Slower quality of life police response increases disorder; disorderly streets have more serious crime

PBA president Patrick J. Lynch said: 

“There are significant costs associated with the loss of 7,000 police officers during the last decade.  One cost is a slower response to non-critical calls like noise and disorderly conduct complaints which not only lowers the quality of life in the city but increases the perception of disorder.  We have learned from the past that disorderly streets create an environment where more serious crime can flourish and we see that happening now.  Along with slower response times, it costs the city millions for police overtime just to keep minimum staffing levels up.  The only way to improve response times and the quality of life while reducing costs is to hire more police officers.”