海角大神

Donzo Monk has no love for the police.聽

He鈥檚 spent his entire life in Baltimore and says he has learned to expect corruption in local politics and law enforcement. Four years ago, he finished a 10-year prison sentence for selling drugs 鈥� a charge he denies. An officer found drugs on him, he admits, but he says he wasn鈥檛 selling and the search violated his privacy.

But Mr. Monk doesn鈥檛 want fewer police. He wants better police.聽

鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe that they should totally defund the police because we do need law and order,鈥� he says. 鈥淲ithout law and order, we have chaos and anarchy.鈥�

On this issue, Mr. Monk 鈥� a Black man from one of America鈥檚 most liberal cities 鈥撀燼grees with his white Republican governor. In October, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced $150 million to 鈥渞efund the police.鈥� Around two-thirds of the money would go to police aid and salary. Another one-third would fund accountability programs, neighborhood safety, and victim services.聽

The plan almost certainly won鈥檛 pass the state鈥檚 heavily Democratic General Assembly. But, oddly enough, it communicates some consensus. A year after widespread calls to defund or abolish the police, those options are increasingly unpopular. In Maryland, the legislature, governor, and citizens in high-crime areas like Baltimore mostly agree that law enforcement can be reformed, and needs to be.聽

That鈥檚 true across the country, says University of Nebraska Omaha Professor Emeritus Sam Walker. Police reform and police spending aren鈥檛 part of a zero-sum game.聽

鈥淚f Governor Hogan is talking about refunding police, then money becomes the leverage for doing things differently, and I think that鈥檚 an important strategic lever to change things,鈥� says Dr. Walker. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think you have to go through the defund part to say that we want to create a modern and progressive police department that鈥檚 going to handle routine problems in a better way.鈥�

In some ways, Maryland has become a national case study on where to start. This summer 鈥� over vetoes from the governor 鈥� the General Assembly passed bills that repealed the state鈥檚 police bill of rights, restricted no-knock warrants, raised the standard for use of force, required body cameras, and involved civilians in police oversight. Meanwhile some of the state鈥檚 largest cities, including Baltimore, increased their police budgets.聽

The spending and new standards may seem contradictory, but police reform isn鈥檛 a binary. In some areas, research suggests spending more on law enforcement could improve public safety and reduce police violence. In others, spending on social programs would help more. Police budgets are more complicated than terms like 鈥渞efund鈥� or 鈥渄efund鈥� suggest.聽

Uneven police funding

There are around 18,000 police departments in the United States, and about half of them have 10 or fewer officers. By contrast, the largest, in New York City, has roughly 36,000.聽

Almost all funding for law enforcement comes from local sales and property taxes. That means two things: There are huge gaps in funding between counties, and the areas with the most crime often have the least money to spend on police. When budgets are tight, that can create a cascade of higher crime and worse policing.

Even though most funding is local, state and federal governments contribute through aid and grant programs.聽It鈥檚 a complex knot to untangle. It鈥檚 also a reminder that American police budgets are too complicated for a one-size-fits-all solution, says Loyola University Chicago School of Law Professor Stephen Rushin.

鈥淚 think that adequate funding is a prerequisite to quality policing,鈥� says Dr. Rushin. 鈥淲e just need to make sure that that money is being spent not just on things like officers鈥� salary and equipment, but is also being spent in part on accountability.鈥澛�

Cheye Calvo, former 11-year mayor of small Berwyn Heights, Maryland, spent years advocating for police reform after officers, acting on poor intel, botched a no-knock raid on his home. That experience didn鈥檛 change his opinion on their budget.聽

鈥淎s a mayor, I was constantly at the legislature, lobbying for highway user monies and police aid,鈥� says Mr. Calvo. 鈥淭hose are probably the two most regular lobbying things we had to do as a group because funding is a real issue in Maryland.鈥澛�

The view from Baltimore聽

The environment is much different just 30 miles away in Baltimore. Per capita, the city spends a similar amount on police as Washington, the closest major city. But because Baltimore鈥檚 tax base is so much smaller, law enforcement takes up much more of its total budget.

There鈥檚 been a聽huge increase in violent crime during the pandemic, and cities such as Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York have responded with higher funding. Baltimore has as well, with a net $6 million increase in the past year. In a city with some of the state鈥檚 worst schools and some of the country鈥檚 worst public transit, spending more on police can be difficult to stomach.

鈥淚n Baltimore City, it鈥檚 hard to digest 鈥榬efund鈥� when we鈥檝e never taken anything away,鈥� says Ray Kelly, executive director of the Citizens Policing Project and a lifelong Baltimore resident.

Mr. Kelly is part of a team that monitors Baltimore鈥檚 Consent Decree, a 2017 agreement with the federal government to reform the police department after the Department of Justice found officers abused citizen鈥檚 First and Fourth Amendment rights. Among other things, the decree calls for more civilian oversight, community policing, and higher officer accountability.

Those programs can be expensive 鈥� hence the governor鈥檚 鈥渞efund the police鈥� plan.

鈥淎lmost everyone was expressing the same concerns: that they were having difficulty recruiting police officers, that they were having difficulty retaining police officers, and that they didn鈥檛 have funding to do a lot of the things that they wanted to do to improve policing,鈥� says Governor Hogan, in an interview with the Monitor. On the right and the left, he says, almost everyone wants police reform.

Public opinion on the issue is confusing and sometimes contradictory. In a聽Goucher College poll聽last October, 79% of Maryland residents supported 鈥渋ncreasing funding for police departments to hire more or better trained officers鈥� and 54% supported 鈥渞educing the budget for the police department in their community and shifting the funds to social programs related to mental health, housing, and education.鈥澛�

But Mr. Hogan says that debate doesn鈥檛 necessarily have to be an either-or. 鈥淚鈥檓 for funding all of those things.鈥�

Not all Marylanders believe that.聽

Money alone won鈥檛 solve the problem

More than six years ago, the governor canceled a massive project to expand public transportation in some of Baltimore鈥檚 poorest neighborhoods. The city鈥檚 mental health and addiction recovery programs still receive a tiny share of the police budget, says Mr. Kelly. In his view, the police budget is a 鈥渕oral document.鈥� Spending shows priorities; press releases don鈥檛.

鈥淚 think the whole refund rhetoric is pure stagecraft,鈥� says Maryland state Del. David Moon, a Democrat from the Washington suburbs of Montgomery County. 鈥淭here hasn鈥檛 been any defunding in Maryland or its localities.鈥澛�

Even if there had been, says Mr. Calvo, the former mayor, the state鈥檚 problems with policing were never just about funding. Maryland once had some of the nation鈥檚 most police-friendly laws, he says, and those often closed the door on reform. The General Assembly鈥檚 extensive police bills from earlier this year were a first step, in his eyes. Careful police funding can be a second.

鈥淭he more important part is what they do with the funding,鈥� says Peter Moskos, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and former Baltimore police officer.

Money is important, says Dr. Moskos, but leadership and strategy matter much more. In his opinion, both are still big problems in Baltimore. Until they improve, he doesn鈥檛 expect much to change 鈥� funding or not.聽

Neither do residents like Mr. Monk, speaking to the Monitor outside a train station on his way to work. Baltimore鈥檚 problems with crime and policing are like the city鈥檚 problems with poverty or racism, he says. They鈥檙e fundamental, and fixing them feels unrealistic.

Mr. Monk鈥檚 wife, standing next to him, nods in agreement. The police budget, he says, should probably stay the same. The city needs better social services, better education, more opportunities for young people who feel like crime is their only option. At the same time, Baltimore needs officers who aren鈥檛 corrupt, who have better training, who actually live in the city.聽

He rises to catch the train, wearing a black Ravens cap and Nike Air Maxes.聽

鈥淲e need better police, that鈥檚 all,鈥� says Mr. Monk.

Noah Robertson reported from Baltimore. Patrik Jonsson reported form Tybee Island, Georgia.