The high cost of policing
How much is spent by states on policing vs. healthcare, education or highways? What do Americans get? How to reform the justice system and reduce police violence?
States spend millions on policing at the expense of healthcare, education and public welfare.
Click on this map to see how much each state spends on policing rather than creating jobs, improving healthcare and public welfare.
Florida
Police spending and killings by state
Florida spends amongst the most on policing
Republicans hold most political power in Florida
Spot the pattern of increasing police budgets, police killings, more people in prison and voter suppression in black communities demanding justice reform?
Equal justice?
America spends $87 billion on jails and prisons to incarcerate. That is 2.2 million people. America has just 5% of the world’s population but 25% of the world's incarcerated population.
How do police unions have so much political power? Why are so few police officers held accountable for their actions? Who gains when thousands of black Americans are jailed and denied their right to vote? What is blocking reforms?
Source: Mapping Police Violence
"Police unions are one of the most significant roadblocks to change as demands for reform have mounted in the aftermath of police violence in Ferguson, Baltimore and Minneapolis." - NY Times
The killing of George Floyd and the Minneapolis Police Union response illustrates the problem.
How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody | Visual Investigations
"A few days after prosecutors in Minneapolis charged an officer with murder in the death of George Floyd, the president of the city’s police union denounced political leaders, accusing them of selling out his members and firing four officers without due process."
“It is despicable behavior,” the union president, Lt. Bob Kroll, wrote in a letter to union members . He also referred to protesters as a “terrorist movement.” - NY Times
Check this map for other instances of police brutality and killings.
Reform
"Over 1,000 people are killed by police every year in America. We are calling on local, state, and federal lawmakers to take immediate action to adopt data-driven policy solutions to end this violence and hold police accountable." - Campaign Zero
Have your elected official adopt these practical policies from 8CANTWAIT .
8 Ways to Reform Policing Right Now
