by J.D. Davidson
As calls for police reform and defunding police departments across the nation continue, a new report shows Ohio ranks in the bottom half of spending compared to the rest of the country.
MoneyGeek, a personal finance technology company, analyzed the $200 billion spent on policing and corrections by state and local governments.
Nationally, per capita spending on policing and corrections is $612. Ohio spends $525. The highest is Washington, D.C. at $1,254, and second is Alaska at $1,178. Indiana is the lowest at $393.
In terms of police, Ohio ranks 20th in the country, spending $340 per capita and nearly $4 billion. That makes up a little more than 3% of the state’s annual budget. By comparison, Washington, D.C. ranks first by spending $894 per capita and 3.31% of its annual budget. And, Illinois ranks fifth, spending $442 per capita and 3.69% of its annual budget.
Overall for police and corrections, Ohio spends a little more than $6 billion, or 4.65% of its annual budget, ranking it 33rd in the nation.
“Ohio’s spending on policing and corrections is the seventh most in the nation at $6 billion. However, once normalized for population, Ohio is below the national average on a per-capita basis,” Doug Milnes, head of data analytics for MoneyGeek, said.
Also, the report shows blue states spend 38 percent more per capita than red states, and California spends the most with $35 billion spent between state and local governments. And population doesn’t seem to match up with spending as Nevada spends more of its annual budget on law enforcement than any other states, and Alaska is second.
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J.D. Davidson is an editor for The Center Square. An Ohio native, J.D. Davidson is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years of experience in newspapers in Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. He has served as a reporter, editor, managing editor and publisher.
Photo “Ohio Police” by Paul Becker CC BY 2.0.
