mic | Tear gas. Armored transports. Military-grade weaponry. These
are the images burned into our minds in the wake of the
chaos in Ferguson earlier this month.
Just one of the many disturbing revelations coming out of Ferguson is the militarization of local police departments across the U.S.
This statistic captures the trend: Despite a global recession that crippled city finances, the total spending on police per American increased by 28% between 2001 and 2010, according to figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. And that's the increase after taking inflation into account.
The story gets more interesting when examining police
spending at the city level. The map below shows how much it costs, per
person, to support police departments in various cities.
Are people in cities that spend more on police safer? No.
This is clear from the interactive chart below, which ranks cities
by their violent crime and property crime rates. Violent crimes are
defined as murder, non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery,
or aggravated assault. Property crimes are burglary, larceny, or motor
vehicle theft.
Detroit and St. Louis top the violent crime ranking, and both spend more on policing per person than most major cities. Fist tap Dale.
