The effect is palpable in New York. The current lead candidate is campaigning on a promise of increasing police powers. There was direct campaigning on not letting New York become San Francisco, and keeping the Chesas out of the DA seats.
But the way to sell it? Call those social services police.
"Neighborhood police", "Homeless/mean drug addict police", "road police", "proximity police". They should be able to coordinate (share a police precinct) or even have multiple roles in smaller cities.
35 years ago, my grandmother pushed for highly coordinated social services in our 15k hab town, and coordinate those with the two distinct police force we had in the area (think state level police and local police). The local police accepted, and from what i'm told, there was a decrease in small crimes, more people going to the formation center and more people involved in association, and even more people going to church (disclaimer: i'm not a believer, but i think church as a social mean of emancipation is good), all around the city, and the state-level police commander decided to help after ~5 years to increase the range (ex-farmers, alcoholics were a true danger on the roads). Even drove them to the formation center (my father is really anti-olice and even he told me they were the best cops he ever encountered, i think it is just social determination). Lasted into the 2000s, but the population decline and job going elsewhere were too much.
Yes, he is a former cop and law and order candidate [1]. (It’s not cut and dry. He opposed stop and frisk in our Senate but wants to reinstate solitary confinement, for example.)