If a city has more police officers will its crime rates be lower? Or if a city has more police officers does that mean that it has more crime than other cities? Does the amount of police officers in a city correlate with lower or higher crime rates? 

Out of the 75 largest cities in the United States, Santa Ana, Chula Vista, and Irvine have the fewest police officers per 10,000. When you look at each city’s number of police officers per 10,000 and violent crime rate, what will you find?

Santa Ana

Police Officers per 10,000

Santa Ana has the third-lowest police officers per 10,000 rate. From 2013 to 2014 the city’s number of police per 10,000 decreased by 19 percent, but jumped by 20.9 percent from 2014 to 2017. As of 2018, Santa Ana had 9.33 police officers per 10,000.

Violent Crime Rate in City per 100,000

The violent crime rate in Santa Ana decreased by 27.4 percent from 2010 to 2013. Then from 2013 to 2015 it increased by 35.5 percent. As of 2018, the violent crime rate was 468.39 per 100,000.

Santa Ana’s number of police officers per 10,000 and violent crime rate have followed a similar path over the years. The biggest difference is that they reached their lows in different years; police officers per 10,000 bottomed out 2014 and violent crime rates in 2013. This suggests that fewer violent crimes might lead to fewer police officers.

Chula Vista

Police Officers per 10,000

Chula Vista has the second-lowest rate of police officers per 10,000. From 2010 to 2013, Chula Vista saw a 21 percent decline in the number of police officers per 10,000. Since 2013, the number has remained steady, and, as of 2018, the city has 8.05 police officers per 10,000.

Violent Crime Rate in City per 100,000

The city’s violent crime rate decreased by 20 percent from 2010 to 2012. Then, from 2012 to 2018 the city saw a 26.7 percent increase in the violent crime rate. As of 2018 the rate wass 304.33 per 100,000, which is higher than it was in 2010.

Chula Vista’s number of police officers per 10,000 decreased from 2010 to 2018 while the city’s violent crime rate has increased from 2012 to 2018. This could suggest that a lower number of police officers is related to higher violent crime rates in Chula Vista.

Irvine

Police Officers per 10,000

Irvine has the lowest rate of police officers per 10,000 out of the nation’s 75 largest cities. From 2010 to 2012 the city’s number of police officers per 10,000 remained steady, then from 2012 to 2018 it declined by 20 percent. As of 2018, Irvine had 7.5 police officers for every 10,000 people.

Violent Crime Rate in City per 100,000

Irvine’s violent crime rate declined by 15.28 percent from 2011 to 2013, then from 2013 to 2017 there was a gradual increase of 24 percent. As of 2018, the violent crime rate in Irvine was 55.55 per 100,000.

While Irvine’s police officers per 10,000 steadily declined from 2010 to 2018, the city’s violent crime rate fluctuated over that time period. From 2013 to 2017 the violent crime rate increased by 24 percent, but slightly decreased by 9.7 percent from 2017 to 2018. The increase in violent crime from 2013 to 2017 could suggest that fewer police officers lead to more violent crime. However, if violent crime continues to decrease in the future this could mean the two factors are not strongly related.

Even though there are other factors that can contribute to crime rates, such as unemployment, it is compelling to see the relationship between crime rates in cities and the number of police officers per 10,000. For some cities there appears to be more of a relationship than others. If you want to see your city or state’s police and crime data go to Data-Z and make your own charts!