According to the article in the February 28th edition of the New York Daily News, "S. Mulls New Precinct", the Staten Island area is considering adding a new precinct (Grace, 2005). One might ask why this is necessary. The population of Staten Island has exploded since 1990, with an over 30 percent increase in population. Many are new immigrants to the area, according to real estate agents, and police admit to having a difficult time controlling crime in the area (Grace, 2005). This may be due to a lack of understanding of local law by the new immigrant population, or due to a lack of education in the area.

             How will the addition of more police officers in the area help to combat crime? According to the police department, it won"t. Police officials cite that while crime fell four percent in Staten Island last year, it fell considerably more in other areas. This is in spite of the fact that the NYPD sent an additional 103 police officers to work in the area, while police staffing dropped in other areas (Grace, 2005). This shows that increasing the police officers in an area may help lower some types of crime, but the costs of adding new officers may not be cost effective in light of the real drops in crime rates achieved.

             Has any research been done on the effects of increasing police staff? One study, that of Lochner and Moretti, did research this topic, and discovered that hiring more police officers is certainly a popular police practice, and it is, in the long run, cost effective. These researchers found that hiring a single police officer for an average of $80,000 a year could reduce the costs associated with crime in an area by almost $200,000 (Lochner and Moretti, 2001). This type of study shows that, while the drop in crime rate may not justify new police officers, the drop in crime related costs easily outweighs the price of a new precinct. Based on these ideas, it is obvious that a new precinct in the Staten Island area is both needed, and cost effective.