Upon reading about the woman being harassed by gang members near the Ingalls school and the recent bust of MS-13 gang members in Lynn by Immigration officials and the police, I pondered a question that has been on my mind since moving to this fair city. Are the police sufficiently staffed to maintain law and order in a city of about 88,000 residents in 2006? (81,000, according to State Department of Housing and Community Development, but no year is attached to that number)

A quick visit to the Lynn police website provides one answer. There are 189 sworn officers of which 112 are assigned to patrol. Let's assume that the website is kept up to date and the numbers are correct. That's 2.14 police per 1,000 residents or 2.3 if you believe the State DHCD.  read more »