Every town I have lived in that had a larger police force density per citizen has had less crime. The police are a necessary presence to keep order, but the safest place I ever lived supported open carry. We police ourselves better than a police force can. Look at Switzerland, it's one of the crime-less places in the world and they all have guns. I think cops get a bad wrap and these small instances of corruption shouldn't be exasperated, this report is not how the vast majority of police departments operate. In fact this may be the only example of this kind of hiring...
I grew up in a small town with a large police presence. There was little crime outside of drug use (shouldn't be a crime), but the police often got bored and harassed people. They especially harassed poor people, which is a very nice way of "serving" the community. Other cities I have lived in had much better police, but the police in poor areas are often complete scum from my experience.
Poor areas are usually the most crime ridden, because people are pushed the crime because they have a higher unemployment rate. I would imagine cops hate going to places that are more dangerous to them. It's kind of understandable why they might be more hard ass in those places, because it's more dangerous.
I disagree. The crimes are just different and more noticeable in poor areas. Police are by design supposed to be helpful to the community they are in, and if they really are most needed in poor areas, this is where they should be the most effective. Instead, from my experience, they create more problems than they solve.