What Will the Ecnonomy Do to the Crime Rate?

As we already know, the City of Camden, NJ, is laying off half of its police officers and almost half of its firefighters.  Newark, NJ, has already laid off more than 160 police officers this year.  Other towns across cash-strapped New Jersey have already laid off cops and firemen, or are planning on doing it soon.  Here in Pennsylvania, we are feeling the crunch too.  Philadelphia's mayor made noise this year when he closed Fire Houses across the city.  The Borough of West Chester, home to such festivities as the Old Fashioned Christmas Parade and the Chester County Restaurant Festival, is facing a 1.5 million dollar budget gap next year.  The borough that has enjoyed so much economic prosperity, so much 'revitalization' in the past two decades, will be faced with some tough choices in the coming years.

Who or what is blame?  Is it the economy?  Is it politicians? Unions? The federal government?  Bad Investments?  Who knows.  Probably a mix of all the above and then some.  The question I have is, what will the reduction of police officer, firefighters and other important public-service jobs cause?  What will happen to towns like Camden, Philadelphia and maybe even West Chester if the the politicians continue on the trend they're on and continue to reduce police, fire, and EMS services?  How long will it take a "great town" like West Chester to regress into the town it was years ago?  Who will really suffer in cities like Camden and Newark?  How long will it take for business owners to pull out all together, and for criminals to expand? 

In my opinion, all too often, politicians campaign on the backs, and at the expense of, the true public servants.  When crime is high, they say they'll fight to lower it.  But who lowers crime?  Do politicians lower crime.  I don't think so.  I think communities, in partnership with police, are the ones to fight crime.  I think its the politicians who like to take the credit.  Then, when crime is low, it's the politicians who think we can do with less police.  They look to "save money" by eliminating jobs.  Or they promise that services will not be cut, and the police will magically be able to do more with less.  But the reality is that crime tends to increase when the economy is in a downturn.  basically, more people turn to crime to get by.  Couple that trend with less cops and firemen, and I think its a recipe for disaster.  The quality of life across the country will decrease, one town at a time. 

So what is the solution?