U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 2004 June 2007, NCJ 212749 ------------------------------------------------------- This file is text only without graphics and many of the tables. A Zip archive of the tables in this report in spreadsheet format (.csv) and the full report including tables and graphics in .pdf format are available from: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/csllea04.htm This report is one in a series. More recent editions may be available. To view a list of all in the series go to http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pubalp2.htm#csllea ------------------------------------------------------- By Brian A. Reaves, Ph.D. BJS Statistician In September 2004, 17,876 State and local law enforcement agencies with the equivalent of at least 1 full-time officer were operating in the U.S. The total included: * 12,766 local police departments * 3,067 sheriffs' offices * 49 primary State law enforcement agencies * 1,481 special jurisdiction agencies * 513 other agencies, primarily county constable offices in Texas. State and local law enforcement agencies employed nearly 1.1 million persons on a full-time basis, including 732,000 sworn personnel (defined in the census as those with general arrest powers). These agencies also employed approximately 105,000 part-time employees, including 46,000 sworn officers. Local police departments were the largest employer of sworn officers, accounting for 61% of the total. Sheriffs' offices were next, accounting for 24%. The remainder were employed by the 49 primary State law enforcement agencies (8%) or special jurisdiction agencies (7%). Most State and local law enforcement agencies were small, with about half employing fewer than 10 officers. These agencies accounted for 5% of all sworn personnel. Nearly two-thirds of sworn personnel were employed by the 6% of agencies that employed 100 or more officers. From 2000 to 2004, full-time employment by State and local law enforcement agencies nationwide increased overall by 57,400 (or 5.6%). Sworn personnel increased by 23,900 (or 3.4%), and nonsworn by 33,500 (or 10.8%). The number of sworn personnel added from 2000 to 2004 was less than the increase observed from 1996 to 2000 (44,500) or from 1992 to 1996 (55,400). The number of total full-time employees per 100,000 residents rose from 362 in 2000 to 367 in 2004; however, the number of full-time sworn officers per 100,000 residents declined from 252 to 249. From 2000 to 2004, sworn employment rose by 1% in local police departments, 6% in sheriffs' offices, and 2% in State law enforcement agencies. Sheriffs' offices increased their number of nonsworn employees by 17% compared to 1% for local police and State law enforcement agencies. Although local police employment was up slightly nationwide from 2000 to 2004, 20 of the nation's 50 largest local police departments saw a decline in sworn personnel during this period, including 6 of the 7 largest. The New York City Police Department remained the nation's largest law enforcement agency in 2004, with 36,118 officers, but it employed 11% fewer officers than in 2000. Since 1992, the first year of the census, State and local law enforcement employment increased by 230,400 (or 27%). The number of sworn personnel grew by about 123,800 (or 20%), and nonsworn personnel rose by 106,600 (or 45%). During the same period the number of violent crimes reported nationwide decreased by 29%. More than half of State and local law enforcement personnel worked for local police departments Local police departments were the largest employer of law enforcement personnel with about 573,000 (or 53%) of the nearly 1.1 million employees nationwide. Sheriffs' offices employed 326,531 (or 30%) of the total. The 49 primary State law enforcement agencies accounted for 8% of the total, the same percentage as special jurisdiction agencies (those that served a special geographic jurisdiction or had special enforcement or investigative responsibilities). See table 7 for types of special jurisdiction agencies. About 447,000 (or 61%) of all sworn State and local law enforcement employees were local police officers. Sheriffs' offices accounted for about 175,000 (or 24%) of the total. The 49 primary State law enforcement agencies employed about 58,000 (or 8%) of the total, and special jurisdiction agencies about 49,000 (or 7%). Six percent of law enforcement agencies employed 64% of sworn personnel About 1,100 (or 6%) of State and local law enforcement agencies employed 100 or more full-time sworn personnel. This included 79 agencies with 1,000 or more officers. Agencies with 100 or more officers employed 64% of all full-time sworn personnel, and those with 1,000 or more officers employed 30%. About half of agencies employed fewer than 10 full-time officers, and nearly a third(31%) employed fewer than 5 officers. Among these smaller agencies, about 2,200 (12% of agencies overall) had just 1 full-time officer or only part-time officers. The largest agencies rarely used part-time sworn officers, accounting for just 0.3% of all such personnel nationwide (not shown in table). About half (49%) of part-time sworn personnel were employed by agencies with fewer than 10 full-time officers, and about two-thirds (69%) worked for agencies with fewer than 25 full-time officers. Growth in law enforcement personnel from 2000 to 2004 was less than in prior 4-year periods From 2000 to 2004, the number of full-time State and local law enforcement employees increased about 57,400 (or 5.6%). This included an increase in sworn personnel of about 23,900 (or 3.4%). Civilian employment rose 33,500 (or 10.8%). Fewer sworn personnel were added from 2000 to 2004 than from 1996 to 2000 (44,500), or from 1992 to 1996 (55,400). The 33,500 nonsworn employees added from 2000 to 2004 were less than from 1996 to 2000 (53,000) but exceeded the number added from 1992 to 1996 (20,000). From 1992 (the year of the first census) to 2004, State and local law enforcement agencies added about 230,400 full-time employees, including 123,800 sworn officers and 106,600 nonsworn employees. During this time the number of violent crimes handled by law enforcement agencies nationwide decreased by more than 565,000. Nationwide ratio of sworn State and local law enforcement personnel to population was lower in 2004 than in 2000 In September 2004 State and local law enforcement agencies had 367 full-time employees per 100,000 residents nationwide. This represented an increase of 1% since 2000 and 11% since 1992. There were 249 sworn personnel per 100,000 residents nationwide in 2004, a decrease of 1% from 2000, but still 5% higher than in 1992. In 2004 the 117 nonsworn personnel per 100,000 residents nationwide was 5% more than in 2000, and 26% more than in 1992. From 1992 to 2004, the number of reported UCR violent crimes per 100,000 residents dropped 39%. From 1992 to 2004, local police departments accounted for most of the increase in sworn personnel; sheriffs' offices for most of the increase in nonsworn personnel Employment by sheriffs' offices grew by 45% from 1992 to 2004, including a 28% increase in sworn personnel and a 71% increase in nonsworn employees. In local police departments, sworn employment rose 19% during this period, and in State law enforcement agencies, 10%. Both recorded a 21% increase in nonsworn employees. The 72,450 local police officers added from 1992 to 2004 accounted for 59% of the growth in sworn law enforcement personnel overall. Sheriffs' offices added nearly 63,000 civilian employees during this period, accounting for 59% of the overall increase in nonsworn employment. Nearly 13,000 local police departments operated in the U.S. during 2004 In September 2004, 12,766 local police departments were operating in the United States. Nearly all (98%) were operated by a single municipality. The remainder were operated by a county or tribal government, or served multiple jurisdictions under a regional or joint arrangement. A majority of local police departments employed fewer than 10 full-time officers Most local police departments were small, but most local police officers worked for larger agencies. Departments with fewer than 10 full-time officers comprised 55% of all agencies, but employed just 6% of all officers. About 600 (4.7%)local police departments employed 100 or more full-time sworn personnel. These agencies employed 60% of all local police officers. An annual average of about 8,000 local police officers were added from 1992 to 2000, compared to fewer than 2,000 per year from 2000 to 2004 From 2000 to 2004, overall full-time employment by local police departments increased by about 7,200(or 1.3%). The number of full-time sworn personnel increased by about 6,000 (1.4%) during this period. The number of civilian employees rose by about 1,200, or 0.9%. Although the number of local police officers nationwide increased by more than 72,000 from 1992 to 2004, more than 90% of this increase occurred between 1992 and 2000. Six of the seven largest local police departments employed fewer officers in 2004 than in 2000 The New York City Police Department (NYPD), with 36,118 full- time officers, is the largest police department in the U.S. (see appendix table 4 for the 50 largest local police departments). It employed 11% fewer officers in 2004 than in 2000. Despite a decrease, the NYPD still employed nearly 3 times as many officers as the next largest agency the Chicago Police Department(13,129). Other police departments that employed 5,000 or more officers included those in Los Angeles (9,099), Philadelphia (6,832), and Houston (5,092). Overall, 20 of the nation's 50 largest local police departments had fewer officers in 2004 than in 2000, including 6 of the 7 largest. Five of the 50 largest departments experienced a drop of more than 10% in the number of officers: * Detroit (MI) Police (-15%) * Nassau County (NY) Police (-15%) * Cleveland (OH) Police (-14%) * Newark (NJ) Police (-11%) * New York (NY) Police (-11%) The largest gains in sworn personnel were in police departments serving Las Vegas (NV) (23%), Austin (TX) (19%), Fairfax County (VA) (17%), Atlanta (GA)(11%), and Albuquerque (NM) (11%). All but three States and the District of Columbia had sheriffs' offices in 2004 A total of 3,067 sheriffs' offices operated with the equivalent of at least 1 full-time officer during 2004. Nearly every county in the U.S. operated a sheriff's office. Alaska, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, and Hawaii did not have sheriffs' offices (see appendix table 5 for State-by-State data). Overall, sheriffs' offices employed 326,531 persons full time, including about 175,000 sworn personnel. About 11% of sheriffs' offices employed at least 100 full-time sworn personnel In September 2004, 12 sheriffs' offices employed 1,000 or more full-time sworn officers, accounting for 18% of all such personnel. The largest of these was the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department with 8,239 full-time sworn personnel (see appendix table 6 for the 50 largest sheriffs' offices). A total of 351 (11%) sheriffs' offices employed at least 100 sworn personnel, accounting for 65% of full-time officers. More than 900 (30%) offices operated with fewer than 10 full- time sworn personnel, employing 3% of all officers. From 2000 to 2004, employment in sheriffs' offices increased by 11% Since June 2000, total full-time employment in sheriffs' offices was up by about 33,000, or 11.1%. The number of sworn personnel increased by about 10,000, or 6.3%, and the number of nonsworn employees by more than 22,000, or 17%. These increases were larger than those observed for local police, a difference due in part to the broader range of functions performed by most sheriffs' offices. Nearly all sheriffs' offices performed law enforcement and court-related functions; about 4 in 5 operated at least one jail Ninety-six percent of sheriffs' offices were responsible for traditional law enforcement functions, such as responding to citizen requests for service, providing routine patrol services, and conducting traffic enforcement. A similar percentage performed court-related duties, such as serving process (97%) and providing court security (97%). In addition, 78% were responsible for operating at least one jail. Nationwide, sheriffs' offices had the equivalent of 59% of their full-time sworn personnel assigned to law enforcement operations, 23% to jail operations, and 12% to court operations. From 2000 to 2004, full-time sworn personnel of the 49 primary State law enforcement agencies rose by 3.3% In September 2004, the 49 primary State law enforcement agencies had 89,265 full-time employees. This was 2,237 (or 2.6%) more than in 2000. These agencies employed 58,190 full-time sworn personnel in 2004, an increase of 1,842 (or 3.3%) compared to 2000. Civilian employment rose by 1.3% during this period. The California Highway Patrol was the largest State law enforcement agency Overall, 19 of the 49 primary State law enforcement agencies employed at least 1,000 full-time officers in 2004, two more than in 2000. The largest, the California Highway Patrol, had 7,085 full-time sworn personnel, followed by the New York State Police(4,667), Pennsylvania State Police(4,200), Texas Department of Public Safety (3,437), and New Jersey State Police (2,768). The smallest agencies were the North Dakota Highway Patrol (135), South Dakota Highway Patrol(154), and Wyoming Highway Patrol (188). In terms of full-time officers per 100,000 residents, the Delaware State Police (77), Alaska State Troopers (58), and Vermont State Police (52) had the highest ratios. The lowest ratios were for the Wisconsin State Patrol (9), Florida Highway Patrol (10), and the Georgia State Patrol (10). More than 10,000 full-time sworn personnel were employed at 4-year public universities and colleges Nearly 1,500 State and local law enforcement agencies served a special geographic jurisdiction or had special enforcement or investigative responsibilities during 2004. These agencies employed about 85,000 persons full time, including more than 49,000 sworn personnel. More than two-thirds of special jurisdiction agencies served public buildings and facilities, employing more than 19,000 sworn personnel. Within this group, about 500 campus police departments served 4-year public institutions. These agencies employed more than 10,000 officers. The second largest group of special jurisdiction agencies was those responsible for enforcing conservation laws and providing law enforcement services for parks and recreation areas. These 205 agencies employed more than 14,000 full-time sworn personnel. Special police departments tasked with safeguarding transportation systems and facilities employed more than 9,000 full-time sworn personnel A total of 130 special police departments served transportation- related jurisdictions, such as mass transit systems, airports, bridges, tunnels, and port facilities. These agencies employed about 9,100 full-time sworn officers. The largest, the Port Authority of New York and the New Jersey Police Department, employed 1,607 officers in 2004, 25% more than in 2000. The Port Authority Police served: LaGuardia, Kennedy, and Newark Airports; the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels; the George Washington and Staten Island Bridges; the PATH train system; the Port Authority Bus Terminal; and the Port Newark and Port Elizabeth Marine Terminals. Many of the nation's largest transit systems had their own dedicated police forces. The five largest were in the New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Boston metropolitan areas. Collectively, the 10 largest transit police departments employed 20% more sworn personnel in 2004 than in 2000. Methodology The 2004 Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies (CSLLEA) data collection form was mailed to more than 19,000 agencies potentially operating nationwide. This master list was created by compiling information from the following sources: * The 2000 CSLLEA * Lists provided by Peace Officer Standards and Training offices and other State agencies * A FBI list of agencies requesting new identifiers since the 2000 CSLLEA Responses were received through website, fax, and mail options. Responding agencies were screened for eligibility to be included in the final CSLLEA database. Agencies were excluded if any of the following conditions existed on the CSLLEA reference date of September 30, 2004. * The agency was not operational * The agency did not employ personnel with general arrest powers * The agency contracted or outsourced to another agency for performance of all services * The agency employed only part-time officers and the total combined hours worked for these officers averaged less than 35 hours per week * All sworn officers volunteered their time on an unpaid basis * The agency was not operated with any funds from a State, local, special district, or tribal government. ----------------------------------------------------------- The Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies (CSLLEA) officers' counts were more inclusive than those from other series The annual counts of sworn personnel in the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) and the BJS' Justice and Expenditure and Employment (E & E) series, like those from the CSLLEA, include only full-time employees with arrest powers. The CSLLEA includes all officers with arrest powers regardless of function. The UCR data collected by the FBI exclude officers not paid out of police funds. This generally excludes employees working for jails or courts. A similar exclusion is found in the sample data from the Census Bureau's Annual Survey of Public Employment published by BJS in the E & E series. E & E categorizes justice system employees by function: police protection, judicial and legal, or corrections. Another reason the UCR counts are lower than those from the CSLLEA is that the UCR excludes some agencies that do not have an Originating Agency Identification (ORI) number assigned by the FBI. Some agencies without an ORI are still included in the UCR employee counts (but not in the agency counts), because they report their data to another agency which in turn reports it to the FBI. The UCR data cover 95% of the U.S. population. Generally the employment trends reported by the CSLLEA, UCR, and the E & E have been similar over time, with the main difference being the lower totals reported by the UCR and E & E ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. Jeffrey L. Sedgwick is director. This Bulletin was written by Brian A. Reaves and Matthew J. Hickman verified the report, under the supervision of Steven K. Smith. Carolyn C. Williams, with assistance from Joanna Bradford, produced and edited the report, and Jayne Robinson prepared the report for final printing, under the supervision of Doris J. James. June 2007, NCJ 212749 ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ This report in portable document format and in ASCII and its related statistical data and tables are available at the BJS World Wide Web Internet site: . ------------------------------------------------ End of file 06/27/07 ih