Recently released data suggests there are fewer police officers per person in the United States that at any point in the last 25 years. The figures are from the Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Public Employment and Payroll.
According to recent federal data there were 214 officers per 100,000 Americans in 2019, which represents a nine percent fall since 2007 when police numbers were at their peak.
The figures come as the United States wrestles with the consequences of the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter campaign.