The proposal to hire ten new police officers in Middletown is quite fo

A. Studies had shown that an increase in city’s place force does not necessarily reduce crime -- Strengthener at worst. Irrelevant if assumed word by word since this isn't saying anything to weaken the conclusion. Okay, crimes aren't reduced but are increasing arrests and convictions done? We don't know. Eliminate.

B. When one major city increased its police force by 19% last year, there were 40% more arrests and 13% more convictions -- Strengthener. Eliminate.

C. If funding for the new police officers’ salaries is approved, support for other city services will have to be reduced during the next fiscal year -- While this attacks the conclusion but it doesn't attack the reasoning behind the argument (increased load of arrests and convictions), therefore, eliminate.

D. In most US cities, not all arrests result in convictions, and not all convictions result in prison terms -- Trap. "not all" could be 99 to 1 or 90 to 1. Both could mean an increased caseload. Eliminate.

E. Middletown’s ratio of police officers to citizens has reached a level at which an increase in the number of officers will have a deterrent effect on crime -- Correct. This gives us an alternate reason to believe that increased arrests and convictions may not happen since the crime will reduce due to increased presence of police officers.