Campion said his high number of police and his relatively low crime rate show that East Greenwich has found the right answer, although he also said he's doing things to reduce crime, such as using his computer system to learn where and when crimes are happening, to try to prevent them. It all depends on what the town wants. But when pressed on whether he thinks he has enough officers, Lazzaro hesitated. If he said he had enough officers, his officers wouldn't like it, and he'd likely torpedo any hope of getting more money from the town. But if he said he doesn't have enough, he'd have implicitly criticized the town manager and Town Council, who hire him and set his budget.
Some police chiefs agree.
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.