WS - C - Law Enforcement Assessment - Final Report

How Does Tiffin compare to other cities of comparable populations? The suggested manpower and strength will likely take many elected officials as well as residents off guard. Without fully understanding the ratios and what other communities of similar sizes do, it is difficult to put into perspective the number of officers other comparable cities of similar population employ. The table below presents this information based upon cities for FY 2022 and the updated list from the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy stating the number of officers each agency employees. City Population # Of Officers Officers / 1K Humboldt 4792 8 1.67 Le Claire 4710 10 2.12 Camanche 4570 9 1.97 Evansdale 4561 15 3.29 Mount Vernon 4527 8 1.77 Tiffin 4512 2 0.44 Dyersville 4477 9 2.01 Hampton 4337 9 2.08 Forest City 4285 11 2.57 Huxley 4244 11 2.59 Avg. 9.2 2.05 Based upon the information included in this table, most comparable cities employee 2.05 officers per 1000 residents. It is important to note Evansdale’s number of officers may appear skewed as they employ a large number of part-time officers, thus inflating their numbers on the table. Looking ahead 10 years to 2030, when the population has quickly approached 12,000 residents, the table below shows the approximate number of officers per 1000 residents. How Does Tiffin compare to other cities of comparable populations? City Population # Of Officers Officers / 1K Norwalk 12799 21 1.64 Boone 12460 21 1.69 Oskaloosa 11558 15 1.30 Avg. 19 1.54 These agencies do not employ part-time officers, to the best of my knoweldge, therefore these agencies accurately average 1.5 officers per 1000 residents. Regardless whether elected officials continue with the Sheriff’s Office or begin implementation of their own police department, finding the monies to afford police services could present its own obstacles. The tables below show the taxable valuations for the current comparable cities by population. 9|Page