Re: Big surprise
Seconded.
For a while, I lived in a neighborhood where they decided to disband the police department and replaced it with "Community Counselors". They played a role very similar to what the Police are supposed to e, but they were trained to approach situations from a point of view of "You shouldn't drive through a red light because you might hurt someone you didn't see" rather than "You broke the law, here is a ticket". The end result was the same (A fine was issued) but the reaction from the ticketed person was completely different. It also helped that when someone paid a fine, they'd receive a receipt that details where the money went (most red-light tickets went to replacing intersections with round-a-bouts).
They'd also do 'good-will' patrols where they'd go through a neighborhood and ask if anyone needed help with anything and would help with everything form helping the elderly with groceries, to talking with a neighbor to find a compromise for an unsightly hedge. It also helped that they were hired from the neighborhoods they'd patrol so the department would be representative of the area's citizens.
Complaints dropped significantly (somewhere between 90-95%) and the crime-rate plummeted as well. Something that the old police department went bankrupt trying to fix by building out CCTV networks, install speed / red light cameras, increase staffing, and buy more powerful equipment.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
