How much scope is there for cutting spending on police? Just to give you an idea, here’s the variation in spending among big California cities:
In Los Angeles, residents pay an average of $750 per year for police protection. In Fresno, which has about the same violent crime rate, they pay only $450 each. In San Diego, with a modestly lower violent crime rate, they pay about $300 each.
That’s a huge range, and obviously there’s more to the picture than just the crime rate. Nonetheless, it does give at least a hint that there’s considerable scope for reductions in some of our highest spending cities.
