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| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: Fund communities, not police |
| 3 | +date: 2025-10-26 |
| 4 | +description: Mayor-President Sid Edwards and the Metro-Council are currently debating how to proportion the parish's budget. You know that the Baton Rouge police have a history of abuse and violence, and you know that the best way to prevent crime is to fund communities through social programs, homelessness support, good jobs, parks, transportation, schools and other people-centered approaches. The police can only respond to crime, but we can have a safer city by tackling the root causes. Hiring more police officers or paying them more will not address these problems, and they could make them worse. |
| 5 | +imageUrl: |
| 6 | +imageDescription: |
| 7 | +author: Baton Rouge DSA |
| 8 | +hidden: false |
| 9 | +--- |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +Dear Mayor-President Edwards, |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +As we get closer to the deadline for the approval of the 2026 budget, we, the undersigned, would like to address two points within the upcoming budget discussions. First, we stand with the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) workers of Baton Rouge who are concerned about the merger between the fire department and EMS. We believe their job security, wages, and benefits should be given precedence over budgetary decisions that can be promoted as saving taxpayers money, but would infringe upon their conditions as workers. Second, we believe, more generally, that a more robust social safety net can be created in Baton Rouge. |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +A major expenditure that stands in the way of a more robust social safety net is the money spent on police. During your campaign for Mayor-President, the primary focus of your platform was waging an “all-out attack on crime.” In Baton Rouge and other major American cities, policing has been the primary method of addressing crime. Your campaign for Mayor-President was to “raise the standard,” so we are appealing to you to try a different, more effective, method of addressing crime in Baton Rouge. Evidence suggests that police alone do not decrease crime<sup>[1](#ref-1), [2](#ref-2)</sup>. Prevention begins with addressing the root causes of crime. Research has consistently shown that crime and poverty are linked<sup>[3](#ref-3), [4](#ref-4), [5](#ref-5)</sup>. We believe the budgets of other social services should be increased in lieu of increases to the police budget. Funds devoted to addressing the social and material needs of the people of Baton Rouge would be more effective than an increase to the police budget at reducing crime. |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +The root causes of crime in our community include: lack of good-quality affordable housing, education, healthcare, childcare, after-school programs, reliable public transportation, and food security (collectively referred to as "social infrastructure"). These are the areas where we need to invest to achieve a long-term and sustainable reduction in crime. |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +In Baton Rouge, social infrastructure programs are already part of the City-Parish budget, and many of these services would benefit from an increase in funding. Our community centers, the East Baton Rouge Head Start program, the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Center, and the Child Care Food Program could all serve more people and offer better services with an increased budget. Notably, the Community Service Block Grant could be expanded to help many more people in Baton Rouge who need help paying for utilities, housing, and prescription drugs. |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +The police are well-funded in Baton Rouge. In 2025, the budget awarded the Baton Rouge Police Department an annual operating budget of $98,325,230 and the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office a budget of $9,476,640, bringing the total policing budget of Baton Rouge to a quarter of the total budget. Annually, the policing budget increases while Baton Rouge residents still see a department where officers have been allowed to act with negligence and criminality. For example, the horrific actions that allegedly occurred at the “Brave Cave” by the hands of Baton Rouge police officers are of great concern to many of us that value our civil rights and liberties. Moreover, instances like these open the city up to lawsuits that cost the taxpayers even more money. |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +The working class people of Baton Rouge are struggling. According to the most recent data from the U.S Census, 25% of residents in the city of Baton Rouge live below the federal poverty level. According to the Baton Rouge City Key website:<sup>[6](#ref-6)</sup> |
| 24 | +- 57.8% of renters spend 30% or more of their income on the cost of rent |
| 25 | +- 25.7% of children under 18 years of age experienced food insecurity throughout 2022 (the last year data was available) |
| 26 | +- 34.4% of adults with disabilities live below the poverty level |
| 27 | +- 32% of children live below the poverty level |
| 28 | +- 18.6% of families live below the poverty level |
| 29 | +- 13% of people over age 65 live below the poverty level |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +Furthermore, data from the Baton Rouge City Key website demonstrate a strong correlation between poverty and race in Baton Rouge, which indicates that this historical disparity is still a major issue. Moreover, a comparison between Baton Rouge data and national poverty standards suggests that the previously listed statistics underestimate the extent of poverty in the city. |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +Investment of the municipal budget into social programs would ensure that more people can pay rent and put food on their table for themselves and their families. All tax revenues should be used to lift the burdens off working families in Baton Rouge. One of the ways you have already done this is your decision to not allow sales tax revenue to go toward the construction of a new arena at Louisiana State University. We hope you commit to that decision and use the sales tax to make Baton Rouge better for the people who live here. |
| 34 | + |
| 35 | +Policing cannot solve the social problems in Baton Rouge. The people here are struggling financially against a national cost of living crisis. Many are homeless and hungry. Each of these people is a part of our community, and their struggle against a national cost of living crisis is exacerbated by the policy decisions made by our city leadership. It is your responsibility to serve the people of Baton Rouge. We are calling on you to remember your promise to make an all-out attack on crime and raise the standards in Baton Rouge as you deliberate on the City-Parish’s budget this year. Therefore, we urge you to halt all budgetary decisions that infringe on the labor conditions of EMS workers in Baton Rouge. Additionally, we urge you to not increase the policing budget this year and to invest in the social infrastructure of Baton Rouge. |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | +## Get involved |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +You can make your voice heard by <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-mayor-edwards-fund-our-community-not-more-police?source=fund-communities-not-police" target="_blank" >sending a message to Mayor-President Edwards</a>. |
| 40 | + |
| 41 | +<a href="https://act.dsausa.org/donate/membership/?source=Baton%20Rouge" target="_blank">Join the Baton Rouge Democratic Socialists of America</a>. A better world is possible. Together, we can make it real.🌹 |
| 42 | + |
| 43 | +## References |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +<ol> |
| 46 | + <li> |
| 47 | + <span id="ref-1"></span>McLendon, L., Eisenberg, R., & Wilson, N. (2024). <i>Improving Public Safety Through Better Accountability and Prevention</i>. The Center for American Progress. <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/improving-public-safety-through-better-accountability-and-prevention/" target="_blank">https://www.americanprogress.org/article/improving-public-safety-through-better-accountability-and-prevention/</a> |
| 48 | + </li> |
| 49 | + <li> |
| 50 | + <span id="ref-2"></span>Kim, E., Bowers, K., Birks, D., & Johnson, S. D. (2024). Size isn’t everything: Understanding the relationship between police workforce and crime problems. Journal of Criminal Justice, 95, 102291. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2024.102291" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2024.102291</a> |
| 51 | + </li> |
| 52 | + <li> |
| 53 | + <span id="ref-3"></span> Craigie, T.-A., Grawert, A., & Kimble, C. (2024). <i>Conviction, Imprisonment, and Lost Earnings: How Involvement with the Criminal Justice System Deepens Inequality</i>. Brennan Center For Justice. <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/conviction-imprisonment-and-lost-earnings-how-involvement-criminal" target="_blank">https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/conviction-imprisonment-and-lost-earnings-how-involvement-criminal</a>. |
| 54 | + </li> |
| 55 | + <li> |
| 56 | + <span id="ref-4"></span> John R. Hipp & Charis E. Kubrin. (2017). From bad to worse: How changing inequality in nearby areas impacts local crime. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 3(2), 129. <a href="https://doi.org/10.7758/rsf.2017.3.2.06" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.7758/rsf.2017.3.2.06</a>. |
| 57 | + </li> |
| 58 | + <li> |
| 59 | + <span id="ref-5"></span> Raphael, S., & Winter‐Ebmer, R. (2001). Identifying the effect of unemployment on crime. The Journal of Law and Economics, 44(1), 259–283. <a href=" https://doi.org/10.1086/320275" target="_blank"> https://doi.org/10.1086/320275</a>. |
| 60 | + </li> |
| 61 | + <li> |
| 62 | + <span id="ref-6"></span> Baton Rouge Louisiana QuickFacts. (n.d.). US Census Bureau. <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/batonrougecitylouisiana/PST045224" target="_blank">Census data</a> |
| 63 | + </li> |
| 64 | +</ol> |
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