Approximately 80% of a police department’s budget is personnel. For every dollar of salary the department will pay an additional 30-35% in benefits, including social security, unemployment insurance (both required by law), medical insurance, retirement, etc. The next largest expense in the department’s fleet. This includes purchase of vehicles, operation costs, preventive maintenance, repairs and periodic replacement. Officers need to be equipped, police buildings must be cleaned and serviced, heated and cooled, etc. Persons in even temporary custody must be fed as do police canines and horses. Supplies, from bullets to report forms and pens, must be purchased. The funding for all of this and more is in the annual budget.
The primary source of funding for a police department is tax dollars. Police agencies share the tax revenue with the fire department, schools, libraries, roadway maintenance, water and sewer departments, waste (garbage) services, etc. If the departments wants an increase in its budget to purchase new technology (e.g., body cameras) or hire additional personnel the additional funds must come from one of two sources. Either money is moved from another public service within the jurisdiction (fire, schools, etc.) of the tax on citizens must go up.
As the chief of police you have decided it is absolutely essential to equip your officers with new sidearms. Even with a re-sale of the current weapons to another police agency, the new weapons will cost your department of 230 sworn personnel approximately $50,000. It is impossible for your police department to absorb this expense The city will need to take that money away from another agency’s budget, or pass a city ordenance to increase taxes.
Question: How do you convince the mayor and council for the city that you deserve the additional funding, more than other agencies and over the instinctive resistance of citizen to additional taxes?
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