And while many of those areas cross over, he thinks more should be done to address the chronically drunk.

"We are not being fiscally smart in impacting this population," he said.

Nationally, there has been a push in many cities to help those with chronic alcoholism and homelessness. In December 2005, Seattle opened a complex with 75 apartments called the 1811 Eastlake Project. Those determined to be the most chronically drunk of the Seattle area were given a place to live where they could continue to drink.

Critics dubbed the program "bunks for drunks." But prior to the 1811 project, Seattle estimated each street alcoholic was costing taxpayers $100,000 per year. Now, police hardly see those people anymore.

Gill went to visit the 1811 Eastlake Project to see how the program worked. In Seattle, 14 to 17 percent of those considered chronic re-offenders were eating up 84 percent of the city's resources. Gill believes Salt Lake's numbers are similar.

"There's a disproportionate draining and use of these resources," he said.

Now, police and prosecutors have identified 34 of their biggest reoffenders and broken them into two categories: alcohol offenses and trespassing offenses. The goal is to look at ways to specifically help those groups.

Between 2002 and 2006, police dealt with those 34 individuals approximately 15,000 times, costing the city between $1.2 million and $2.5 million.

"If you can impact even a third of these people, you would have a huge systemic impact," he said. "The ripple effect of how it impacts systemically is huge."

The costs add up quickly. A typical call on an intoxicated person requires two police officers to respond. The city estimates it costs $347 just for police alone to respond to each call. Many times, however, paramedics are also called, adding another expense. Sometimes, those people are then taken to the hospital for a medical check and then given a ride to jail, where the estimated booking cost is $150. That cost does not include housing someone at the jail.

"There are multiple individuals that come in contact with this person. For each contact that occurs with this person, there is a financial cost associated with it," Gill said.

There are also costs that can't be added, like the impact an intoxicated person at a store may have on the business community plus the cost of pulling two officers away from a potentially more serious situation, Gill said.

"When we are responding to this person, we are not responding to other people," he said.