Winston-Salem officials decide to move The Drop to the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds:

The city plans to hire about 20 police officers, said Martha Wheelock, an assistant city manager. That’s far fewer than the 60 to more than 70 officers used at The Drop and the Fourth Street Jazz & Blues series in recent weeks.

City officials said yesterday that they hope the move can help them better keep control of the concert. The number of teens attending the concerts has grown from 200 to 1,000.

But here’s the real question:

Patrolling The Drop lowers the number of officers patrolling the rest of Winston-Salem. The city would have had about 90 police officers on patrol Friday night between 9 and 11, but because of The Drop that number was about 60.

Asked if that many officers at The Drop is a good use of city money, Mayor Allen Joines said that city officials are grappling with that issue.

“That is a significant number of officers that are being deployed, so I think that is a very legitimate question,” he said.

Here’s an idea: Why doesn’t the city form a task force to study the idea. Oh, that’s right. City Council member Vivian Burke suggested that at last night’s meeting.