It is a feel good measure. There will be more units seen on the mean streets. $28,000.00 a night seems expensive to me. It would seem to please some that there will be officers in prowl cars driving around in circles for a few nights. It would make more sense to place plainclothes officers on foot in the neighbourhood. The BATFE SAs are not a new innovation. They have been taking part in local LEA operations for years. The problem is that they are only able to charge suspects with firearms crimes or if tobacco bootlegging is involved. They are low key and take no active part. No JBTs involved. The money would be better spent on longterm projects and community inprovements. The code enforcement officers should be going after absentee landlords and seizing/razing unfit for human habitation properties. Habitat for Humanity houses could be built in a couple of blocks for $500,000.00. Broken windows.
