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A city of 772 people having a police chief plus 5 police officers sounds like there was a problem long before the mayor questioned the police timesheets. Especially since Wikipedia says Milner is part of Metro Atlanta - so it ain't like they're responsible for 2000 square miles of Montana.

Anyone familiar, to comment? Not saying the mayor was in the right - but did the whole police force bail because tracking would quickly reveal systematic timesheet fraud?

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The national USA average is 2.3 – 2.4 officers per 1,000 population (which is roughly in line with the UK, a little higher than Canada, a little less than the Europe average.

This regional average works out at 7.8 officers per 1,000 (including the chief, making 6 officers per 772 population).

On the other hand, small numbers make a poor comparison for ratios. To ensure 24/7 coverage, you might expect a higher ratio.

Which isn't to say there isn't an issue, but the maths don't automatically illustrate an issue.

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