Pubdate: Sun, 26 Jun 2005
Source: News-Press (FL)
Copyright: 2005 The News-Press
Contact:  http://www.news-press.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1133
Author: Grant Boxleitner, staff

STUDY: MORE COPS WILL LOWER CRIME RATE

Lee Sheriff Agrees With FSU Professor's Results

For years, lawmakers, police, judges and the public have debated
whether more cops on the streets really curbs crime.

Local law enforcement officials are saying yes.

A study co-written by a Florida State University professor released
this week provides evidence that additional police will help prevent
certain opportunistic crimes, such as burglaries and auto thefts.
Several previous studies have shown more officers makes little or no
difference in crime reduction.

FSU law professor Jonathan Klick researched Washington, D.C., police
from March 2002 to July 2003, when terror alert levels climbed four
times and more officers were added on the streets. He documented a 15-
percent drop in crime during the times more police were on duty.

"There's no reason to think D.C. police are any different to those in
Florida," Klick said.

Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott said he agrees with the
more-cops-equals-lower-crime theory. During his 2004 campaign he once
quipped: "Ask the drug dealers if they want more cops on the streets."

Scott, who has eliminated a handful of non-deputy positions, has asked
for 44 more road deputies in his budget proposal to the Lee County
Commission.

"I think a higher visibility is bound to discourage crime, red-light
runners and more," Scott said. "The study makes sense."

Just adding cops without a detailed plan can be a tough sell to
elected officials who hold the purse strings. Scott, Fort Myers Police
Chief Hilton Daniels and other officials have to prove the need for
more personnel.

Daniels said it's critical to have a strategy -- either reactive or
proactive -- for every new officer hired.

"I can put a cop on each corner of a neighborhood, and there won't be
crime there," Daniels said, "but what about the middle of the block?"

Daniels said he's asked for 16 more officers for the coming fiscal
year. That would be as many as the department has added since 2000.
The Fort Myers Police Department had 161 officers in 2000 and 177 today.

Cape Coral police spokesman Angelo Bitsis declined to comment on the
study.

Collier County sheriff's spokesman Sheri Mausen agreed more deputies
would help prevent crime because of increased visibility.

"That's why Sheriff (Don) Hunter is a big believer in take-home cars
for our deputies," she said. "But there has to be a demonstrated need
above and beyond just an increase in population."

Nevertheless, based on the findings, Klick said increasing police by
25 percent throughout the nation would be a justified investment.

"By adding more cops, you would get a pretty big bang for your buck,"
Klick said.

That likely won't happen in the near future.

The federal Community Oriented Policing Services grants -- credited
for adding more than 100,000 officers since it began in 1994 -- have
been scaled back as priorities shifted to terrorism.

As a result, law enforcement agencies in Southwest Florida may have to
make the most of officers already on the payroll.
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