Police in New York and New Orleans have had amazing success in recent years, reducing crime with a specific game-plan.
Critics say Utah needs to pay attention because we have no crime plan at all.
News Specialist John Hollenhorst explains how the plan actually works.
It works by holding police leaders accountable, using computerized statistics to keep cops tightly focused.
It may sound like just another bureaucratic shuffle. But the formula seems to work, first in New York, then in New Orleans.
When you hit the streets of New Orleans with officer Richard Chambers, there's pride in the patrol car.
"It feels great, we're helping people," Chambers says.
It's a far cry from what citizens were thinking just three years ago.
"They had one of the worst, most corrupt forces in the country," says resident Robert George.
Reformers sent dozens of cops to jail, and raised the pay, hiring hundreds of new officers.
But to make the mean streets of New Orleans a little less mean, they figured out they had to change the culture. Not the culture of crooks, the culture of cops.
Terry Ebbert, of the New Orleans Police Foundation says, "The most crucial thing in the plan is accountability on everybody's part for performance."
Ronal Serpas is the Chief of Operations to Captains. "The test is in how crime is going down. How many arrests you make last week?" he says.
Every Friday morning, an intense, pressure-cooker meeting.
The Chief says, "Eighty-two arrest warrants have been secured, 44 have been physically arrested."
Eight District Commanders are held accountable by the numbers. The boss likes to make them think their job is on the line every Friday. Sometimes captains squirm like suspects under hot lights.
"Donnie, that, uh, explanation of the burglary, needs some work," Serpas says.
Computerized crime stats are as fresh as the morning coffee, on the map, so they can target resources and plot day-to-day tactics.
Serpas tells the captains, "We know for a fact, over the last year and a half, 66 percent less kids are victims of violence, shootings, stabbings, because we're enforcing curfew and truancy."
Jack Maple devised the process in New York and brought it to New Orleans.
"You gotta get the crime every day and you've got to map it. You've got to map it religiously, every day, in every precinct.," he says.
"Let's talk about the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 armed robberies this week. And a car-jacking," Serpas continues.
"And then in excruciating detail, that commander is quizzed on what they're doing to address that crime," Maple says. He admits they're on the spot, "But you know, children's lives are at stake."
Captain Eddie Compass is a District Commander. "I like the pressure," he claims. "You know, I thrive off the pressure."
The pressure squeezes the chain of command all the way to the station house.
The sergeant says to the officers, "We're the platoon to beat. And we're working circles around the other platoon."
Officer Chambers says, "And as long as they put pressure on you, you're going to do your job and you're going to do it the way they want you to do it."
On the streets, the strategy is relentless. They aggressively enforce all laws, even minor ones, on the theory that little crimes are often committed by big crooks.
Maple explains, "And the good people that just happen to be acting disorderly, they get a ticket and go on their way. The bad ones, however, they go to the pokey!"
Could it work in Utah?
Almost everyone we spoke with says "Yes." But with two caveats:
It will take statewide planning.
And it will take money.
To beat crime in New York and New Orleans, they put more bad guys in jail.
Utah doesn't have any room behind bars, even though our inmate population is about half the national average, per capita.
