DC Fiscal Policy Institute: Visualizing the DC Police Budget

A transparent look at how public money is spent on policing in DC.

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The data

This tool visualizes trends over time from fiscal years 2012 through 2022, as well as information in the proposed fiscal year 2022 budget, adjusted for inflation and presented in fiscal year 2022 dollars.The data used for this visualization was collected from a number of publicly available sources including: DC’s Budget and Financial Plan, Quarterly Revenue Forecasts, Budget and Performance Oversight Resources, DC Council Committee Reports, the CFOInfo Interactive Dashboard, and the DC Fiscal Policy Institute Budget Toolkits. When needed, supplemental information was provided directly from DC Council Committee staff.

The visualization

The goal of this resource is to increase accessibility and transparency of how public money is spent on policing in DC. This visualization highlights budget information from fiscal years 2012 through 2022 in a single database and includes data on the MPD operating and capital budgets, funding sources, and resource allocations. The visualization also provides a deep-dive into how police in schools are funded in Washington, DC. We use narrative around the visualization’s numerous bar charts, tables, and graphics to contextualize the content of the data and to ensure the information is accessible to a diverse set of stakeholders.

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The historical context

Policing in DC has long had a disproportionate impact on Black residents, who are more likely than White residents to be stopped, searched, arrested, injured, or killed by the police. The uprising against police violence in 2020, which in DC included public responses to a series of high-profile local instances of police violence and killings, sparked an unprecedented level of interest in policing in DC. Over 500 people signed up to testify in the budget hearings that year; and 15,000 submitted statements, with the overwhelming majority calling for a decreased reliance on police and investment in new public safety approaches. At the same time, advocates and policymakers alike were struggling to access and interpret DC’s technical budget documents, which are published each year in dense PDFs that provide little context on how to engage with the information on how DC tax dollars are spent on policing. This visualization brings that information into the light so that residents and policymakers can engage on how public safety is funded in DC.

The current implications

Advocates can use the tool to understand where money for the DC police budget comes from, how it is used, and how those decisions have changed over time. The tool also provides an overview of the budget process, explaining key terms that are critical for interpreting the budget data. This information is crucial for connecting the dots between investments and public safety outcomes, and democratizing budget data so that residents who are impacted by policing in DC can weigh in on how public safety is funded.

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Data Deep-Dive

Key takeaways to guide analysis

Key to Success

Continued stakeholder engagement with local activists throughout the tool design process was incredibly important. DCFPI’s direct engagement with members of the Defund MPD coalition and the iterative process used to gather feedback was key to the success of this project. Further, we found that it was really important to compensate stakeholders for their time and their insight into the tool.

Engagement, accountability, and equity

Making police budget data more transparent and accessible to community members can increase public engagement and public accountability for policy-makers, resulting in more equitable allocations of public funds.
Policing in DC disproportionately affects Black residents and how we allocate money to the police is a pressing equity issue. Making this data more accessible to community members so that they may advocate for funding choices that best support their needs is an important piece of creating a more equitable and safer city for residents

Applying learning on the next version

When thinking about the next version of this tool, we want to ensure identification of organizations with both deep community ties and the capacity to take on a project of this scope. The partnership with DCFPI and their leadership throughout this project is what made it a success.