DC mayor increases police funding in 2023 budget proposal

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) on Wednesday proposed a 2023 budget that would bump up public safety and police funding in the capital.

Bowser earmarked $1.7 billion of the proposed $19.5 billion budget for public safety and justice, according to the mayor’s presentation to the city council, which is an increase from $1.5 billion last year.

Public safety spending includes $30 million to “put the district back on the path” to 4,000 Metropolitan Police Department officers. Bowser tweeted that hiring and retaining more officers was a priority for the city.

“We must throw every resource at reducing crime,” she wrote.

A city official told The Washington Post that Bowser’s goal to reach 4,000 officers in the city could take nine years, although the MPD currently has about 3,580 officers.

After the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year, “Defund the police” became a rallying cry that actually spurned some cities to strip down police department budgets, including Portland, Ore., which later increased its budget by $5 million last year.

In D.C., violent crimes soared last year, making 2021 one of the most deadliest in the city’s history with 226 homicides, up from 198 in 2020.

Bowser has voiced concern with rising crime in D.C. and has fought it through Building Blocks, her gun violence prevention program.

In the 2023 proposed budget, Bowser proposed significant investments in crime and violence prevention, including $1.7 million to support critical violence intervention services and $6 million to support at-risk and incarcerated youth.

In a budget engagement forum last month, Bowser said “we have had some extraordinarily heartbreaking incidents of violence and loss of life.”

“We can’t sit around and wait for the federal government to fix it,” she said. “We will continue to invest in programs and organizations that are working proactively to combat gun violence.”