At a time when many municipalities are cutting services, comes this notable story by Gabriel Kahn from the Wall Street Journal:

"Shrinking budgets are forcing such cities as Phoenix, Portland, Ore., and San Diego to make deep cuts, including to police. But Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton has grown his department with a persuasive argument about the financial costs of crime.

The city is adding 1,000 police officers, pushing its force levels in the Los Angeles Police Department to above 10,000 for the first time. Even as the city faces a more than $400 million shortfall for this fiscal year and next, the police budget -- the city's most costly department -- is emerging largely unscathed."

The article also notes the significant decline in crime in L.A. during the past six years which coincides with a sizable increase in the number of police officers.  While crime is surely a multifaceted problem, perhaps one of the answers is straightforward: more police results in less crime.  As Harvard law professor Bill Stuntz discusses, putting more "boots on the ground" likely is part of the answer to reducing crime in neighborhoods which are often seriously underpoliced.  The LA statistics seem to support this assertion. 

Interesting, Police Chief Bratton also argues that more police results in a fiscal savings for the city:

"Mr. Bratton said he thinks of Los Angeles's crime reduction as money in the bank. "The cost of a homicide to the city is $1 million," he said, citing an estimate based on a study by the National Institute of Justice that takes into account such costs as criminal trials and police salaries. 'We've reduced the homicide rate by nearly 300 in six years," he said. "That's a $300 million annual benefit to the city.'"