Law Enforcement Budget Process
Law Enforcement and It’s Budget Process
LEA 432
William Forbes
October 7, 2012
Law Enforcement and it’s Budget Process The economic downturn of the past several years has been devastating to local economies and, by extension, their local law enforcement agencies. According to a report by the National Institute of Justice, the United States is currently experiencing the 10th economic decline since World War II (Wiseman 2011). The impact of this downturn will result in a change of how law enforcement services are delivered. As has been discussed by the COPS Office Director, Bernard Melekian, in a series of recent articles published in the Community Policing Dispatch, expectations will not be lowered just because an agency now has fewer officers, or because the budget is limited. Simply doing less while waiting for local budgets to recover to pre-2008 levels is not a viable option. Law enforcement leaders are faced with budget contractions that are in need to identified in different ways to deliver police services and, perhaps more importantly, articulate what the new public safety models will look like to their communities (Melekian 2011a). The effects of the economic downturn on law enforcement agencies may be felt for the next 5–10 years, or worse, permanently. These changes could be permanently driven not just by the economy, but by local government officials who determined that allocating 30–50 percent of their general fund budgets for public safety costs is no longer a fiscal possibility (Melekian 2011b). While it appears that the economy is beginning to recover on the national level, most economists agree that local jurisdictions are still in decline and will continue to be so, at least in the short term. Due to the decline of tax revenues because of Foreclosures County and municipal budgets tend lagging behind the general economy, which is one of the main source of funding
LEA 432
William Forbes
October 7, 2012
Law Enforcement and it’s Budget Process The economic downturn of the past several years has been devastating to local economies and, by extension, their local law enforcement agencies. According to a report by the National Institute of Justice, the United States is currently experiencing the 10th economic decline since World War II (Wiseman 2011). The impact of this downturn will result in a change of how law enforcement services are delivered. As has been discussed by the COPS Office Director, Bernard Melekian, in a series of recent articles published in the Community Policing Dispatch, expectations will not be lowered just because an agency now has fewer officers, or because the budget is limited. Simply doing less while waiting for local budgets to recover to pre-2008 levels is not a viable option. Law enforcement leaders are faced with budget contractions that are in need to identified in different ways to deliver police services and, perhaps more importantly, articulate what the new public safety models will look like to their communities (Melekian 2011a). The effects of the economic downturn on law enforcement agencies may be felt for the next 5–10 years, or worse, permanently. These changes could be permanently driven not just by the economy, but by local government officials who determined that allocating 30–50 percent of their general fund budgets for public safety costs is no longer a fiscal possibility (Melekian 2011b). While it appears that the economy is beginning to recover on the national level, most economists agree that local jurisdictions are still in decline and will continue to be so, at least in the short term. Due to the decline of tax revenues because of Foreclosures County and municipal budgets tend lagging behind the general economy, which is one of the main source of funding
References: Gary, L (2003) Breaking the Budget Impasse. Pg 3, Retrieved September 30, 2013, Idio, U. S. (2012). THE BUDGET AS A MANAGEMENT TOOL: ZERO BASE BUDGETING, PANACEA TO BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION IN NIGERIA. Global Journal of Social Sciences, 11(1), 1-7. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1036581432?accountid=32521 http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/e101113406_Economic%20Impact.pdf Melekian, B., (2011a). Director’s Message. Community Policing Dispatch vol. 4, no. 3. http://cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/03-2011/DirectorMessage.asp. Melekian, B., (2011b). Director’s Column: July 2011. Community Policing Dispatch vol. 4, no. 7. http://cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/07-2011/DirectorMessage.asp. Wiseman, J., (2011). Strategic Cutback Management: Law Enforcement Leadership for Lean Times. Research for Practice, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, NCJ 232077.