 How many people police officers does a city of 13,000 people with a relatively high crime rate need? Well, that was the topic of discussion at last night's Brainerd City budget meeting. Now Brainerd Police Chief Corky McQuiston wants to see at least three licensed police officers added to the force. Because of budget cuts, Brainerd lost four officers nearly a decade ago and the police department wants more personnel to focus on crime prevention. Currently, there are 24 officers staffed at the Brainerd Police Department. 27 would really help us, I think, just deliver more services. It gives the officers more opportunity to do community policing things because their time isn't just totally absorbed into responding to calls, do some good proactive enforcement techniques. So I think just the addition of those three extra people will really go a long way for us. According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehensions 2017 Uniform Crime Report, Brainerd ranks seventh in terms of crime rate in the state. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.