Not long after noon earlier this month, Mary Pierce took South Avenue for a quick trip on I-75 to meet a friend. An uninsured driver struck her from behind before she reached the interstate.

Ms. Pierce parked her disabled car along the on-ramp’s shoulder and called 911. She contacted the Toledo police nonemergency line about 20 minutes later. She made a third and final call about 1:30 p.m., Ms. Pierce said.

She said Toledo police arrived to the noninjury crash after 3 p.m. The officer, apologetic and helpful, explained he just departed from a previous incident.

More urgent calls take priority, she said, but the situation could have become problematic. What if a motorist suddenly needed help, or another vehicle hit her car pushing it into traffic?

“Three hours, to me, just seems a little bit outrageous,” said Ms. Pierce, 68, of Toledo.

A review of the six-largest cities in Ohio and their corresponding police departments found Toledo ranks toward the bottom in the rate of residents per officer.

From administration to patrol, the Toledo Police Department employs 631 sworn officers, a department spokesman said. These men and women cover a city of approximately 281,000 people, or about 445 residents per officer.

Officers within the department are asked to make do with a smaller force. The department employed 737 sworn officers in 1995 and 612 last year, said Dan Wagner, president of the Toledo Police Patrolman’s Association, the union representing city police officers.

Mr. Wagner said there are 265 officers working in the department’s field operations bureau, the vast majority of whom serve in patrol.

At least 20 officers are typically on patrol per shift. That total increases to about 40 to 50 during the busier afternoon shift, Mr. Wagner said.

Fewer officers means additional overtime costs, longer response times, and less time to thoroughly follow up on cases while calls wait, he said.

“It has an emotional and mental impact on the officers, and it wears on them,” Mr. Wagner said.

The delayed response to Ms. Pierce’s crash was not surprising, he said. Violent crimes such as domestic violence cases, assaults, and shootings require a faster arrival. Mr. Wagner said officers may not reach a reported burglary, for example, until four to eight hours after the call.

A department size of 700 officers would better serve the city, he said, but expanding the force requires a greater push to fund public safety. Proactive policing reduces crime, he said.

Many residents likely do not know the department’s size, and are more likely to criticize responding officers, Mr. Wagner said. Police attempt to explain the number of officers and that citizens can contact their city councilmen, he said.

“Unfortunately, they are the face of the department when they show up in situations like that,” he said.

Budget problems in the past have limited the department’s size. In 2009, the city used funding from a federal grant to recall 31 of the 75 laid-off police officers.

A recently scheduled interview with police Chief George Kral on the number of officers in the city was canceled by his office. The chief did not return a later call seeking comment.

Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson declined an interview request as well. She asked that the newspaper’s findings be sent to her spokesman, who issued a statement on her behalf.

“The city of Toledo maintains a safety force ratio consistent with Columbus and Akron, with approximately one officer per 450 citizens. As mayor, I have directed funds to be included in the 2016 budget to support the addition of 50 new officers in 2016 to increase our police presence in the community,” she said.

Toledo also has several outreach programs, such as Block Watch and community service officers, to help residents work with law enforcement, according to the statement.

The source of funding for the new officers has not yet been determined, the mayor’s spokesman said.

Councilman Theresa Gabriel, who chairs council's public safety, law, and criminal justice committee, told a Blade reporter that the officer-to-resident ratio is “always a concern when the subject is brought up,” but she said it hasn’t been discussed for a long time.

She said she will schedule a discussion about it when the committee holds its next meeting Oct. 21. “You just gave me the first item for the agenda,” Ms. Gabriel said.

She said she has long agreed with Mr. Wagner about the general need to improve the ratio, though she said it will be hard to find the money to do it.

Contact Ryan Dunn at: rdunn@theblade.com, 419-724-6095, or on Twitter @rdunnblade.

First Published September 20, 2015, 4:00 a.m.