Does Shorewood Have Enough Police Officers?
The village has 1.82 officers for every 1,000 people living in the community. Use this searchable database on Patch to see how this compares with others around the state.
When it comes to how many police officers a community should have, is there a right number?
Federal statistics show the Shorewood Police Department was near the middle of the pack in terms of staffing ratios among North Shore police forces in 2011.
With 24 police officers serving a community of 13,219 people, the police department staffed 1.82 officers for every 1,000 people living in the village in 2011. That ratio was slightly above neighboring Whitefish Bay — a village of 14,171 that also staffs 24 officers.
Use this searchable database on Patch to find the different populations of municipalities across Wisconsin and see how your town ranks with police protection.
Here's a breakdown of staffing at North Shore police departments and Milwaukee:
| Municipality | Officer ratio | Population | Law enforcement employees | Officers |
| Shorewood | 1.82 | 13,219 | 29 | 24 |
| Whitefish Bay | 1.69 |
14,171 | 26 | 24 |
| Fox Point | 2.53 | 6,730 | 18 | 17 |
| Bayside | 2.95 | 4,408 | 20 | 13 |
| Glendale | 3.33 | 12,928 | 43 | 47 |
| Mequon | 1.51 | 23,233 | 35 | 43 |
| Milwaukee | 3.12 | 597,426 | 2,586 | 1,862 |
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There are no federal or state — or even local — mandates for how many officers provide optimal protection and service.
"Ready-made, universally applicable patrol staffing standards do not exist," The International Association of Chiefs of Police states in a recent patrol staffing and deployment study. "Ratios, such as officers-per-thousand population, are totally inappropriate as a basis for staffing decisions."
Instead, the study says needs should be determined by a number of different factors, including:
- Priorities
- Number of calls for service
- Population size, density and composition
- Citizen demands for protective services
- Municipal resources
Data is from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Crime in the United States report, which incorporates information reported to the FBI by law enforcement agencies. This report covers 2011.
North Shore Newbie
6:44 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
According to the Shorewood Manager's Memo that goes out once a week, the burglaries in Shorewood seem to have stopped now that someone has been arrested. Adam, what do you know about this?
S Yanoff
10:51 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
That's not enough officers to prevent a drone strike.
CowDung
11:08 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
Scott Walker won't let the drones unionize, much less strike...
Adam W. McCoy
12:37 am on Tuesday, December 4, 2012
How about the imminent zombie apocalypse?
David Tatarowicz
9:34 am on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
You left out River Hills
City River Hills
Population 1,604.00
Total law enforcement employees 12.00
Total officers 12.00
Total civilians 0.00
Officers per thousand people 7.48
David Tatarowicz
9:43 am on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
I think an important part of the equation is the number of CSO's (community service officers aka parking checkers) ....
I think that CSO's can do a lot more of the routine service calls that are not domestic in nature that would free up sworn officers for the heavy lifting.
CSO's can also be used for traffic control --- and why not for routine school matters that are not criminal in nature?
Right now I am not aware of any CSO's at night, but they could be the ones enforcing parking regulations and giving the sworn officers more time to prowl the alleys and streets and deterring break ins.
CSO's can also be a good training ground for eventual promotion to officer status, and ideal candidates could be those enrolled in criminal justice programs full or part time, and working as CSO's full or part time, as may be co-ordinated.
I think Shorewood has about the right proportion of sworn officers considering vacation, sick leave, holidays, 365 day staffing needs, etc ......... but additional CSO's can help keep the officers more focused on what they can do best.
David Tatarowicz
9:44 am on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
How do Glendale and Mequon have more officers than employees ?
Glendale 3.33 12,928 43 47
Mequon 1.51 23,233 35 43