Cops! Where are they?

According to the 2004 census of state and local law enforcement agencies, Minnesota has a total of 442 agencies, 355 law enforcement agencies and 87 sheriffs’ offices statewide (Reeves, 2007). The total of full time local law enforcement personnel per 100,000 residents is 6810 and 5521 for the sheriffs’ offices (Reeves, 2007). The ratio per 100,000 residents to sworn officers is a combined 7947 officers statewide. The state law enforcement also has 821 full time employees per 100,000 residents with sworn personnel equaling 544 per 100,000 residents. In total, the state of Minnesota employs 8,491 full time sworn officers per 100,000 residents (Reeves, 2007).

Is this an adequate number of sworn officers to protect and serve the citizens of Minnesota? Probably not! The F.B.I. ranks Minnesota almost dead last with a ranking of 48th in the country for the number of police officers per 1,000 residents (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2008). Even though Minnesota is more rural than most, citizens of Minnesota would like to see more police presence which in turn would encourage more community policing. Minnesota could use more sworn personnel. Minnesota recently attempted to increase the needed amount of officers by applying to the COPS program (community oriented policing) laid out earlier this year by the Department of Justice. Fourteen agencies in MN received an amount of around 11 million dollars through the COPS program This amount is only able to fund an additional 53 police officers in the state, a majority (28) will work for the St. Paul Police Department. According to the DOJ, the 1 billion awarded nationwide is only a small sliver of the total requested, at only 12% (Bodley, 2009). There is more demand than there is money. In Minnesota, however, out of the 470 odd officers requested, only 53 were accepted. This additional 53 officers is a small step toward increasing the states demand of more sworn officers and will no doubt help Minnesota with their policing for the good of the residents (Bodley, 2009). Minnesota may also benefit from hiring private security firms, however budget is always a hot topic.

Each city is responsible for determining the amount of policing needs. The leaders of communities determine the needs of their residents; how much police visibility do we want, what is our available funds, what is the population, and what is the current and forecasted growth rate. Without the funds to hire and train new officers, the Mayor of Wanamingo John Simonson states, "(we have) contracts with the Sheriff for police coverage rather than hire our own police officers. This decision was made because the city believes we will be getting quality service at less cost” (The City of Wanamingo, 2007).


Sources:

Bodley, P. (2009, August 6). No stimulus dollars for more police officers. ABCNewspapers. Retrieved September 25, 2009, from http://abcnewspapers.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=847

The City of Wanamingo. (2007) Goodhue County, Minnesota, Wanamingo Office.Retrieved September 25, 2009, from
http://www.co.goodhue.mn.us/departments/sheriff/Wanamingo.aspx

Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2008, November). Crime and Safety-Number of police officers Rate per 1000 population. Retrieved September 15, 2009, from http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm

Reaves, B. (2007, June 13). Bureau of Justice Statistics. [Chart]. Census of State of Local Law Enforcement Agencies. 2004 Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 2004, NCJ 212749.