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Law Enforcement Statistics

State and Local Law Enforcement Statistics

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Summary findings

• Personnel
• Education and training requirements
• Operating expenditures
• 9-1-1 participation
• Drug asset forfeiture
• Community policing
• Computers and information systems
• Video Technology and digital imaging
• Police public contact

Personnel

• As of June 2000, State and local law enforcement agencies had 1,019,496 full-time personnel, 11% more than the 921,978 employed in 1996. From 1996 to 2000 the number of full-time sworn personnel increased from 663,535 to 708,022.
• As of June 2000, local police departments had 565,915 full-time employees including about 441,000 sworn personnel. Sheriffs' offices had 293,823 full-time employees, including about 165,000 sworn personnel.
• From 1987 to 2000 minority representation among local police officers increased from 14.5% to 22.7%. In sheriffs' offices, minorities accounted for 17.1% of sworn personnel in 2000 compared to 13.4% in 1987.
• From 1996 to 2000, total employment by local police departments was up an average of 2.1% per year. Sheriffs' offices increased their number of employees by 3.5% per year.

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Education and Training Requirements

• In 2000, 15% of local police departments and 11% of sheriffs' offices had some type of college education requirement for new officers.
• In 2000, new local police recruits were required to complete an average of about 1,600 hours of academy and field training in departments serving 100,000 or more residents, compared to about 800 hours in those serving a population of less than 2,500. New deputy recruits in sheriffs' offices serving 100,000 or more residents were required to complete an average of 1,400 hours of training compared to about 780 hours in those serving a population of less than 10,000.

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Operating Expenditures

• In 2000, local police departments cost about $80,600 per sworn officer and $179 per resident to operate for the year. Sheriffs' offices cost about $107,900 per officer and $65 per resident for the year.

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9-1-1 participation

• In 2000, 89% of local police departments and 87% of sheriffs' offices participated in an emergency 9-1-1 system. About 7 in 10 local police departments and two-thirds of sheriffs' offices had enhanced 9-1-1 systems, capable of automatically displaying information such as a caller's phone number, address, and special needs.

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Drug asset forfeiture

• Collectively, local police departments received $320 million worth of cash, goods, and property from drug asset forfeiture programs during calendar year 1999. Sheriffs' offices had total receipts of $137 million.

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Community policing

As of June 30, 2000,

• Two-thirds of all local police departments and 62% of sheriffs' offices had full-time sworn personnel engaged in community policing activities.
• Local police departments had an estimated 102,598 full-time sworn personnel serving as community policing officers or otherwise regularly engaged in community policing activities, and sheriffs' offices had 16,545 full-time sworn so assigned.

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Computers and Information Systems

• Twenty-eight percent of local police departments in 2000, and 33% of sheriffs' offices, used computers for inter-agency information sharing. This includes three-quarters of all local departments serving 250,000 or more residents, and more than half of all sheriffs' offices serving 100,000 or more residents.
  
  
• In 2000, 75% of local police officers and 61% of sheriffs' officers worked for an agency that used in-field computers or terminals, compared to 30% and 28% in 1990.
  
  
• In 2000, 75% of local police departments and 80% of sheriffs' offices used paper reports as the primary means to transmit criminal incident field data to a central information system, down from 86% and 87% in 1997. During the same time period, use of computer and data devices for this purpose increased from 7% to 14% in local police departments and from 9% to 19% in sheriffs' offices.
  
  
• The percentage of local police departments using computers for Internet access increased from 24% in 1997 to 56% in 2000. Among sheriffs' offices, 31% used computers for Internet access in 1997, increasing to 67% in 2000.

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Video Technology and Digital Imaging

• In 2000, forty-five percent of all local police departments and 53% of all sheriffs' offices used video cameras on a regular basis. The most common use of video cameras was in patrol cars, with 37% of local police departments and 40% of sheriffs' offices using video cameras in this application.
  
  
• In 2000, forty-seven percent of sheriffs' offices, and 29% of local police departments, used digital imaging technology for mug shots; twenty-one percent of sheriffs' offices and 29% of local police departments used digital imaging technology for suspect composites; twenty-seven percent of sheriffs' offices and 11% of local police departments used digital imaging technology for fingerprints.
  
  

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Police Public Contact

In a nationwide survey conducted in 1999 --

• Speeding was the most common reason for being pulled over, accounting for 51.2% of all traffic stops in 1999.
• The majority of drivers stopped by police felt they had been stopped for legitimate reason (84.3%).
• About half of 1% of the 19.3 million drivers pulled over by police in 1999 felt police had used or threatened excessive force against them.

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BJS Publications

This list is in order of the most recent publication first. Additional titles are listed on other topical pages and a comprehensive list is contained on the BJS publications page. To see a full abstract of a publication with links to electronic versions of the publication, click on the title below.

Local Law Enforcement Block Grant Program, 1996-2004, 09/04. Outlines how the formulas are calculated under the LLEBG Program to make funds available to local governments for reducing crime and improving public safety. NCJ 203096

50 Largest Crime Labs, 2002, 09/04. Reports on the workload, backlog, and estimated resources needed to meet the demand for forensic services in the Nation's 50 largest publicly funded crime labs. NCJ 205988

Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 2000: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers, 04/04. Compiled from the 2000 LEMAS survey, this report presents agency-specific data collected from more than 755 local agencies and 49 State agencies that employed 100 or more sworn officers. NCJ 203350

• Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 1999: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers, 11/01. NCJ 184481
• Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 1997: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers 4/99. NCJ 171681
• Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 1993: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers 9/95. NCJ 148825

Reporting Crime to the Police, 03/03. Presents National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data from 1992 to 2000 on non-lethal crimes against persons age 12 or older that were reported to police. NCJ 195710

Assessing Measurement Techniques for Identifying Race, Ethnicity, and Gender: Observation-Based Data Collection in Airports and at Immigration Checkpoints., 01/03. Reports on data collected about demographic characteristics of persons observed by Federal law enforcement officers. NCJ 196855

Tribal Law Enforcement, 2000, 01/03. Presents information on the characteristics of tribally operated law enforcement agencies in the United States, including personnel, services, and functions. NCJ 197936

Local Police Departments 2000, 01/03. Based on the 2000 LEMAS survey, this report presents data collected from a representative sample of the more than 13,000 general-purpose local police departments nationwide. NCJ 196002

Local Police Departments, 1999, 5/01. NCJ 186478
Local Police Departments, 1997
Full report: NCJ 173429, 2/00.
Executive Summary: NCJ 178934, 10/99.
Local Police Departments 1993, 4/96.
Executive Summary: NCJ 160802
Full report: NCJ 148822

Sheriffs' Offices 2000, 01/03. Based on the 2000 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey, this report presents data collected from a representative sample of the nearly 3,000 sheriffs' departments operating nationwide. NCJ 196534

Sheriffs' Offices 1999, 5/01. NCJ 186479 Sheriffs' Departments 1997
Full report: 2/00. NCJ 173428
Executive Summary: 10/99. NCJ 179011
Sheriffs' Departments 1993, 6/96. NCJ 148823

Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 2000. 10/02. Reports on a recurring census conducted for the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) program that provides the number of employees of State and local law enforcement agencies. NCJ 194066

Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 1996. 6/98 NCJ 164618

Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 1992. 7/93. NCJ 142972

Police Departments in Large Cities, 1990-2000, 05/02. Describes trends from 1990 to 2000 among local police departments serving U.S. cities with 250,000 or more residents. NCJ 175703

Characteristics of Drivers Stopped by Police, 1999, 03/02. Provides data on the nature and characteristics of traffic stops, as collected in the 1999 Police-Public Contact Survey. NCJ 191548

Survey of DNA Crime Laboratories, 2001, 1/02. Reports findings from a survey of publicly operated forensic crime labs that perform Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) testing. NCJ 191191

Survey of DNA Crime Laboratories, 1998, 2/00. NCJ 179104

Traffic Stop Data Collection Policies for State Police, 2001, 12/01. Provides findings from the 2001 State Police Traffic Stop Data Collection Procedures. Discussed are the circumstances under which demographic data are collected for traffic-related contacts and violations. NCJ 191158

Traffic Stop Data Collection Policies for State Police, 1999. 2/00 NCJ 180776

Policing and Homicide, 1976-98: Justifiable Homicide of Felons by Police and Murder of Police by Felons, 03/01. Presents annual trends from 1976 to 1998 in two types of homicide: justifiable homicides of felons by police, and murders of police officers by felons. NCJ 180987

Contacts between Police and Public: Findings from the 1999 National Survey, 2/01. Presents data on the nature and characteristics of citizen contacts with the police over a 12-month period. Gives statistics on police use of force and traffic stops, and discusses the relevance of the survey findings to the issue of racial profiling. NCJ 184957

Community Policing in Local Police Departments, 1997 and 1999, 2/01. Focuses on changes in the prevalence of community oriented policing policies, programs, and activities. NCJ 184794

Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 1999: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers, 11/00. Compiled from the 1999 LEMAS survey, this report presents agency-specific data collected from more than 700 State and local agencies that employed 100 or more sworn officers. NCJ 184481

Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 1997: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers 4/99. NCJ 171681

Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 1993: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers 9/95. NCJ 148825

Use of Force By Police: Overview of National and Local Data, 11/99 This joint report by the National Institute of Justice and BJS presents findings on the extent and nature of police use of force, discusses the difficulties in establishing measurement guidelines, illuminates circumstances under which force is applied, and provides a general framework for future research on excessive displays of force. NCJ 176330

Criminal Victimization and Perceptions of Community Safety in 12 Cities, 1998, 6/99. Presents survey data from 12 cities regarding criminal victimization and residents' attitudes toward their neighborhood, their city, and the local policing services. NCJ 173940

Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 1996. 7/98 Based on the 1996 Directory Survey of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, this document reports on the type and number of employees in Nation's State and local law enforcement agencies. NCJ 164618

Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 1992. 7/93. NCJ 142972

Police Use of Force, 11/97. Reports the results of the Police-Public Contact Survey and describes a project to acquire use of force data from law enforcement agencies. NCJ 165040

National Data Collection on Police Use of Force, 7/96. Summarizes prior research on police use of force and lists the difficulties inherent in collecting use-of-force data, including definitional problems, reluctance of police agencies to provide reliable data, concerns about the misapplication of reported data, and the degree of detail needed on individual incidents. NCJ 160113

Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 1993: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers, 9/95. Compiled from the 1993 LEMAS survey, this report presents agency-specific data collected from 661 State and local agencies that employed 100 or more sworn officers. NCJ 148825

Performance Measures for the Criminal Justice System, 10/93 . This compendium of Discussion Papers represents the work of the BJS-Princeton University Study Group on Criminal Justice Performance Measures. NCJ 143505

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Related sites

• Community Oriented Policing Office, U.S. Department of Justice
• International Association of Chiefs of Police
• National Sheriffs' Association
• "Changing America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being by Race and Hispanic Origin", a Council of Economic Advisors chartbook from the Government Printing Office

Bureau of Justice Statistics
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Page last revised on September 7, 2004