Black voters in two of America’s most liberal cities sour on calls to ‘defund the police’

Marques Warren got a late-night phone call at his Seattle home last year during racial justice riots, and it turned him against the idea of “defund the police.” 

The call came from the security alarm company for the liquor store he owns downtown. A break-in was in progress.

Amid the mayhem of protests over the killing of George Floyd, sensors on the plate-glass windows detected the repeated blows of people trying to smash their way inside the store. Mr. Warren quickly answered “yes” when the security company asked whether he wanted them to call the police. 

A few minutes later, the company called...