State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

The Misunderstood Math of Defunding the Police

Governing: Across America this summer, protestors have marched to decry police brutality and racial injustice. One of the most prominent slogans has been "defund the police." Advocates of defunding have argued that the money would be better spent on community services and socioeconomic justice. This mantra immediately drew backlash from politicians on the right, asserting that law and order would suffer, and the slogan likely agitated some of the militia maniacs. However understandable the pent-up frustrations, America needs to find better solutions.

Would defunding actually work? For perspective, state and local governments spend about 4 percent of their budgets on police and local law enforcement. Nationwide, that works out to about $30 per month per capita. That is less than one-fifth of what is spent directly at the state and local level on "public welfare" expenditures, mostly direct payments to families and health-care providers.

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