Just pumping numbers of cops on the street doesn't affect your crime rate in the long run. East Providence's figures support DeNaro's contention. Its crime rate ranked near the bottom, at 31st in the state, several places below East Greenwich's. East Providence Police Chief Gary L. Dias agrees it isn't the number of officers you have, it's how you use them. Dias attributes the low crime rate to his department's relationship to the residents.
People report crimes, people report suspicious activity.
Dias's department has tried to further those ties by putting temporary substations in troubled areas, by creating a Community Police Academy, in which citizens learn about police work and are encouraged to help out. Police also look for trouble before it happens, Dias said. The department recently got an award for a program that teaches teenage girls how to avoid abusive relationships with boys. His research, for example, showed cities across the country hiring more police as their black populations increased, apparently because the white population feared the increasing number of blacks. When the blacks gained political power, and control over the budget, police spending dropped off.