Records show that some cities gave law enforcement more stimulus money than health, housing, and food initiatives
Major cities in the US state of California spent a majority of their federal Covid-19 aid money on police departments, a review of public records from several cities found.
Under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the Biden administration’s signature stimulus package, the U.S. government sent funds to cities to help them fight the coronavirus and support local recovery efforts. The money, officials said, could be used to fund a variety of services, including housing and public health initiatives, healthcare worker salaries, infrastructure investments and help for small businesses.
But most major California cities spent millions of harp dollars on law enforcement. Some also gave police money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (Cares) Act, passed under President Donald Trump in 2020.
The logs show:
- San Francisco received $312 million in FY2020 Harp funding, of which 49% ($153 million) went to the police force, 13% ($41 million) to the sheriff’s department, and the remainder to the police force and were assigned to the fire department, according to the city inspector. San Francisco also gave away approximately 22% ($38.5 million) of its Cares funds to law enforcement.
- Los Angeles spent about 50% of its first round of Arpa aid funds on local law enforcement, according to a public records request from controller candidate Kenneth Mejia.
- Fresno spent $36.6 million of its funds on police, accounting for 67% of Cares’ spending on city salaries and about 40% of all city funds.
- San Jose committed approximately $27.8 million of its Cares and Arpa funds to police payroll and the police department, accounting for approximately 12% of its aid budget.
- Long Beach provided the bulk of its $135.8 million in Arpa funds to police, although a spokesman said a detailed breakdown of the funds was not available.
- Oakland provided $5 million (13.5%) of its Cares funds for police pay; Sacramento provided $2.2 million (2.5%) of Cares funds to the police force, and San Diego gave approximately $60.1 million (64%) of its Cares funds to the police force in fiscal 2020 and $52.6 million (33%) in fiscal 2021.
The reporting and budgeting process varies from city to city and is often opaque, making it difficult to compare and analyze how governments are prioritizing the police and executing their budgets.
In Fresno, the city has allocated more than double its Cares money to police than it has for Covid-19 testing, contact tracing, small business grants, childcare vouchers, transitional housing and combined small business grants.
The Oakland Police Department’s allocation was greater than amounts spent on a housing initiative, a small business grant program, and a human resources initiative. Meanwhile, San Jose spent significantly more on housing services and food programs than it did on law enforcement.
And while Long Beach initially reported that it is allocating 100% of its Arpa funds to the police force, a spokesman said $11.8 million of those funds are now being used for direct relief grants and that a portion also supports parks and city naval departments.
Oakland and Anaheim officials said their Arpa awards are used as “revenue replacements” for their general fund, and said it wasn’t possible to specify where the federal money went (although both cities typically spend a large portion of their budgets on the police force). ). Oakland spent $22 million over budget last year.
A Bakersfield representative said $13.6 million in Cares funds went to public safety, but did not specify how much of that went to police.
Cities have explained their police spending in a variety of ways. In a report to the US government, Long Beach said police were “very involved in the city’s response to Covid-19,” including opening an emergency response center and providing on-site safety testing and vaccinations.
Oakland Controller Stephen Walsh said recovering Cares funds for police is an “accounting strategy” and the aid money will not be used to expand law enforcement but to prevent cuts. He said this allows the city to “pursue a variety of valuable projects to help alleviate Covid”.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles Controller also said the Arpa funds were used for city police revenue that had previously been budgeted, and a representative for the administration official said the funds for “public safety services” were “consistent with the intention of the Middle”.
Hillary Ronen, a member of the San Francisco board of directors, noted that there were minimal staffing needs for the fire and police departments and that Covid cases in those departments were forcing cities to spend large sums on public safety overtime.
But he also said he appreciates the criticism of law enforcement’s job and wants San Francisco to invest in alternatives to the police force. “Over time, I hope to reduce the police department’s budget,” he said.
Cities that use police aid funds typically channel the money for salaries, although The Appeal recently reported that some jurisdictions were using stimulus dollars to buy new surveillance technology and build new prisons.
Taken from The Guardian
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