This is the first article in my Almost November series on elections. In the coming months we will be covering election-related topics at the local, state, and federal levels. I do not discuss the pros/cons of defunding police in this article, but rather the who/how of getting police defunding on the table.
First of all, I understand that not everyone who cares about police violence is able to vote, whether due to age, immigration status, or voter disenfranchisement (so often linked to biased policing… just saying). If you are not able to vote in the upcoming election, don’t worry. Writing or calling the following elected officials is an important part of getting the community’s voice heard, and something that you can do regardless of voter status.
As you are probably aware, calls for the defunding of police departments, and investment in communities that are most affected by unjust policing, are growing across the country. With this movement has come a slew of pleas from politicians, activists, and celebrities to contact your representatives, push them on legislation, and to vote in November.
While national reform is certainly an important step in the process of deconstructing the police and prison system in this country, there is an important thing we need to remember: Police are local entities. While we certainly should be pushing for new national standards, it will be difficult to enforce blanket changes on a fragmented system. This is where we come back around to my favorite refrain: LOCAL ELECTIONS ARE IMPORTANT.
Police departments are generally funded at the city, county and state level. At each of those levels, there are elected officials who have a say in the police budget. So let’s look at who these elected officials are. (Note: I use Medford, Oregon as my example because I live here currently, but the system is generally the same across the country.)
State Police
Overview:
The Oregon State Police (OSP), or Oregon State Troopers, serve as our Highway Patrol. They police the stretch of I-5 that runs through the state. OSP also serves as Fish and Wildlife enforcement. If you go fishing here in Southern Oregon, you may see the State Trooper boat out, checking people’s fishing licenses, making sure no one is illegally keeping fish, and looking out for drunk boaters (it’s a thing). OSP also has a forensic medical expert that gets called in to assist across the state when the local force isn’t big enough to have their own team.
Funding:
Funding for the OSP is part of the Oregon State Budget. To create this budget, state agencies submit requests to the governor, then the Governor makes recommendations. The Governor and the Chief Financial Officer then go over the budget and make sure it’s feasible. It then goes to the legislature to get voted on. For the fiscal term of 2019-2021, the Governor’s proposed budget for the OSP was $493,600,846.
Races to Watch:
The Governor has a lot of control over what is prioritized in the discussion about budget. If you want to ensure that a particular agency or issue is discussed, having a governor who cares about it will go a long way. However, the budget is ultimately approved by the legislature. That means that all of the district representatives and state legislators eventually have a say in the process.
County Sheriff
Overview:
First, I highly recommend you watch the John Oliver episode on Sheriffs departments across the US. His research is always top notch. Sheriffs have a lot of power, especially in more rural states like Oregon. They are responsible for the county jail, as well as providing a law enforcement presence at the courthouse. They also serve as the main law enforcement agency for all the unincorporated areas, and all the towns too small to have a police department. In most counties they are responsible for search and rescue operations. They can also conduct traffic stops, arrest people, and conduct investigations. That’s a lot.
Funding:
Funding for the Sheriff’s Department comes out of the county budget. In Jackson County, the Sheriffs receive the third most money of any agency in the county, second to Roads and Parks, and Health and Human Services. In total they were granted about $34 Million for 2019-2020.
Races to Watch:
First, and most importantly, County Sheriff is an elected position in the state of Oregon and in many other states! Here in Oregon a Sheriff will serve for four years. Our next Sheriff election will be in 2022. The county budget, including the Sheriff’s Department budget, is decided by a group of people that includes the three elected County Commissioners. County commissioner races tend to get overlooked by local media, but county government is actually quite powerful. Additionally, at least here, they do a lot of open-to-the-public or publicly broadcast meetings, so you can keep tabs on what they’re up to.
City Police
Overview:
Not every city has a police force. Those that do not usually fall under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff’s Department. However, most medium to large towns do have a local police department, and they’re the cops that you see around most frequently. City police departments have all the responsibilities we have come to identify with police. They respond to emergency calls, do traffic stops, investigate crimes, arrest people, etc.
The discussion about police brutality in the US mostly centers around these local departments. While much of the media attention centers around police forces in large cities, small towns face many of the same problems with biased policing. Finding information about your local police department can be hard. I suggest reading the department’s own reports about what their priorities are (budget docs are great for this).
Funding:
Even in small towns like Medford, police departments are expensive. We have 108 police officers here, and for the fiscal term of 2019-2021 they were expected to receive almost $44 Million in total. While this is not a lot compared to departments in big cities, it is a large chunk of the city budget. The fire department receives about $27 Million, in comparison.
To put this in perspective, the Portland police department serves a city of just over 2 million (side note: PPD have not been handling these protests very well, see here, and have weird links to right wing militias, see here… sketch). They have about 900 officers, and were expected to receive about $244 Million before demands for police defunding began. That budget is currently under negotiation. Even that number pales in comparison to the Los Angeles Police Department, which has about 9,000 officers in total, and has a budget of over a BILLION dollars.
Races to Watch:
It’s important to remember that even these big police departments are still local entities, subject to city funding and approval. Budget approval can vary city to city, but in general the elected officials with budgetary influence are the Mayor and the City Council.
I’m going to be honest, I did not know who my mayor was off the top of my head… And I’ve been researching local politics for a while! Especially in small towns where the county and state authority is often equally as important, city elections can get overlooked. Now is a great time to find out who your mayor is (be more informed than me), and to find out who your city councilperson is.
All of politics is just peer pressure, and this is a chance to use that pressure for good. There is a city councilperson living in every ward in the city, find out who it is! Rally your neighborhood, and approach them as concerned neighbors. Their literal job is to represent their constituents, so make sure they know what you want!
In Conclusion…
It’s easy to see the horrifying things happening around the country and think “wow someone needs to do something about that, this president is terrible!” But the reality is that while racism is a national (and international) problem, funding for police departments, and police themselves, are a local issue. Writing to your senator in Washington DC is important, we do need national attention and action to make this work, but writing to your city, county, and state officials is JUST AS IMPORTANT.
If you’re an Oregonian, look through the budgets that I have linked throughout this article, and notice how many of the items listed are things that affect your day to day life. If you are not an Oregonian, consider looking up your local budgets and taking a little scroll through. Budgets are long and boring, and therefore no one expects their constituents to actually read them. This is the year that we need to prove to our local, state, and national representatives that we are knowledgeable– we do read, and we also CARE. The devil is in the details, so they say… Guess it’s time to give ‘em hell.