Gregory Reinhardt: There are a variety of indices used determining staffing, none of which solely determine the "right" number of cops. Uniform Crime Reports (crime numbers), calls for police service, FTE per thousand citizens, budgets, tradition, and customer satisfaction. Ultimately it depends on what citizens want the police to do and how much they are willing spend to reach that desired goal.
Reply: The question posed on the list to candidates regarding how to pay for more police is not as important to me as is the question: how many police are enough? When it comes to basic public services, I don't generally believe in the argument that we can do more with less (I believe in the payoff of more teachers and smaller classrooms, and more public health nurses for better community health, etc., and I don't mind my tax dollars funding these investments), but the question of what's the right size of the police force is more difficult for me to understand. Given the latest murders in North Minneapolis, people's reaction may tend towards believing in the need for more officers. People may support the need for more cops too given the growing demographic trend of youth (which is the age cohort the baby boomlet in the United States is now moving through). Though oddly, the Clinton Cops are often given credit for the reduction in crime during the 90s, when there was a lull in the youth population (combined with good economic times). The case may be that there is a need for more cops, but I haven't heard the case made yet. I would like to hear more from current elected city officials and candidates on the quality and effectiveness of the police force and what constitutes a proper number of officers to ensure public safety given THEIR particular set of criteria. Different candidates likely have different views about policing methods and what quality and effectiveness is. How do these views translate into police numbers and the type and function of police on the streets? With the current council and mayor entertaining a tax increase to pay for more police, the mayoral opposition claiming that he can do a better job at public safety than the current mayor, and city council candidates citing policing and public safety as a top priority, this is an important question. Is it really true that that putting more cops reduces crime? If so, how? Let's look at the stats: According to the City's police information at http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/about/docs/Sec4.pdf, the Minneapolis Police Department shrank steadily from 1,092 (892 of these sworn officers) in 2001 to 905 (750 sworn officers) by 2004, following the LGA cut. According to http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/planning/soc03/HFSPolice.pdf, crimes ALSO decreased in Minneapolis during the same period. >From 2001 to 2002, all crimes decreased by 4% and from 2002-2003, crimes decreased by 8%! Serious crimes (Part 1 crimes) followed similarly, with a 3.4% decrease from 2001 to 2002 and 7% from 2002 to 2003. I don't know how many officers Minneapolis needs, but these stats don't seem to make the case for more police officers. Instead, they underscore the need for a more explicit public discussion and better understanding of the relationship between police force size and crime prevention/intervention effectiveness. In addition to the Minneapolis statistics, other studies call into question the belief that more police equate to less crime. A quote from a study by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), an organization comprised of law enforcement officers and others working in the field of community safety: "PERF identifies several myths commonly held concerning what makes a good police department. These myths include, for example, "A higher ratio of police officers to citizens means higher quality police service." PERF states succinctly, "Nothing could be farther from the truth." The number of police officers per 1,000 population "ignores the diversity among communities' socio-economic structures, their use of public services, the nature of their crime problems and the expectations that a community has of its police agency." It says that the quality of policing is determined by leadership, organization and policy characteristics, not size. http://www.co.st-louis.mo.us/police/muni/WEBDOC1.html The New York Independent Budget Office found that "while many American cities have also opted to increase per capita police staffing in recent years, some other major cities have not. San Diego, Dallas, El Paso and Seattle, for example, enjoyed significant declines in crime between 1990 and 1997 with much smaller increases-in some cases even decreases-in per capita police staffing. Most notable in this regard is the city of San Diego. Now America's sixth largest city, San Diego enjoyed a 45 percent drop in serious crime between 1990 and 1997-a decline accomplished with virtually no change in per capita police staffing as compared to New York City's 18 percent build-up over the same period. Similarly, in Dallas, serious crime fell by 40 percent despite a 3 percent decline in per capita police staffing." http://www.ibo.nyc.ny.us/newsfax/policehiring.html I don't know the specifics behind these differences in outcomes, but the differences again highlight the need for a public discussion about quality and effectiveness of policing in Minneapolis and to better justify increases in the police force. I am interested in hearing perspectives on the list and urge public debate during the campaigns among elected officials and those wanting to become one, police leaders and the front line, those experiencing crime, and those in different neighborhoods who experience the police differently. Jeanne Massey Kingfield REMINDERS: 1. 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