Question: Which costs the City more, the loss of a bucket of sand, or dispatching a police officer to investigate the theft of said sand? Here are some rough -- ahem, very rough -- calculations:
Let's say that one cubic yard of playground sand costs about $30, or $1.11 per cubic foot. The bucket in question is probably a little smaller than a cubic foot. So let's say the amount of sand taken cost about a buck.
Now, let's assume two LPD employees were involved: the dispatcher, and the officer on the scene. We'll start with the dispatcher. He had to take the call, look up the perpetrator's address, and dispatch an officer. Let's say that all took 5 minutes. Let's further say that the dispatcher "costs" $20 per hour. The dispatcher's role cost $1.67.
The officer had to take the call, drive to the scene, interview the perpetrator, and write a report. Let's say that took 20 minutes. We will pretend that the officer "costs" $25 per hour, so the officer's role cost $8.33. We will add another $1.00 for gas.
Add it all up, and you're got $11 spent to pursue the recovery of $1 worth of sand. Honestly, I think the sand estimate is high and the LPD cost estimate is low. Regardless, clearly it cost much more to pursue the sand bandit than the sand was worth. Eleven times as much, by this estimate. The woman trying to save her tax dollar instead wasted much more of them.
In all fairness, the cost ratio certainly isn't the only factor that should come into play when reporting a (potential) crime. But come on, one bucket of sand?
Comments
See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.
Well, we know where Robin Eschliman was last Wednesday afternoon.
Sounds like a soccer mom with too much time on her hands.
Share your thoughts with the community.
Commenting is no longer permitted on this post.