About the guide
How to Take Back the Budget is a guide for anyone in a community seeking to understand their city or county budget for policing and how it can be changed. It gives practical steps to quickly translate public budget jargon into real-world information.
This guide was produced in collaboration with the Community Resource Hub (opens in new tab). It is based on lessons learned from budget reviews of police budgets in cities and counties — big and small, nationwide — done by Civilytics in collaboration with local organizers. It is available for free.
What’s inside
- How to gather the budget documents in your city
- How to set your budget review goals and expectations
- How to gather comparisons to put the budget in context
- How to analyze the overall city budget
- How to dig into the details of the police budget
- How to propose alternatives and sustain wins
The guide is structured around the annual budget cycle, with practical advice on what to look for and where to find it, guidance for working through the math, and a calendar for engaging at key points.
Who it’s for
Whether you are in a major city, a smaller town, or a rural county, this guide was written to help you take action over how public funds are raised and spent in your community. The guide pairs well with the #Defund Toolkit (opens in new tab), which helps communities identify concrete steps toward divestment from policing and investment in community safety.