Giving Compass' Take:

· This article by Richard C. Auxier at Urban Institute discusses what police spending data can tell us and how it can help advocates and policymakers understand the fiscal side of reform.

· What drives police spending and how has it changed over time? 

· Check out this article about relocating police funds in LA.

The brutal video of police murdering George Floyd has inspired unprecedented civil action and protests against police violence. Among the many signs and chants heard around the nation and the world are calls to defund the police.

Some advocate for a complete restructuring of public safety. Others want sharp reductions in police spending with corresponding increases in other public services that support communities harmed by police violence.

An examination of government finance data can inform—but in no way settle—larger debates around policing. Government spending on police is not merely a set of numbers but, rather, the culmination of a long history of policy choices, including many rooted in persistent structural racism.

And spending is far from the only policing issue affected by structural racism. It’s not even the only fiscal issue, as we saw with the excessive fines and forfeitures in Ferguson and increased purchasing of military equipment.

There are countless issues, such as punitive policing, that require reforms outside of budgeting.

But police spending reflects what communities pay in exchange for public safety—an exchange that does not keep all communities safe. At the least, spending data can help advocates and policymakers understand reforms’ fiscal opportunities and parameters.

Read the full article about police spending and funding by Richard C. Auxier at Urban Institute.