Ok, Dwarf_Fever, you wanna go into numbers, here ya go:
https://www.columbus.gov/finance/financial-management-group/budget-management/2020-Operating-Budget/ >>>
https://www.columbus.gov/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=2147512517Breaks down the various categories, income streams, plus the last couple years for comparison, so they're closer to 1 billion than the half a billion which the chart listed, they still spend a full third on cops alone, and roughly a quarter on firefighters.
Hell let's break it down further, looking at the budget breakdown it looks like of the 332 million spent on police personnel it works out to ~140,179.54 each counting uniformed/non-uniformed police, while the 252 million spent on fire personnel works out to 152,458.77 with the same breakdown, though nearly 412 vs 1963 cops non-uniformed/uniformed compared to only 51 vs 1606 firefighters makes it seem like uniformed firefighters are valued more than cops are.
How many times do said firefighters burn buildings down, or hack people to death with fire axes instead of pulling them out of buildings?
I don't think anybody is misguided about what firefighters do or why we need them or why they're worth spending a big chunk of a budget on, even if you don't have a bunch of fires in a given year, lightning strikes, bad wiring, falling asleep with a cigarette in your hand, forgetting to clean out a fireplace enough, and many more types of accidents, plus occasional assholes lighting shit on fire that gets out of hand... no, I don't think anybody worries when fire trucks show up to save their shit.
What exactly is the lightning strike, dozing off with a cigarette in your hand, dirty fireplace type of analogue for cops?
I'd ask if there is REALLY that much crime to make them necessary, but as I and others explained, most of what cops do isn't anything which needs a gun, and unfortunately lots of times when they use their guns... it just makes shit worse for some poor fuck who was in the wrong place right then and definitely didn't do shit worth being executed for.
See, if firefighters were just partying on their paychecks and ignoring calls and people died because they weren't doing their job I'd see being pissed about how much they take out of a city budget... but they're not.
Why is having a militarized force trained to react to human shaped objects as potential threats and targets necessary?
Why is it hard to imagine the various suggested alternative structures might both serve their community better and directly harm their communities less?
ARE YOU A POLICE COMMISSIONER? You gotta fess up man, out with it.