Yeah, some talented thinkers could come up with some pretty good schemes. The real problem lies in the numbers: To put it simply, the cost (salaries + funding)

Yeah, some talented thinkers could come up with some pretty good schemes. The real problem lies in the numbers: To put it simply, the cost (salaries + funding) to research this issue and evaluate a good scheme and then implement it could be much higher than several years' worth of "noisy" police calls. Add this up with the opportunity costs (what those thinkers/researchers aren't doing while they're busy with this) and it's probably all the way down to "Will Do This Only If My Next Election Depends On It".