How Police Department Spending in Georgia Compares to Other States

High-profile unlawful killings by police officers in recent years have put American law enforcement under intense public scrutiny. Outrage over abuses of power, most notably the murder of George Floyd, led many to advocate for radical police reform, with some going so far as to call for defunding the police.

Dismissed by elected officials across the political spectrum as an unworkable idea, the defund the police movement failed to gain meaningful traction with policy makers – many of whom have expressed support for police reform rather than complete disbandment. In his 2022 State of the Union Address, President Joe Biden stated in no-uncertain terms: “We should all agree the answer is not to defund the police. It’s to fund the police […] Fund them with the resources and training they need to protect our communities.”

In light of rising violent crime, grassroots support for the defund the police movement also appears to be slipping. An October 2021 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 47% of American adults say they want increased police spending in their area, up from 31% in June 2020. State and local police spending totalled $128.2 billion in 2020, up from $122.6 billion the previous year – and if public sentiment is any gauge, that number will likely continue to rise.

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, state and local spending on police protection totaled $3.0 billion in Georgia in 2020, or about $284 per resident, the 10th lowest per capita spending among the 50 states.

A total of 27,743 police officers were employed in Georgia in 2020. Adjusting for population, this comes out to about 257 officers for every 100,000 people, the 21st fewest among states.

Click here to see how police spending compares in every state.

Data on police protection spending is from Census Bureau’s 2020 State & Local Government Finance Historical Datasets and Tables, while data on police employment is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 Annual Survey of Public Employment. Per capita calculations were made using U.S. Census Bureau population data from July 2021.

RankStatePer capita police spending, 2020 ($)Number of officers in state, 2020Officers per 100,000 people, 2020
1California564115,744295
2Alaska5541,963268
3New York55080,662407
4Maryland49217,917291
5Nevada4728,588273
6Rhode Island4683,090282
7Florida46862,604287
8Illinois44437,861299
9New Jersey43032,761354
10Minnesota42312,419218
11Arizona40619,949274
12Wyoming4011,862322
13Colorado40016,605286
14Delaware3942,570256
15Oregon3748,915210
16Hawaii3744,154288
17New Mexico3615,856277
18Kansas3618,794300
19Connecticut3599,408261
20New Hampshire3573,660264
21Massachusetts34619,923285
22North Carolina34630,721291
23Montana3442,617237
24Ohio34429,281249
25Missouri34417,991292
26Vermont3411,366212
27Tennessee33121,365306
28Pennsylvania33029,914231
29North Dakota3302,050265
30Washington32914,776191
31Wisconsin32614,966254
32Louisiana32616,206350
33Texas32079,745270
34Virginia31321,158245
35Nebraska2984,923251
36Idaho2924,416232
37Michigan29020,040199
38Alabama28914,290284
39Oklahoma28811,309284
40Iowa2877,061221
41Georgia28427,743257
42Utah2826,221186
43South Carolina27614,478279
44Mississippi2678,580291
45South Dakota2582,123237
46West Virginia2543,901219
47Arkansas2458,902294
48Maine2412,957215
49Indiana23615,633230
50Kentucky1829,680215

by Samuel Stebbins, 24/7 Wall St. via The Center Square

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