Table 71

Full-time Law Enforcement Officers
by Region and Geographic Division by Population Group
Number and Rate per 1,000 Inhabitants, 2009

Region/geographic division		Total (11,218 cities; population 195,945,107)	Group I (75 cities, 250,000 and over; population 56,942,042)	Group II (188 cities, 100,000 to 249,999; population 27,843,405)	Group III (439 cities, 50,000 to 99,999; population 29,972,217)	Group IV (815 cities, 25,000 to 49,999; population 27,953,975)	Group V (1,839 cities, 10,000 to 24,999; population 29,047,897)	Group VI (7,862 cities, under 10,000; population 24,185,571)	Total city agencies	2009 estimated city population	County¹ (3,396 agencies; population 93,472,364)	Total city and county agencies	2009 estimated total agency population	Suburban Areas² (7,561 agencies; population 122,719,200)
TOTAL	Number of officers	452,037	157,079	51,236	51,954	50,701	56,342	84,725	11,218	195,945,107	254,849	14,614	289,417,471	308,436
TOTAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.3	2.8	1.8	1.7	1.8	1.9	3.5			2.7			2.5
NORTHEAST	Number of officers	119,716	46,977	8,037	13,362	15,834	17,095	18,411	2,555	44,463,787
NORTHEAST	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.7	4.1	2.9	2.1	2.0	1.8	2.8
NEW ENGLAND	Number of officers	28,095	2,177	3,913	5,029	5,753	5,937	5,286	767	12,718,661
NEW ENGLAND	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.2	3.5	2.7	2.0	1.9	1.8	3.0
MIDDLE ATLANTIC	Number of officers	91,621	44,800	4,124	8,333	10,081	11,158	13,125	1,788	31,745,126
MIDDLE ATLANTIC	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.9	4.1	3.0	2.2	2.0	1.9	2.8
MIDWEST	Number of officers	100,076	31,280	7,271	11,665	13,125	15,557	21,178	3,329	45,346,245
MIDWEST	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.2	3.2	1.8	1.6	1.6	1.8	2.8
EAST NORTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	73,889	25,247	5,006	8,366	10,411	11,219	13,640	2,105	32,243,478
EAST NORTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.3	3.5	1.9	1.7	1.7	1.8	2.8
WEST NORTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	26,187	6,033	2,265	3,299	2,714	4,338	7,538	1,224	13,102,767
WEST NORTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.0	2.3	1.7	1.4	1.6	1.7	2.9
SOUTH	Number of officers	147,235	40,469	22,404	15,406	14,603	18,448	35,905	3,945	56,670,646
SOUTH	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.6	2.5	2.1	2.1	2.2	2.4	4.7
SOUTH ATLANTIC	Number of officers	69,384	16,420	12,115	8,217	7,099	8,512	17,021	1,621	23,306,717
SOUTH ATLANTIC	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	3.0	3.1	2.2	2.3	2.5	2.6	5.8
EAST SOUTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	27,569	5,393	4,079	1,822	3,369	4,439	8,467	1,016	9,875,872
EAST SOUTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.8	2.4	2.5	2.4	2.2	2.4	4.3
WEST SOUTH CENTRAL	Number of officers	50,282	18,656	6,210	5,367	4,135	5,497	10,417	1,308	23,488,057
WEST SOUTH CENTRAL	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	2.1	2.1	1.7	1.7	1.8	2.1	3.8
WEST	Number of officers	85,010	38,353	13,524	11,521	7,139	5,242	9,231	1,389	49,464,429
WEST	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	1.7	2.0	1.3	1.3	1.4	1.6	3.7
MOUNTAIN	Number of officers	30,029	12,819	4,542	3,345	2,725	1,947	4,651	625	16,208,175
MOUNTAIN	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	1.9	1.9	1.5	1.4	1.5	1.9	3.6
PACIFIC	Number of officers	54,981	25,534	8,982	8,176	4,414	3,295	4,580	764	33,256,254
PACIFIC	Average number of officers per 1,000 inhabitants	1.7	2.0	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.5	3.7

¹ The designation county is a combination of both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties.
² Suburban areas include 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 areas exclude 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’s cities in 2009, the average number of full-time law enforcement officers was 2.3 per 1,000 inhabitants.
In cities in the Northeast, the rate of full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 inhabitants was 2.7.
In cities in the South, the rate of full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 inhabitants was 2.6.
In cities in the Midwest, the rate of full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 inhabitants was 2.2.
In cities in the West, the rate of full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 inhabitants was 1.7.