Table 71

Full-time Law Enforcement Officers
by Geographic Region and Division by Population Group
Number and Rate per 1,000 Inhabitants, 2007

Geographic region/division		Total (11,112 cities; population 192,561,315)	Group I (71 cities, 250,000 and over; population 53,815,350)	Group II (181 cities, 100,000 to 249,999; population 27,270,252)	Group III (441 cities, 50,000 to 99,999; population 30,331,106)	Group IV (806 cities, 25,000 to 49,999; population 27,684,136)	Group V (1,826 cities, 10,000 to 24,999; population 28,984,708)	Group VI (7,787 cities, under 10,000; population 24,475,763)	Total city agencies	2007 estimated city population	County¹ (3,564 agencies; population 93,305,151)	Total city and county agencies	2007 estimated total agency population	Suburban Area² (7,594 agencies; population 121,917,604)
TOTAL	Number of officers	446,669	152,594	52,329	53,271	50,728	56,134	81,613	11,112	192,561,315	253,181	14,676	285,866,466	302,867
TOTAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.3	2.8	1.9	1.8	1.8	1.9	3.3			2.7			2.5
NORTHEAST	Number of officers	118,485	47,073	8,054	13,486	16,137	17,180	16,555	2,493	43,947,553
NORTHEAST	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.7	4.2	2.9	2.1	2.0	1.9	2.6
NEW ENGLAND	Number of officers	27,828	2,170	3,940	5,086	5,869	6,226	4,537	781	12,758,757
NEW ENGLAND	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.2	3.7	2.8	2.1	1.9	1.8	2.5
MIDDLE ATLANTIC	Number of officers	90,657	44,903	4,114	8,400	10,268	10,954	12,018	1,712	31,188,796
MIDDLE ATLANTIC	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.9	4.3	3.0	2.2	2.1	1.9	2.6
MIDWEST	Number of officers	98,940	29,289	8,270	12,031	13,169	15,782	20,399	3,329	44,647,528
MIDWEST	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.2	3.5	1.9	1.6	1.7	1.8	2.7
EAST NORTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	72,794	23,680	5,609	8,573	10,417	11,469	13,046	2,105	31,540,465
EAST NORTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.3	3.9	1.9	1.7	1.7	1.8	2.6
WEST NORTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	26,146	5,609	2,661	3,458	2,752	4,313	7,353	1,224	13,107,063
WEST NORTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.0	2.5	1.8	1.4	1.6	1.7	2.8
SOUTH	Number of officers	145,572	38,120	22,981	16,708	13,910	18,021	35,832	3,936	55,919,547
SOUTH	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.6	2.5	2.2	2.1	2.2	2.3	4.6
SOUTH ATLANTIC	Number of officers	69,124	15,594	11,874	9,011	7,043	8,413	17,189	1,657	23,340,872
SOUTH ATLANTIC	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	3.0	3.3	2.2	2.3	2.4	2.6	5.7
EAST SOUTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	25,883	5,569	3,064	1,817	2,963	4,268	8,202	995	9,460,010
EAST SOUTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.7	2.3	2.5	2.3	2.3	2.4	4.1
WEST SOUTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	50,565	16,957	8,043	5,880	3,904	5,340	10,441	1,284	23,118,665
WEST SOUTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.2	2.0	2.1	1.8	1.8	2.0	3.7
WEST	Number of officers	83,672	38,112	13,024	11,046	7,512	5,151	8,827	1,354	48,046,687
WEST	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	1.7	2.0	1.3	1.3	1.4	1.6	3.4
MOUNTAIN	Number of officers	29,295	13,116	4,078	3,107	2,933	1,893	4,168	587	15,300,745
MOUNTAIN	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	1.9	2.1	1.6	1.4	1.6	1.8	3.2
PACIFIC	Number of officers	54,377	24,996	8,946	7,939	4,579	3,258	4,659	767	32,745,942
PACIFIC	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	1.7	2.0	1.3	1.3	1.4	1.5	3.6

¹ The designation county is a combination of both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties.
² Suburban area includes law enforcement agencies in cities with less than 50,000 inhabitants and county law enforcement agencies that are within a Metropolitan Statistical Area (see Data Declaration). Suburban area excludes all metropolitan agencies associated with a principal city. The agencies associated with suburban areas also appear in other groups within this table.

Data Declaration

Provides the methodology used in constructing this table and other pertinent information about this table.

Overview

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In the Nation in 2007, the average number of full-time law enforcement officers in cities was 2.3 per 1,000 inhabitants. In county agencies, the average was 2.7 officers per 1,000 inhabitants.
In the Northeast, cities reported a rate of full-time law enforcement officers of 2.7 per 1,000 inhabitants.
The rate of full-time law enforcement officers was 2.6 per 1,000 in cities in the South.
Cities in the Midwest reported a rate of full-time law enforcement officers of 2.2 per 1,000.
In cities in the West, the rate of full-time law enforcement officers was 1.7 per 1,000 inhabitants.