July 23, 2020 – The organizations Youth Forward and Getting It Right From the Start co-produced a report on 28 Californian cities that legalized recreational marijuana sales since 2016. (Roughly two-thirds of cities and towns still ban sales, despite state-level legalization.) Released back in April, the report’s importance has been amplified by intervening events, and the ensuing debates around policing and its funding.
It found that in three years, 23 of the 28 cities increased their police budgets by at least 10 percent, as of the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Eight cities saw an increase of at least 25 percent.
We’re not just talking about rural, Republican-run towns: These numbers include the state’s two largest cities, Los Angeles and San Diego. Of all 28 cities studied, the average increase in police budgets was 19 percent over three years.
The report highlights the example of Greenfield, a small but fast-growing city in Monterey County. Before legalization, Greenfield spent $2.3 million on its police department of about 16 full-time employees. Its police budget has since grown 56 percent to $3.6 million, and the department has more than doubled its workforce, to about 34 full-time employees.
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