Hire more police officers; crime goes down.

That seems like a simple enough equation, but like everything else these days, it's open to debate.

Already the city, and Racine County as well, have responded to a spate of summertime shootings and violence that included two murders in five days in late July. The city is adding $200,000 for increased overtime for city police officers and the county is going to be kicking in $150,000 for the hiring of two new deputies.

Now the City of Racine is also considering going to a referendum to add 12 new officers to bump up the police force from its current level of 199.

Police Chief Kurt Wahlen says that's a good idea and indicated he would probably use it to establish more foot patrols to help areas of the city that need it.

The price tag for adding those dozen new officers has been put at $1 million per year for three years. Right out of the blocks there is some debate stirring over whether that kind of referendum money should be used strictly for more policing, as Alderman Greg Helding advocates, or a combination of more police officers and community programs, as Mayor Gary Becker has suggested.

However that debate turns out and whatever the wording of a proposed referendum, the final say on this issue will be by the voters of Racine. Under a state law that went into effect three years ago the city can't exceed the state's two percent lid on increasing tax levies unless voters approve the spending.

The voting booth may well be the best spot for this decision to be made because it will ask not only "do you want more officers", but the companion question, "are you willing to pay for it?"

Voters would do well to remember there are no guarantees in this.

Two of the recent murders, as Mayor Becker pointed out, happened behind closed doors and an increased police force, he said, would not have prevented them. "Absolutely not," he said.

Racine, like other cities, has held the line on spending in recent years and that has pinched municipal budgets. For years the city had a relatively high ratio of per capita spending for law enforcement. In 2001, for instance, a Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance report listed Racine's spending levels for law enforcement as third among the state's 122 most populous cities and villages. The justification for that spending, of course, has been that crime levels here required it.

That debate on police staffing levels is also complicated by a rise in the number of officer retirements and the department is doing its best to keep up with that situation right now. A stronger police presence would not occur overnight, either, since hiring and training would take several months.

All those issues will fit into the decision-making on this question.

As we said, there are no guaranteed outcomes. Passage of a referendum is no cure-all that would suddenly make crime disappear.

We would like to think that more officers on the street will indeed act as a deterrent to crime and violence. Foot patrols in neighborhoods where they are needed could also be beneficial. It's also part of a larger package that has included innovative crime-reducing efforts like the COP houses and the recently introduced cameras that keep watch over the streets.

We would like to think, too, that more officers would mean faster response times, not only for high priority crimes, but also for the lesser ones as well. Prompt responses give citizens a feeling that police are there when they are needed - even if the crime is a break-in and the thief is long gone.

That's a lot to ask of 12 officers, perhaps. But this referendum will not just be about reducing violent crime. It will be about feeling safer in our community - all areas of our community - not just troubled neighborhoods, but all neighborhoods.

That's worth putting to a vote and letting citizens decide if they want to foot the bill.