NCJ Number
236509
Date Published
December 2010
Length
44 pages
Annotation
Police chiefs, academics, and police union executives who attended a Summit held by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) in September 2010 discuss the implications of the economic crisis for policing and what budget cuts mean for daily police operations.
Abstract
One section summarizes findings of a January 2009 PERF survey of police agencies to determine whether police budgets are being cut; and, if so, how this is impacting police services. Fifty-one percent of responding agencies reported that their budgets had been reduced between the 2009 and 2010 fiscal years, with the average cut being 7 percent. Survey findings on the impact of the survey focus on changes in policy or practices, cuts in services, cuts in organizational size, pension cuts, and priorities. Another section summarizes what police executives at the Summit said about how budget cuts are impacting public safety in their communities. Among the impacts mentioned is an escalation in violent crime, personnel cuts, officers performing some civilian functions, conflicts about the distribution of limited resources, a spike in traffic deaths, unpaid furloughs for command staff, and holding positions vacant to avoid layoffs. Another section reviews what academic professionals at the Summit said about how the economic crisis is impacting police agencies. Issues discussed are the importance of prioritizing various police services, concern about outsourcing policing to the private sector, a shift in funding from incarceration to policing, and legislators demanding solid research on what policing practices and procedures are most effective. A third section focuses on what police union executives are saying about the crisis. Issues discussed are the impact of budget cuts on officer work attitudes and the politics of budget cutting. The concluding section summarizes Summit discussions on how the economic crisis is presenting an opportunity for police reform that focuses on the cost-effectiveness of current operations.