Justice system takes biggest hit when budget crunch gets local

I'm not surprised by news that Houston may be slashing overtime for police and firefighters in response to a budget crunch that's even been receiving international attention.

There are ways to reduce staffing costs without reducing police coverage, but I'm less than sanguine anyone in Houston will seriously consider them. Houston should be authorizing police officers to issue citations instead of making arrests for low-level, nonviolent misdemeanors. And eliminating responses to false burglar alarms by initiating verified response would be like adding dozens of cops to the force without costing the city a dime.

Governments at all levels - federal, state and local - are facing historic budget crises this year, but criminal justice spending affects government inversely from Washington to city hall.

At the federal level, spending on law enforcement and prisons, even if one includes border security and immigration detention costs, is dwarfed by budgets for national defense and entitlements. In an era in Washington where "trillion is the new billion," costs for federal prisons, the FBI, DEA, etc., aren't particularly expensive compared to expanding national health insurance or fighting multiple wars of choice overseas.

At the state level, criminal justice spending of all types is typically the third or fourth largest state spending priority - big enough to be significant but not the dominant force in the budget. In Texas it comes in behind behind education, health care and transportation.

At the local level, though, criminal justice-related expenses typically make up the lion's share of the budget. Counties must finance jails, courts, the Sheriff's department, constables, pay lawyers for indigent defendants, and generally pay a host of costs related to criminal justice. Meanwhile, police departments are an enormous cost driver for cities - often the single largest item in their budget.

So as long as the housing market is down and property tax intake remains low, criminal justice spending will continue to take the biggest hit at the local level. Houston won't be the last city looking to cut police budgets, but how they choose to do so may set the tone for how other Texas cities handle similar situations.