KCPD has compiled estimates on how much it costs to handle a typical murder, robbery and other crimes. One homicide, for example, costs about $7,837 in salaries, though they say that's a conservative guess.
Police Chief Jim Corwin is using the figures as an argument of why it might be more cost-effective to spend money earlier in a potential crook's life -- before he commits a crime. KCPD is working with UMKC on a study of career criminals, to see if there's anything that could've been done to prevent them from going into crime. Christine Vendel's got a pretty interesting story here. From Corwin:
“If somebody could have intervened in some of these people’s lives earlier, like spending $10,000 for early education and at-risk programs, could we have avoided spending a quarter-of-a-million dollars later, when you consider the cost of prosecution and prison?"
