Criminalization vs. Care: How the 20 Largest US Cities Invest Their Resources
In many communities across the US, when children and families need help, there is a robust network of supports and resources to meet their needs. When residents experience mental or behavioral health challenges, there are systems in place to provide the appropriate care. In these communities, there are abundant parks and recreational opportunities. There is a vibrant cultural scene. Efforts are made to ensure access to affordable housing and address climate change. In these communities—ones that millions of (mostly White and affluent) US residents enjoy—the priority in spending tax dollars is on building “Systems of Community Care.”
However, in many other US communities, and particularly communities of color, that is not the case. There are still substantial investments of public dollars being made in these places. Lack of resources is not the problem. The problem is that rather than those resources being used to create more livable communities, policymakers tend to instead direct far more of them to expanding the “Mass Criminalization System.” In other words, within many communities, far too much is spent on systems that put people in handcuffs, jail, and prison, and far too little is spent on the Systems of Community Care that residents actually need to thrive.
In Criminalization vs. Care: How the 20 Largest US Cities Invest Their Resources, Communities United, Movimiento Poder, Reimagine Richmond, and the Social Movement Support Lab examine the 2022 budgets of the 20 largest US cities and their respective counties to determine whether their investments prioritize the Mass Criminalization System or Systems of Community Care. We analyze the size of these public investments, the ratio between them, the cost to local residents, how that translates into the city personnel that residents encounter on a daily basis, and how these dynamics have shifted over time.
Among the key findings are the following:
Each of the 20 largest US cities is spending at least hundreds of millions of dollars per year on the criminal legal system, with the vast majority of those resources going to the police. Many cities and counties spend in the billions, with New York City the largest at $7.7 billion in 2022. In total, these cities and their counties are spending $37.9 billion on the Mass Criminalization System in 2022.
16 out of the 20 cities invest more on the Mass Criminalization System than they do on all of the Systems of Community Care combined. In some cities, it is as much as 11 times more. For example, Chicago is spending $1.9 billion on the criminal legal system in 2022, compared to just $265 million on community care.
Sustaining the Mass Criminalization System is extremely costly for local taxpayers. For example, in each of the cities, the amount of local dollars being spent in 2022 on the criminal legal system is between $902 and $2,826 per household. Average local spending on the criminal legal system at the county level is another $115 to $1,442 per household.
By examining the public investments being made into criminal legal systems that have been wildly ineffective at creating truly safe communities—while also actively causing enormous harm—this report raises numerous exciting possibilities for reimagining public safety and ensuring that city and county budgets are aligned with community needs and values.
Download the report here.
Individual City Infographics