The Police will Protect me, RIGHT???
The following is a snap shot of cities police officer/resident ratios you can view the full list at :
http://www.governing.com/gov-data/safety- justice/police-officers- per-capita- rates-employment- for- city-departments.html
Number of Officers/10,000 Residents
Source: 2012 Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, Full-time Law Enforcement Employees
| City | Number of Officers* | Officers/10k Residents |
|---|---|---|
| Washington, DC** | 3867 | 61.2 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 9992 | 25.9 |
| Colerain Township, | 57 | 7.0 |
| OH** | ||
| Vancouver, WA | 178 | 10.7 |
| Chicago, IL | 11944 | 44.1 |
The reality is that if each officer worked 12 hour shifts with no vacation, sick days or days off the number of officers available at any given time would be half the table numbers. Then factor in that they must respond to crimes, provide policing for civic events, football games, demonstrations and all number of other occurrences. They are indeed “The Thin Blue Line”
If a Police Officer sees a crime he will respond instantly. The vast majority of our Law Enforcement Officers are dedicated professionals who strive to do all that they can to protect their communities and risk their lives on a daily basis on our behalf. Unfortunately if you are the victim of a violent crime the chances of an officer witnessing it are at best remote. They cannot respond until someone reports a crime has been or is being committed and usually by that time it is over. They will Investigate and try to bring the perpetrators to justice but that is little consolation to victims and their families.
Our best defense is avoiding being a Victim in the first place and preparing to defend ourselves and survive should we ever become one.
*FBI defines Officers as employees who “ordinarily carry a firearm and a badge, have full arrest powers, and are paid from governmental funds set aside specifically to pay sworn law enforcement.”
** Colerain Township, OH had lowest ratio, Washington DC had highest ratio.
