Not real sure how well that would work out when it comes to "reducing FELONY overall crime figures",but I guess it is worth a shot.
Then again,anybody they arrest for stuff like food stamp fraud,etc,etc,etc ain't likely to be the sharpest knives in the drawer,and it won't take long for the "Look at us,weeze noble!" law firms to drop out of free representation in court for crimes like this. There just isn't enough "PR" value in these petty crimes to draw the publicity they want. In fact,the opposite effect will probably dominate,as taxpayers are getting pretty damn tired of supporting the Third World.