The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) delivered $350 billion for state, local, territorial and tribal governments “to respond to the COVID-19 emergency and bring back jobs.” They spent much of it on police, prisons, and the courts.
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A @MarshallProj analysis by me, @Weihua_Li1 and @susie_c, searched 43,000 reports that local governments submitted to the Treasury, and discovered that much of #ARP money is being spent on the criminal justice system.
themarshallproject.org/2022/09/07/how…
Because of lax reporting requirements and little oversight, it’s difficult for us to know just how much went to criminal justice.
More than half of the funds are allocated not to specific projects – but to “revenue replacement,” with no clear break down by department.
Still, there are some clear trends.
We found wide-scale spending on police equipment and infrastructure, jails and prisons, law enforcement staff pay and bonuses, and courts.
Examples? See below.
The Marshall Project found five municipalities used the funding to purchase armored vehicles.
At least 38 governments across the country used #ARP funds for police tasers, and 36 acquired full body scanners with ARPA money.
The city of Syracuse budgeted $499,740 to repair surveillance cameras, $554,400 to purchase taser and virtual reality empathy training, and $171,200 to expand ShotSpotter, a controversial gunshot detection system, in the city.
syracuse.com/crime/2022/07/…
State of Alabama is spending $400 million from #ARP funds on the construction of two prison facilities, which is already the subject of multiple lawsuits.
montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/202…
“We would rather spend that money here on roads and more health initiatives and other more productive things,” said a Texas county official.
Still, the county approved ARPA money to transfer incarcerated people to a distant private prison.
Send us your tips and ideas. What do you want to know? What have you seen in your community or state?
We will continue investigating how ARPA funds are being spent. You can support it here: themarshallproject.org/donate
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