funding for 18 additional police officers from the proposed 2019-20 budget.

The request for additional officers came at a time when the city's homicide rate is up 75 percent from this time last year.

City Manager Tom Bonfield proposed adding 18 police officers to the force.

"It was something I felt strongly was an opportunity to try a new policing method. We’ll just have to look for what we can do to stay within the resources that we have and continue to do the best we can with the resources that are provided," he said.

But Mayor Pro Tem Jillian Johnson disagrees.

"More officers, more policing, there’s no evidence that leads to less crime," she said. "I’m very interested in building a crisis response model outside of law enforcement and have been studying models in other cities in order to make that happen."

Councilman Mark-Anthony Middleton said he was disappointed by the decision to defund the extra officers. He also pointed out that the city’s population is growing, and additional officers are needed to keep up.

"I think we made the wrong decision today. I think we made a decision that flowed from philosophy rather than a decision that’s based on actual data points about this police force," he said.

Middleton says Police Chief C.J. Davis requested 18 more officers, and people should trust her.

"I trust this police chief. I was part of the process that helped bring her to the city. She is well aware of the values that we hold dear in Durham, and she makes her decisions based upon intimate knowledge of those values," he said.

Bonfield said that the extra officers would have helped shorten response times, improved coverage and allowed officers more time for community relations. He also said the extra support would have improved the work-life balance of officers.

While the City Council did not vote to fund the additional officers, they did vote to increase wages for part-time city workers.

The City Council is expected to vote on the budget later this month.