PSNI ask public for help on budget priorities
The PSNI and Policing Board have launched a public consultation on how police resources should be allocated.
The 10-week exercise uses an interactive online tool to allow people to select what they view as policing priorities in their area.
Mr Hamilton said the exercise was a response to the changing nature of policing in the last decade, with acquisitive crimes such as theft on the decrease but officers having to deal with many more vulnerability and health-related cases.
He noted that police respond to 150 mental health-linked incidents each day in Northern Ireland.
The region's top officer said cyber-crime also now takes up many hours that were traditionally spent on the beat.
In light of the changing landscape, Mr Hamilton said it was necessary to assess what the public priorities were.
"We now have to consider how we can future-proof our service so that we can continue to deliver for our local communities,'' he said.
"We're actually saying to people, if you were doing my job for the day, how would you carve up the resources?"
Chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, Anne Connolly, said: "It is important that the public have an opportunity to contribute to the discussion on the future delivery of their policing service and better understand the types of issues that the PSNI is facing in deciding where and how resources are used."
The consultation closes in November and the results will then be scrutinised by an independent analyst before being fed back to police.
A link for the budget simulator can be found here.