Here’s How Much Money New Jersey Spends On Cops, Prisons: Report

NEW JERSEY — Spurred largely by a wave of protests over the past few years – including the “defund the police” movement – local governments across New Jersey have been taking a hard look at how they fund their police departments and correctional systems.

But where does New Jersey rank against other states when it comes to spending on cops and prisons?

Recently, MoneyGeek released a list of “Policing and Corrections Spending by State,” which can be seen here. The list compares states based on how much they spent on policing and corrections in 2019, the year before George Floyd was murdered.

States were ranked using per capita spending and the proportion of total state and local spending to learn which states spend the most on policing and corrections. Read the full study and learn more about its methodology here.

New Jersey ranked as the state with the 15th highest spending overall, with a $656 per capita rate – about 5.16 percent of its entire spending total.

Nationwide, per capita spending on law enforcement and corrections was about 5.17 percent of the entire spending total at $635 – totals nearly identical to New Jersey’s.

The states with the highest overall spending rates included Nevada (#1), Washington D.C. (#2) and Florida (#3). The state with the lowest overall spending was Iowa, which spent $418 per capita on police and corrections – just 3.52 percent of its entire total.

Overall, the U.S. spent $205 billion on law enforcement, amounting to $123 billion spent on policing and $82 billion on corrections.

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