During the nearly three years of the Biden administration, the federal government has sent tens of billions of dollars to local, county, and state law enforcement and wider criminal legal systems (including but not limited to jails, prisons, prosecutors, and courts), providing substantial resources to institutions that harm Black, Latine, and low-income communities. These communities are also facing economic, housing, educational, and other crises. Directing these tens of billions of taxpayer dollars to programs addressing these crises–including to education, job training programs, affordable housing, healthcare, food, and others–would help these communities build safety far better than police do.

This brief attempts to account for all federal funding that has gone to local, county, and state law enforcement and criminal legal systems under the Biden administration. However, because there is no comprehensive reporting about this kind of funding and little transparency, it is impossible to provide a full and accurate picture. Thus, the following is likely an underestimation.