Boston Police Budget in Context

Setting the stage for future discussions about spending on public safety

The FY21 budget, approved by the City Council on June 24th, reallocates $12M from the Police Department’s overtime budget to other spending areas, reducing budgeted overtime 20% from $60M to $48M. The $12M will go towards initiatives both within the Police Department and other city departments: Public Health Commission initiatives ($4M), economic development and minority and women-led business support ($2M), housing and homelessness resources ($2M), mental health services through partnership between the Police Department and the Boston Medical Center Emergency Services (BEST) Program ($2M), and funding for community programs ($2M).

The reallocation of the $12M sets the stage for a larger discussion about how City resources will be directed to law enforcement and other departments providing support to Boston communities.

City and Police Department Trends
Boston’s General Fund spending has grown by $1.19B or 49.0% from FY11 through the recently approved FY21 budget. Over the same period the Police budget grew by $128.4M or 46.6%, from $275.8M to $404.2M.   Read more>