South Africa’s police force vs the world

According to National Police Commissioner, General Riah Phiyega, the South African citizen/police ratio is currently at one police officer for every 347 citizens, or around 288 police officers per 100,000 people.

This puts the country in the lower-middle end of policing when compared to countries across the world – alarming, when considering that the country has one of the highest crime rates in the entire world – though it is within the recommended range of the UN.

According to data from the UN, the global average for police per 100,000 people is around 340 officers. The international body recommends a minimum police strength of 220 per 100,000 people.

According the SAPS’ latest annual report (to March 2014), the police service had a total workforce of 194,852 people.

This is made up of 36,304 employees in administration; 103,746 police officers engaged in visible policing; 39,748 detectives; 8,723 crime intelligence officers; and 6,331 protection and security officers.

In the year, the SAPS paid out R51.3 million in salaries to police men and women, averaging R263,200 per officer.

Policing around the world

The most populous countries in the world have the biggest police forces – with China and India each pushing forces over 1 million officers strong.

The table below details the world’s largest police forces based on available UN data from 2013.

Note that China is not included in the UN data, but estimates put the country’s People’s Armed Force at anywhere between 660,000 (government reported) and 1.5 million members.

While South Africa is not included in the UN data either, available information from the SAPS for 2013 shows that the country had the 11th biggest police force.

Biggest police forces around the world (2013)

But when looking at police forces spread per 100,000 people, it is the smaller countries, with much smaller populations that have the widest coverage.

Notably, the Vatican City is well known for having a population largely made up of its security force.

Of the 450-odd population, 130 people serve as a police force, meaning there is one police officer for every three citizens.

According to the latest available data from the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Macau, a special administrative region of China, has the highest per capita police force, with 1,087 officers per 100,000 population.

The region has a police force of 6,157 among a population of 566,725.

This is followed by the Maldives, where there are 908 police per 100,000 people, and Uruguay, with 673 police per 100,000 people.

Police per capita around the world (2013)

More on South Africa

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