How big is Eau Claire’s police force?

On Behalf of | Oct 12, 2016 | Violent Crimes

Different cities, even those within the same state, can have major differences when it comes to their police force. One is in the size of the force. This can be seen in statistics on police force size in Wisconsin cities that a recent Waukesha Patch article reported on.

The statistics indicate that Wisconsin cities vary greatly in their ratio of police officers to residents. For example, among Wisconsin cities with populations of over 60,000, some cities have as many as one police officer for every 300-400 residents, while others have much sparser ratios.

How does Eau Claire compare to other large Wisconsin cities when it comes to police force size? Reportedly, Eau Claire has 95 police officers. This puts the city’s officer-to-resident ratio at around one officer for every 716 residents. This is largest number of residents for every one police officer of any Wisconsin city with over 60,000 residents.

So, it appears Eau Claire has a rather small police force given the city’s size. What impacts do you think this has on the practices and conduct of police in the city?

This leads us to another key point, and that is that police forces from different cities can also vary greatly in their practices and how they act. When a person is charged with a criminal offense, such as a violent crime, it is very important to look at what practices the police involved in the investigation followed and what actions they took when collecting evidence. When investigatory actions of police crossed the line into violating a suspect’s rights, such as their constitutional rights, it may be possible to get the evidence found through the actions barred from being able to be used in the case. Evaluating the propriety of police investigatory actions in their case is one of the things skilled defense lawyers can do for individuals facing violent crime charges.

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