Are cops cost-effective?
I was shocked to discover several fallacies regarding North American law enforcement in reports, studies and court cases. One of the more notable ones is the general belief that a police department is thought to be a good investment. A well foot-noted document by Roger Roots studied the constitutionality of cops generally, and along the way made some significant discoveries about costs, titling the section, "COPS NOT COST-EFFECTIVE DETERRENT". Now that's a pretty blatant statement and one I'm sure most citizens would take issue with. So rather than simply trust the data at wholesale, I looked at Des Moines' police department budget for 2009 in search of some guidance on the issue. The average cop's annual salary exceeds $100,000, not including side jobs where they act as security guards at convenience stores and bars. What's an arrest worth? I found, for instance, if you judge police effectiveness on arrests alone, they come at a cost of nearly $4,000 ea