I think there is a lot of value in other services linking with police to do business. Often when I travel in communities, I hear people describe what they need in their community and they describe what they see as a police officer, but when I listen carefully to what they describe, they're describing a social worker or a mental health worker. I think communities know what they need. We need to help them get what they need, but a police officer isn't always the answer to the problems. As a matter of fact, it's very seldom the real answer. I think police intervention should be restricted, but it's important that we get the right help to the right people.
An expensive police officer, at our cost of $200,000 a year and about $280,000 a year total cost, is not always the answer. I would have to agree that a mental health person or a social worker would be, in a lot of cases, a more appropriate response to the issues that people in small communities describe.