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At 1 a.m., on the morning of Dec. 26, Newman Police Officer Ronil Singh, 33, was shot and killed during a traffic stop. The corporal’s partner was patrolling nearby and was first on the scene after there was a report of “shots fired.”
Singh was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The news comes as a shock to the community. Newman is a small town in Stanislaus County, California, and has a population of approximately 10,000 people. Singh’s death is the fourth fatal shooting of a police officer in California this year, though Newman has by far the smallest population of any of the four cities where an officer was killed.
This latest incident begs the question: what can small-town law enforcement agencies do to protect police officers when lacking the size and population of larger cities?
For small towns like Newman, there is not necessarily a need for a large police force. To some, a police force of 13 sworn officers may seem small. However, with a ratio of roughly 13 officers to 10,000 people, the city of Newman has a larger ratio of law enforcement to population than bigger cities in California, like San Jose and Roseville.
In a big city like Sacramento, law enforcement agencies need to have a high ratio of employees to the population to ensure the safety of all residents. In 2010, Sac PD had a total of 696 officers, with a ratio of 14.7 officers per 10,000 people.
According to government safety data, in 2016, “police departments serving cities with populations exceeding 25,000 employed an average of 16.8 officers and 21.4 total personnel for every 10,000 residents.”
Newman PD has only 13 sworn officers, but the city is safer than 40% of all U.S. cities, according to Neighborhood Scout crime statistics. It is safer than Roseville and San Jose.
However, though chances of becoming a victim of a violent crime or a property crime in Newman is significantly lower than the California average, Newman’s statistics for crimes per square mile is nearly triple the national median. Newman is small, but its police officers are busy.
A problem in determining the needs of any police department arises in the fact that there is no national standard for how many police officers a city should have per capita, as the needs of each individual city and funding largely determine the size of the department. Nationally, smaller cities also struggle to hire and retain employees.
Cities have to mostly rely on what officials think is best, and even then, such as in the case of Newman, an individual police officer’s beat is unpredictable.
According to a report on police staffing models completed by the International City/County Management Association, a 1 a.m. shift on a typical weekday in winter does not require peak workload staffing. It is a relatively “quiet” shift. And yet, the events that occurred on Dec. 26 in Newman resulted in all officers reporting for duty, and the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department has since taken over day-to-day operations of the department while the staff attempts to recuperate after the loss.
The ICMA report states that “Police staffing models in the U.S. are generally determined by one of five common methods. Departments traditionally have used crime trends, a per-capita approach, minimum-manning levels, authorized/budgeted levels, and least-commonly, workload-based models to make staffing decisions.”
So, while the small size and low crime area of Newman suggest a small police force is all that is needed, crime rates are not the only factor in deciding the size of a city’s police force.
Cities and towns that might lack a large budget to fund their police force may struggle to employ more officers, while some cities simply require more patrolling.
Even so, police funding is a top priority for Newman officials. In fact, the city of Newman dedicated a larger percentage of funds to public safety than to any other asset in their final budget plan for July 2018 to June 2019. About 44 percent of funds are planned to go to the police department during the current fiscal year.
Funds for public safety are also a concern for big cities, showing a similarity in how both big and small cities prioritize public safety. Sacramento ranks safer than only 9% of U.S. cities. As such, 30.18 percent of the General Fund was allocated to the Sacramento Police Department for the 2018/2018 fiscal year—an increase from last year.
At the end of the day, research is mixed as to whether larger police forces are effective in reducing crime. A 2010 study covering a 12-year period (1996-2008) found a negative correlation between police officer staffing and crime rates, meaning that as cities reduced the number of sworn police officers, crime rates tended to increase. This data suggests that there is safety in numbers. With more feet on the ground, it is generally thought to be safer for police to patrol.
Corporal Singh is survived by his wife, Anamika, and young son. In honor of Singh, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff.
The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department is asking that anyone with information about the suspect step forward. You can leave an anonymous tip by calling Crime Stoppers at (209) 521-4636. Tipsters can also e-mail tips at http://www.modestopolice.com/CrimeStoppers.
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Officer Ronil Singh joined the Newman Police Department in 2011. He was shot and killed during a traffic stop. In his career, he has been part of law enforcement with Turlock Police Department and the Merced County Sheriff's Department.
It's said that he that law enforcement was his "dream job" and that he enjoyed camping, hunting, fishing, and his family. He leaves behind a wife and a 5-month old son.
