Stoneville Council Member: The number of police officers per one thousand residents is substantially higher in Stoneville than in any other town or city in the same region, and Stoneville does not have higher crime rates than average. Considering that Stoneville's government has been running a substantial deficit for the past few years, Stoneville should reduce the size of its police force to help balance the budget. Stoneville currently employs more police officers than it needs, and so such an action would have little collateral impact on public safety.
Type- evaluate
Boil it down - SV employs more police than it needs and thus reduction in size would have little impact
Pre-thinking - What if size of police force is a deterent ?
(A) Are Stoneville's police officers paid more than their counterparts in the region's other cities and towns? - Irrelevant - average pay of officers is not a concern since we are talking about reduction in number
(B) Over the past few years, has Stoneville's police department attempted to increase its efficiency or reduce its internal operating costs? - irrelevant
(C) Does Stoneville's unusually large police presence act as a deterrent to crime? - correct
(D) Is Stoneville's population significantly higher than that of the other towns and cities in the region? - Irrelevant as we are talking about police per thousand residents
(E) Has the crime rate increased over the last ten years in the cities and towns surrounding Stoneville? - Irrelevant
Answer C
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