Charted: Asia’s Police Force Manpower

How many police officers do cities employ, and how does this vary across the region? GI has looked at the number of police officers compared to the total population in Asian cities. China has the highest number of people for every police officer, while Hong Kong has the lowest: 252 people to every police officer, compared to China’s 856 people for every officer.

When we look at cities, Hong Kong has a lower number of people for every officer, compared to Singapore. But both have much fewer police officers than developing countries in the region.

Thailand has a particularly high number of police officers for its population: for every 100,000 people in Thailand, there are 340 police officers. Yet crime rate figures show that Singapore and Hong Kong are safer.

Ultimately, this shows that police numbers are not tied to the parts of Asia with the lowest crime rate, and that city states are able to rely on far fewer police per citizen than countries with a larger rural community.