How America's police departments acquired billions in funding over the years
Thanks to decades of spending, many local police departments now resemble well-armed military squads. But budget shortfalls and protests will likely force a change.mong Delaware’s beach towns, Dewey Beach, sandwiched between artsy Rehoboth to the north and family-friendly Bethany Beach to the south, is known as a place to party after a day of sun and surf. Beach bars like Starboards, famous for boozy brunches, and the Rusty Rudder draw big crowds from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
“Residents in the town became frustrated that we acquired a lot of equipment and that it was being stored for a use that we weren’t sure was actually ever going to happen,” says Scott Koenig, Dewey Beach’s town manager since 2018. “You give police these kinds of military toys and that’s the attitude they then bring when they engage with the public. It’s a militarization of police attitudes,” says founder of the town’s watchdog group, Jeffrey Smith.
Research from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s School of Law shows a surge of officers in the 1990s—paid for by an injection of cash from the federal government—had a modest, downward effect on crime during that decade. After the grant money ran out in 2000 and the hiring push slowed, however, the impact on crime became negligible. Median per capita spending on police in 150 largest U.S. cities has been rising since at least 1993 despite a dramatic drop in violent crime.
These salaries have grown faster than inflation and, in some cases, cities’ fiscal capacities, Weiss says. In Chicago, for instance, a new police officer in 1992 would have been making $59,000 in base salary by the end of their first year on the job. Today, a new Chicago police officer makes $68,616 after a year on the job—a bump of more than 16%. That’s not to mention the potential for tens of thousands of dollars more in overtime.
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