You asked us to compare the number of police officers employed in 1996 by the state's 10 largest cities with the number currently employed.

Five of the state's 10 largest cities currently employ fewer police officers than they did in 1996. These are: Greenwich, Hartford, New Haven, Norwalk, and Waterbury. The following five employ more officers today than they did in 1996: Bridgeport, Bristol, Danbury, New Britain, and Stamford.

Typically, there is a direct relationship between the size of the population and the number of police personnel. The population in all 10 cities increased between 1996 and 2006. But no direct relationship appears to exist between the increase in population and police employment in these cities. For example, Bridgeport, whose population increased by approximately 6,000, employs 16 more officers. But, Waterbury, whose population increased by more than 4,000, employs 17 fewer officers. Bristol, whose population increased by fewer than 1,000, employs 13 more officers. But in Norwalk, where population increased by almost 6,000, the number of officers fell slightly, from 175 to 174.

Of the five cities that increased the number of officers on staff, Stamford added the most (35). Its population increased by approximately 13,000.

Of the five cities in which the number of officers declined, the biggest decline is in Hartford, which employs 24 fewer officers today than it did in 2006. Hartford's population increased only marginally over the period, from 124, 223 to 124, 397.

Table 1: Number of Police Officers Employed: 1996 and 2006

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