Crime prevention takes more than cops

Lisa Borders, Atlanta City Council president, had her home burglarized according to an AJC article. At the end of the story, Borders said that she hopes "she hopes President-elect Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package will result in more money for Atlanta to hire more police officers." See http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2009/01/08/lisa_borders_burglary.html

Hopefully this will make them think again about the police furloughs. It kind of bothers me though. Atlanta absolutely needs to expand the police force; we are so understaffed compared to other cities.

But that won't be enough. The economy is terrible. There is a massive gap between the richest and poorest and the options they have for coping with the poor economy. And basically, there are a lot of people who are at rock bottom - they have everything to gain and nothing to lose from crime. Even if they get caught, they will at least get room and board in jail.

So yes, it will be a blessing if the economic stimulus will make it possible to reinstate and hire more police. But we also need it to create enough decent jobs for everyone, to help with education or training, and to make sure people can afford the basic needs of life - food, medical care, transportation, housing...