Akron has been rated the best city in the nation when it comes to return-on-investment on spending for police, with Dayton coming in second.
The calculations of the personal finance site WalletHub compare tax dollars spent per capita for police protection to crime rates, with adjustments made for poverty and unemployment rates and household income. By those calculations, three Ohio cities come out in the top 10 – with Akron ranked first, Dayton second and Cleveland seventh.
Incoming Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan says a key for his city is community relations.
“I think the chief and the current command staff have done a very good job with the walk-and-park and all of those, but I think all of our efforts can be augmented,” he says. “That comes from the mayor’s office on down.”
Horrigan announced this month he’s filling the now vacant position of safety director with Assistant Chief Charles Brown, who has overseen many of the community policing programs.
Cleveland will be spending much more on policing this year as it tries to comply with a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice following a report that found systemic problems with police use of force and shootings.
