Chicago Tops Major U.S. Cities With 4.4 Sworn Police Officers Per 1,000 People
San Jose lowest in top ten with 1.1
The FBI's latest crime statistics include an accounting of law enforcement employees in cities, towns, and counties across the country. The Department of Justice notes nationally there was an average of 2.4 sworn officers per 1,000 residents, with the largest rate in towns with fewer than 10,000 residents, which have an average of 3.6 sworn officers per 1,000 residents.
Of the ten most populated cities in America, Chicago had the highest rate, with 4.4 sworn officers per 1,000 residents, or 11,944 sworn officers. New York City came close, with 4.1 sworn officers per 1,000 residents, or 34,555 sworn officers. The rate doesn't include an additional 14,728 "civilian" law enforcement employees. Chicago, by comparison, only has 822 such employees according to the FBI statistics. Cities with a population of more than 100,000 had an average of 2.7 officers per 1,000 residents, but in the Northeast it was closer to 4 per 1,000. In the Midwest, cities of that size had an average of 3.1
Of the ten largest cities in the US, San Jose had the lowest rate, at just 1.1 sworn officers per 1,000 residents.
Find your town, if it submitted data to the feds, here.