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Total U.S. police spending is around $100 billion, which is around $285/person/year. Considering over 240 million 911 calls are placed in a given year, at a su
by alehul 6y ago
Total U.S. police spending is around $100 billion, which is around $285/person/year.
Considering over 240 million 911 calls are placed in a given year, at a surface level this feels extremely efficient — certainly more so than other parts of our bureaucracy.
Crime occurs for social, cultural, and/or financial reasons — focusing on the financial, we have a giant bureaucratic and inefficient government, an incredibly large population, and a lot of waste. I don't think one could argue the $24/person/month we pay for police would make a substantial difference / stop a ton of crime.
- zimpenfish 6y agohttps://www.urban.org/policy-centers/cross-center-initiatives/state-and-local-finance-initiative/state-and-local-backgrounders/police-and-corrections-expenditures https://www.urban.org/policy-centers/cross-center-initiative... has it at $115B for 2017 with another $79B for "corrections" (which you can debate whether it's "police spending".) I should imagine it's gone up since then? > Considering over 240 million 911 calls are placed in a given year But if you cut the police spending by, say, 50% and used that money instead to providing social services, mental health services, etc., how many of those 911 calls go away?