Sworn Police Officers Per 1,000 Citizens

There has been much discussion recently about the ratio of sworn police officers per 1,000 citizens. All of the research that we have done in the past has shown that the national average is about 2 sworn police officers per 1,000 citizens. However, such ratios are not universal. Starting on the East Coast where there is often 4 officers 1,000, it dwindles to 1 officer per 1,000 citizens in some California cities. The large, lightly populated center of the country has the 2 officers per 1,000.

Why is there such a disparity? The answer is easy. On the East Coast many jobs that could easily be done by civilians are staffed by sworn police officers. This practice melts away as you head West. When you get to California, every sworn officer does police work. If a job can be done by a civilian , it is. If you pack a pistol, you are on the street.

The link below shows the ratio for the 200 largest municipal police departments that we surveyed three years ago. Check it out for yourself.

police officers per 1,000 2005 survey

Here is the list from 2005

Rank	Department	Officers	Population	Per 000
192	Abilene	188	114,889	1.64
80	Akron	477	212,215	2.25
35	Albuquerque	799	471,856	1.69
165	Alexandria	295	128,923	2.29
117	Amarillo	269	178,612	1.51
54	Anaheim	361	332,361	1.09
64	Anchorage	331	270,951	1.22
194	Ann Arbor	187	114,498	1.63
52	Arlington	545	355,007	1.54
39	Atlanta	1,640	423,019	3.88
96	Augusta	429	193,316	2.22
60	Aurora, CO	568	290,418	1.96
146	Aurora, IL	280	162,184	1.73
16	Austin	1,365	672,011	2.03
68	Bakersfield	298	271,035	1.10
17	Baltimore	3,240	628,670	5.15
73	Baton Rouge	607	225,090	2.70
195	Beaumont	244	112,434	2.17
70	Birmingham		236,620
104	Boise	286	190,117	1.50
20	Boston	1,986	581,616	3.41
151	Bridgeport		139,664
150	Brownsville	220	156,178	1.41
57	Buffalo	832	285,018	2.92
180	Cedar Rapids	191	122,542	1.56
113	Chandler	298	211,299	1.41
26	Charlotte	1,463	584,658	2.50
128	Chattanooga	390	154,887	2.52
89	Chesapeake	358	210,834	1.70
3	Chicago	13,289	2,869,121	4.63
119	Chula Vista	217	199,060	1.09
53	Cincinnati	1,040	317,361	3.28
33	Cleveland	1,581	461,324	3.43
47	Colo. Springs	634	370,448	1.71
190	Columbia	294	117,357	2.51
105	Columbus, GA	360	185,702	1.94
15	Columbus, OH	1,819	728,432	2.50
176	Concord	157	124,977	1.26
185	Coral Springs	202	127,005	1.59
169	Corona	154	142,454	1.08
59	Corpus Christi	419	279,208	1.50
8	Dallas	2,833	1,208,318	2.34
122	Dayton	456	161,696	2.82
24	Denver	1,522	557,478	2.73
91	Des Moines	362	196,093	1.85
10	Detroit	3,835	911,402	4.21
102	Durham	308	198,376	1.55
191	El Monte	143	121,740	1.17
22	El Paso	1,102	584,113	1.89
181	Elizabeth	346	123,215	2.81
159	Escondido	161	136,093	1.18
155	Eugene	172	142,185	1.21
177	Evansville	283	117,881	2.40
179	Fayetteville	327	124,372	2.63
170	Flint	249	120,292	2.07
162	Fontana	153	151,903	1.01
184	Fort Collins	155	125,740	1.23
129	Fort Lauderdale	471	162,917	2.89
83	Fort Wayne	410	219,495	1.87
27	Fort Worth	1,342	585,122	2.29
84	Fremont	187	204,525	0.91
27	Fresno	629	451,455	1.39
168	Fullerton	147	131,249	1.12
123	Garden Grove	153	167,029	0.92
81	Garland	293	218,027	1.34
79	Glendale, AZ	303	232,838	1.30
97	Glendale, CA	231	200,499	1.15
167	Grand Prairie	187	136,671	1.37
92	Grand Rapids	349	195,601	1.78
76	Greensboro	489	229,110	2.13
142	Hampton	248	146,878	1.69
178	Hartford	439	124,387	3.53
149	Hayward	206	141,336	1.46
115	Henderson	268	214,852	1.25
74	Hialeah	345	226,401	1.52
152	Hollywood, FL	331	143,408	2.31
4	Houston	5,028	2,009,690	2.50
100	Hunt. Beach	230	194,248	1.18
126	Huntsville	353	164,237	2.15
197	Independence	194	112,079	1.73
12	Indianapolis	1,251	783,438	1.60
199	Inglewood	194	115,208	1.68
145	Irvine	166	170,561	0.97
99	Irving	326	194,455	1.68
108	Jackson		179,599
14	Jacksonville	1,591	773,781	2.06
71	Jersey City	819	239,097	3.43
141	Kansas City, KS	344	145,757	2.36
36	Kansas City, MO	1,290	442,768	2.91
116	Knoxville	370	173,278	2.14
143	Lakewood	259	142,474	1.82
183	Lancaster	8,510	9,519,338	0.89
182	Lansing		118,379
114	Laredo	384	197,488	1.94
32	Las Vegas	2,031	517,017	3.93
63	Lexington	515	266,798	1.93
75	Lincoln	321	235,594	1.36
109	Little Rock	499	184,053	2.71
34	Long Beach	930	475,460	1.96
2	Los Angeles	9,195	3,819,951	2.41
65	Louisville	1,136	693,604	1.64
88	Lubbock	302	206,481	1.46
82	Madison	390	218,432	1.79
18	Memphis	2,013	645,978	3.12
42	Mesa	827	432,376	1.91
171	Mesquite	213	129,270	1.65
46	Miami	1,000	376,815	2.65
19	Milwaukee	1,875	586,941	3.19
45	Minneapolis	806	373,188	2.16
90	Mobile	522	193,464	2.70
101	Modesto	261	206,872	1.26
86	Montgomery	463	200,123	2.31
147	Moreno Valley	1,494	1,782,650	0.84
164	Naperville	177	137,894	1.28
25	Nashville	1,217	544,765	2.23
174	New Haven	444	124,512	3.57
31	New Orleans	1,514	469,032	3.23
1	New York	39,890	8,085,742	4.93
62	Newark	1,168	277,911	4.20
112	Newport News	416	181,647	2.29
72	Norfolk	707	241,727	2.92
193	North Las Vegas	213	144,502	1.47
41	Oakland	746	398,844	1.87
124	Oceanside	181	167,082	1.08
29	Oklahoma City	960	523,303	1.83
44	Omaha	722	404,267	1.79
127	Ontario	211	167,402	1.26
163	Orange	152	132,197	1.15
103	Orlando	658	199,336	3.30
138	Overland Park	210	160,368	1.31
121	Oxnard	230	180,872	1.27
189	Palmdale	8,510	9,519,338	0.89
148	Pasadena, CA		144,413
158	Pasadena, TX	263	141,114	1.86
137	Paterson	427	150,782	2.83
156	Pembroke Pines	228	148,927	1.53
198	Peoria	212	112,907	1.88
5	Philadelphia	6,779	1,479,339	4.58
6	Phoenix	2,805	1,388,416	2.02
51	Pittsburgh	809	325,337	2.49
77	Plano	315	241,991	1.30
136	Pomona	184	154,147	1.19
28	Portland	992	538,544	1.84
118	Providence	495	176,365	2.81
61	Raleigh	593	316,802	1.87
166	Rancho Cuca.	1,465	1,859,678	0.79
111	Reno	332	193,882	1.71
93	Richmond	638	194,729	3.28
66	Riverside	348	281,514	1.24
78	Rochester	695	215,093	3.23
135	Rockford	292	151,725	1.92
40	Sacramento	671	445,335	1.51
157	Salem	174	142,914	1.22
133	Salinas	152	147,840	1.03
110	Salt Lake City	411	179,894	2.28
9	San Antonio	2,054	1,214,725	1.69
107	San Bernardino	296	195,357	1.52
7	San Diego	1,984	1,266,753	1.57
13	San Francisco	1,786	751,682	2.38
11	San Jose	1,350	898,349	1.50
50	Santa Ana	345	342,510	1.01
132	Santa Clarita	8,510	9,871,506	0.86
139	Santa Rosa	176	153,386	1.15
161	Savannah	395	127,573	3.10
85	Scottsdale	346	217,989	1.59
23	Seattle	1,224	569,101	2.15
87	Shreveport	482	198,364	2.43
173	Sioux Falls	214	133,834	1.60
95	Spokane	304	196,624	1.55
200	Springfield, IL		152,157
130	Springfield, MA	472	150,867	3.13
131	Springfield, MO	324	113,586	2.85
48	St. Louis	1,387	332,223	4.17
58	St. Paul	551	280,404	1.97
67	St. Petersburg	515	247,610	2.08
186	Stamford		120,107
172	Sterling Heights	170	126,182	1.35
69	Stockton	355	271,466	1.31
160	Sunnyvale	223	128,549	1.73
140	Syracuse	465	144,001	3.23
98	Tacoma	345	196,790	1.75
134	Tallahassee	345	153,938	2.24
56	Tampa	976	317,647	3.07
125	Tempe	327	158,880	2.06
187	Thousand Oaks	98	124,192	0.79
55	Toledo	686	308,973	2.22
175	Topeka	284	122,008	2.33
154	Torrance	242	142,621	1.70
30	Tucson	996	507,658	1.96
43	Tulsa	750	387,807	1.93
188	Vallejo	157	119,708	1.31
144	Vancouver	181	151,654	1.19
38	Virginia Beach	749	439,467	1.70
196	Waco	220	116,887	1.88
153	Warren	241	136,016	1.77
21	Washington	3,780	563,384	6.71
49	Wichita	621	354,617	1.75
106	Winston-Salem	487	190,299	2.56
120	Worcester	467	175,706	2.66
94	Yonkers	612	197,388	3.10