Cost-Saving Innovations in Policing

Dismayed as I may be over the sometimes heavy-handed actions of police, I would never suggest that the necessary role they play in society is exaggerated. Nonetheless, there appear to be ways of providing service that help to reduce overall costs without sacrificing effectiveness.

A story in yesterday's Star, called The thinning blue line discusses how American forces are coping with declining budgets by using civilian investigators to do the paperwork for non-violent crimes such as burglaries, as well as adopting new technologies that replace the human factor. It is an article well-worth reading.