Freedom to Thrive: Reimagining Safety & Security in Our Communities
Click here to learn more about updated budget numbers for 2020: Police budgets continue to be consistent across diverse geographies and cities in the United States, with up to 20% to 45% of discretionary funds are allocated to the violent system.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Among the jurisdictions profiled, police spending vastly outpaces expenditures in vital community resources and services, with the highest percentage being 41.2 percent of general fund expenditures in Oakland.
- Among cities profiled, per capita police spending ranges from $381 to as high as $772.
- Consistent community safety priorities emerged across jurisdictions. Most notable among them are demands for mental health services, youth programming, and infrastructure such as transit access and housing.

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- Forbes: How Much Do U.S. Cities Spend Every Year On Policing? [Infographic]
- U.S. News & World Report: Cities Spend More and More on Police. Is It Working?
- St. Louis Dispatch: St. Louis spends far too much on policing, far too little on everything else
- City Lab: The Price of Defunding the Police
- Blavity: This Study Found That Major U.S. Cities Spend Millions More On Policing Than On Social Programs
- Next City (Op-ed): Why Rising Police Budgets Aren’t Making Cities Safer
- HuffPost (Op-ed): It’s Time to Reimagine Safety and Security in Our Communities
- East Bay Times (Op-ed): Oakland Spends Far Too Much on Policing
- Univision: ¿Vale la pena quitarle dinero a la policía para apoyar temas como la vivienda, la educación y la salud
- El Diario (Op-ed): Es tiempo que reconsideremos lo que significa la seguridad en nuestras comunidades
- Rewire: Advocates: ‘Blue Lives Matter’ Group Pushes Dangerous Narratives
- Marc Steiner (radio): Freedom To Thrive: Criminalization, Policing, and Mass Incarceration
- Hello Beautiful: Facebook Livestream
- Moorbey blog: The Criminalized Majority
- Minnesota Daily (UMinn Newspaper): Study shows nearly one-third of Minneapolis general fund goes to police
- The New York Times: The High Cost of Policing
- The Crime Report: Should Chicago Spend Money on a Police Academy?