California Cities Funneled Millions in Federal COVID-19 Aid into Policing

A review of public records has revealed that major cities in California spent large portions of their federal COVID relief money, part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), on police departments — with some prioritizing police funding by a wide margin, reports The Guardian. The budgeting and reporting process varies by city and is often opaque, making it difficult to compare and analyze how governments prioritized police and executed their budgets.

In Fresno, the city allocated more than double of its Cares money to police than it did to COVID-19 aid ($36.6 million), while Oakland’s police allocation ($5 million) was greater than the amounts spent on a housing initiative, a small business grant program and a workforce initiative. Cities have explained their spending on police in a number of ways. In a report for the U.S. government, Long Beach said police were “heavily involved in the City’s COVID-19 response,” including opening an emergency operations center and providing security at testing and vaccination sites. The significant stimulus spending on police reflects longstanding budget priorities in the US, where police spending has tripled over the last 40 years, with cities spending an increasing portion of their general funds on officers.