Our data has been gathered exclusively from the General Fund in each municipality’s approved 2020 or proposed 2021 budget. Every budget we reference is available to download on a municipality’s individual details page.

A General Fund is a municipality’s primary source of funding and is mainly composed of taxpayer dollars. While a General Fund does not make up the entirety of a municipality’s budget* the money in a General Fund is mostly discretionary— meaning, elected officials have the power to decide how this money is used. Elected officials have an obligation to use these funds in ways that reflect their community’s needs.

*other funds, known as “dedicated funds,” may include an enterprise fund, an education fund, etc.

Black Lives Matter.

The intent of this site is to make clear, concise, and accessible the exact allocation of money to police departments in each state’s largest city. Across the country, police departments disproportionately consume taxpayer dollars, directly underwriting the brutalization and deaths of Black and Brown people. By highlighting the egregious amounts of money allocated to police, we hope that this site will help empower residents to advocate for defunding the police in their community, and reinvesting in community and public health programs.

Defunding and abolishing the police is just one pillar in the movement to guarantee the safety, equity, and liberty of all Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color living in the United States; divesting from systemic white supremacy is a life-long endeavor. This site strives to be in service of sustained action.

policecost.us is made by Dylan Halpern and Kat Caribeaux.

We welcome and are grateful for all questions, comments, and feedback.

Please contact us at info@policecost.us