There is something reassuring about seeing police officers on the streets. And the more of them a city has, the more they can deploy themselves and make their presence known, or so goes the logic. But how many police officers is too many? At what point do we start seeing diminishing returns for every new officer brought on to the force? Does the District, now in the midst of a violent summer, have too many police officers? Or does it need more?

These are questions that many city officials, activists, and residents are pondering. The recent uproar over violent crime in the District has again rekindled calls for more officers to be added to the force. According to NBC 4’s Tom Sherwood, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams would like to see the city’s police force grow to 5,000, a substantial increase from the 3,800 currently serving in its ranks and the 4,250 it is expected to grow to in the coming years. But this is hardly a new call — councilmember and mayoral candidate Vincent Orange (D-Ward 5) pushed legislation last year to add 1,600 new officers to the force, though the measure failed.

Is this the answer? Most people would say no. The District has always outpaced other cities in the number of police officers per resident, and the sheer numbers have had little effect on the city’s consistently high rates of crime. In 1990, the District had 742 police officers per 100,000 residents, and in 2000, the number stood at 631 per 100,000 residents. If the police force were to grow to 5,000 officers, that proportion would increase to over 800 police officers per 100,000 residents, a shockingly high number.

So what’s the answer? Well, first off, redeployment. Police officers have to walk their beats, making their presence known more consistently than they have before. Policing is more a matter of quality than it is quantity, a point the District has proven for decades. Secondly, priorities. This may be the right time for city officials to start discussing the role local police officers play in non-local functions — motorcades for federal government officials, security detail for visiting dignitaries, etc. The less our local police officers can concentrate on local issues, the more time they’ll spend chasing after criminals instead of helping prevent the crimes altogether.

Obviously, this is a bigger issue than we give it credit for, and there are a number of variables to consider. But it’s somewhat disappointing to see our councilmembers simply vote for increases in numbers because the idea looks good on paper, but usually fails in practice. As we have mentioned before, we would have been happier seeing the council take its time to really debate effective crime-fighting measures instead of merely papering over the issue with solutions of questionable efficacy.