Congressional talks to overhaul police departments failed last year after nearly a year of negotiating. The Justice Department has announced federal investigations into police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville, but criminal justice advocates have called on Mr. Biden to make greater use of his executive authority to rein in the police. The outgoing White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said on Friday that the administration was still in the process of finalizing an executive order on police reform.
Despite calls in the wake of widespread protests in 2020 to cut funding from law enforcement and increase spending on health care and education, Mr. Biden has said the best way to fight crime and bring about reform is to invest in police departments.
On Friday, Mr. Biden also commended states that used the funds to invest in community-based safety programs, such as a Wisconsin initiative that deployed community members to work directly with people who are the most likely to commit gun crimes.
“The best way to get the reform done as quickly as possible is to go local, and to make sure we invest in the police departments,” Mr. Biden said.
The $10 billion in spending included funds to hire additional officers, surge overtime payments, purchase police cars and gun-detection technology, and improve radio systems and training facilities.
Speaking at the White House on Friday, James E. White, the Detroit police chief, said the money allowed him to expand a program that pairs police officers with social workers to better help those with mental illnesses. Asked for an example of how the federal funds helped his department, Chief White said the additional money had allowed him to hire someone to improve diversity in his agency.
The $10 billion figure does not include some state spending plans that are at odds with Mr. Biden’s public safety priorities, such as Alabama’s plan to use $400 million of pandemic relief funds to build two prisons, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.