Crime Costs

A zero-tolerance crackdown on drug- and quality-of-life crimes in Buffalo is working very well. Police arrested 500 more people in January and February of this year than in the same period of time last year. And that, it turns out, is creating a big headache for the city, says the local paper.

All that extra crime lab work is expensive. District attorneys and probation officers are getting loaded down with extra cases. And the packed county holding center has to make more room to squeeze in more inmates.

The police commissioner is concerned because lab work for misdemeanor cases must be finished within 90 days for a case to go to trial. If the work's not done in time the charges are dismissed. The district attorney says his lawyers need to work on felonies, not get bogged down in quality-of-life crimes. And the budget director is interested to know how long the policy is going to be in effect because if it's permanent, something's going to have to be done about staffing levels.

Hey, didn't anyone figure there would be consequences and extra workloads from this blitz on crime? Two questions now. One, has quality of life in Buffalo improved? Two, is it worth paying for?