I just wanted to add additional rebuttal to Russ' "common sense."
New York City Police Department 2003: 37,000 officers, Approximately 1 per 190 citizens, with a violent crime rate of 7.3 per 1000
St Paul PD 2000: 321 officers, Approximately 1 per 1000 citizens, with a violent crime rate of 12.3 per 1000.
These are the figures I was able to Google. I am not a statistician, nor am I a policy wonk. But I get really skeptical when I see someone using the term "common sense" as if they actually had the corner on that market. I find that guys on billboards generally have no more common sense than anyone else, but they do have loud and self-promoting opinions. Hence, it makes sense not to trust any opinion referred to as "common sense." While I admit being less than expert at finding, reading and interpreting data, I have to say that the numbers above suggest that officers in St Paul have their hands full in comparison to the NYPD.
I really don't mean to do the ad hominem thing here-- I just want to be clear on what the SPPD is faced with, and why they earn their dough. Give 'em a break- there are far bigger fish to fry in this town.
Bob Parker Dayton's Bluff
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