U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note to readers of the ASCII version: This file is text only without graphics and many of the tables. A Zip archive of the tables in this report in spreadsheet format (.wk1) and the full report including tables and graphics in .pdf format are available from: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/lpd97.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#lpd ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Local Police Departments 1997 Brian A. Reaves, Ph.D. and Andrew L. Goldberg BJS Statisticians February 2000, NCJ 173429 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Highlights Personnel * As of June 1997, local police departments had an estimated 531,496 full-time employees, including about 420,000 sworn personnel. Local police employment was up an average of about 3% a year after 1993, compared to about 1% per year, 1987-93. * Racial and ethnic minorities comprised 21.5% of full-time sworn officers in local police departments in 1997. This compared to 19.1% in 1993, 17.0% in 1990, and 14.6% in 1987. * Nearly all officers worked for departments that used criminal record checks (99%), background investigations (98%), driving record checks (98%), and medical exams (97%) to screen applicants. Psychological (91%), aptitude (84%), and physical agility (78%) tests were also widely used. * In 1997, 1% of departments required a 4-year degree of new officer recruits and 8% a 2-year degree. Overall, 14% of departments, employing 31% of all officers, required new recruits to have completed at least some college in 1997, up from 12% and 15% in 1993. * Field and classroom training requirements for new officer recruits averaged more than 1,000 hours combined. About 7 in 8 departments required officers to complete in-service training, with an average annual requirement of 29 hours. Expenditures and pay * Local police departments had total operating expenditures of $29.2 billion during fiscal 1997, 8% more than in 1993 after adjusting for inflation. Expenditures averaged $67,100 per sworn officer, and $150 per resident. * Starting salaries for local police officers averaged about $28,400, ranging from an average of $18,800 in the smallest jurisdictions to $30,600 in the largest. About two-thirds of all local police officers worked for a department that authorized collective bargaining. Operations * More than 99% of local police departments were responsible for responding to citizen calls for service, providing routine patrol services, and enforcing traffic laws. Ninety-one percent, including all but a few of those serving a population of 10,000 or more, were the primary investigating agency for crimes occurring in their jurisdiction. * About 7 in 8 local police departments had primary drug enforcement responsibilities (88%). Nearly 1 in 6 had officers assigned full-time to a drug enforcement unit, with 13,000 officers so assigned nationwide. About a third of departments had officers assigned to a multi-agency drug task force, with a total of 6,000 officers assigned full-time nationwide. * Forty-three percent of all departments, employing 82% of all officers, had drug asset forfeiture receipts during fiscal 1997. Collectively, departments received an estimated $490 million in money, goods, and property. * In 1997, 85% of local police departments, employing 97% of all officers, participated in a 9-1-1 emergency telephone system compared to 68% and 89% in 1993. In 1997, 53% of departments, employing 80% of all officers, had an enhanced 9-1-1 system, capable of pinpointing the source of a call automatically, compared to 41% and 65% in 1993. Community policing * More than 60% of the departments serving 100,000 or more residents had a formal written community policing plan. Overall, about 9 in 10 local police officers worked for a department with some type of community policing plan. * Sixty-six percent of departments serving 50,000 or more residents had a full-time community policing unit. Fifty-four percent of departments serving 10,000 or more residents had either a full-time unit or designated community policing personnel. * More than 80% of the departments serving a population of 25,000 or more trained at least some in-service officers and new officer recruits in community policing. In a majority of the departments serving a population of 10,000 or more, all new officer recruits received such training. * Nearly all local police departments serving a population of 10,000 or more regularly met with community groups during 1997. A majority of those serving 25,000 or more residents formed 1 or more problem-solving partnerships through written agreements. * An estimated 38% of departments, employing 70% of all officers, had officers assigned full-time as school resource officers. Nationwide, more than 9,400 local police officers worked as school resource officers in 1997. Equipment * Ninety-four percent of local police departments, employing 98% of all officers, authorized the use of semiautomatic sidearms in 1997. These percentages represented increases over the 1993 figures of 84% and 96%. * In 1997 nearly all local police departments authorized the use of non-lethal weapons by officers. From 1993 to 1997, the percent of officers employed by an agency that authorized them to use pepper spray went from 69% to 91%. * In 1997 about half of all local police officers were employed by a department that required them to wear protective body armor while on duty, compared to about two-fifths in 1993. * Nationwide, local police departments operated approximately 215,000 cars during 1997, or about 1 for every 2 officers employed. About a third of these cars were unmarked. * A majority of departments serving a population of 500,000 or more used boats and helicopters. Nearly half (44%) of those serving 1 million or more residents had at least 1 airplane. * A fourth of all departments, including nearly all of those serving 100,000 or more residents, used dogs for law enforcement work, with 6,100 in use nationwide. Two percent had horses, with a total of about 1,200 in use. Computers and information systems * Nearly all local police departments serving a population of 2,500 or more used 1 or more types of computers during 1997. About two-thirds of those serving fewer than 2,500 residents used them. * A majority of the departments serving a population of 10,000 or more used computers for crime analysis and dispatch. A majority of those serving a population of 100,000 or more used them for fleet management, resource allocation, and crime mapping. * From 1993 to 1997, the percentage of local police departments using in-field computers increased from 13% to 29%. Departments using in-field computers employed 73% of all officers in 1997, up from 55% in 1993. * In about a sixth of departments, at least some officers could access vehicle and driving records by computer while in the field. This was the case in a majority of the departments serving a population of 100,000 or more. * In 7 of 8 local police departments, officers primarily transmitted criminal incident field data to a central information system through paper reports. Methods used in other departments included laptop download, disk transfer, wireless transmission, or telephone lines. Written policy directives * Nearly all local police departments (93%) had a written policy on pursuit driving. Three-fifths restricted vehicle pursuits according to specific criteria such as speed or offense. About a fourth had a policy that left the decision to the officer's discretion. Six percent discouraged all vehicle pursuits. * Ninety-one percent of local police departments, employing 99% of all officers, had a written policy on the use of deadly force. Eighty-four percent, employing 96% of all officers, had a policy on the use of nonlethal force. * About 5 in 6 departments, employing 96% of officers, had written policies on the handling of domestic disputes and the handling of juveniles. About 3 in 5 departments, employing 70% of officers, had a discretionary arrest policy. ----------------------End of highlights-------------------------------- The LEMAS survey During 1997, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), as a part of its Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) program, surveyed a nationally representative sample of the nearly 19,000 State and local law enforcement agencies operating nationwide. Previous LEMAS surveys were conducted in 1987, 1990, and 1993. This report presents data from the 1997 survey describing the more than 13,000 local police departments operating in the United States in terms of their personnel, expenditures and pay, operations, community policing initiatives, equipment, computers and information systems, and written policies. Comparisons are made with prior years where appropriate. Nearly all local police departments are operated by municipal (86%) or township (13%) governments. As of 1997, about 100 local police departments were operated by tribal governments, and approximately 50 by county governments. The 1997 LEMAS survey questionnaire was mailed to 3,597 State and local law enforcement agencies, including all 968 agencies with 100 or more sworn officers (see Methodology for a description of the sample). The overall response rate was 94.9%. Among local police departments, 2,012 of 2,097 surveys were returned for a 95.9% response rate. This report and its companion report (Sheriffs' Departments 1997 NCJ-173428), summarize data collected from agencies of all sizes. Detailed agency-by-agency tabulations from the 1997 LEMAS survey were previously published for agencies with 100 or more officers (see Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 1997, NCJ-171681). Personnel As of June 30, 1997, local police departments had an estimated 531,496 full-time employees (table 1). They also employed about 62,000 persons on a part-time basis. Approximately 420,000, or 79%, of full-time local police department employees were sworn officers. Local police departments employed three-fifths of all State and local sworn officers nationwide. Their estimated 111,345 nonsworn employees comprised nearly half (45%) of all civilian State and local law enforcement employees. There were about 55,000, or 11.5%, more full-time local police employees in 1997 than in 1993. (figure 1). For all State and local law enforcement agencies, the increase in number of employees from 1993 to 1997 was about 107,000, or 12.8%. When only sworn personnel are considered, employment by local police departments increased by 45,000, or 12.0%, from 1993 to 1997. Overall, the number of sworn personnel employed by State and local law enforcement agencies in 1997 was up by 68,000, or 10.9%, compared to 1993. Nationwide, 541 local police departments employed at least 100 sworn personnel (4.0%), including 41 with 1,000 or more officers (0.3%) (table 2). An estimated 7,164 departments employed fewer than 10 officers (52.9%), including about 800 with just one sworn officer (5.9%). A third of all full-time local police officers were employed by a department with 1,000 or more officers, and about three-fifths were employed by a department with at least 100 officers. Departments that employed fewer than 10 officers accounted for about 5% of all local police officers nationwide. Although 77% of all local police departments served a jurisdiction with fewer than 10,000 residents, these departments employed just 15% of all local police officers (table 3). About half of all officers served a jurisdiction with 100,000 or more residents, including nearly a fourth in jurisdictions with a population of 1 million or more. Departments in jurisdictions with a population of 1 million or more had an average of 7,695 full-time employees, including 6,075 sworn officers (table 4). In contrast, departments in jurisdictions with fewer than 2,500 residents had an average of 3 full-time sworn officers. Gender and race of officers Of the 420,152 full-time sworn personnel employed by local police departments in 1997, 10% were women (table 5). The percentage of female officers was highest in departments serving a population of 1 million or more (16%), followed by those serving a population of 250,000 to 999,999 (14%). Women comprised just 3% of the officers in jurisdictions with fewer than 2,500 residents. In 1997 just over a fifth (21.5%) of full-time local police officers were members of a racial or ethnic minority. Minority officers comprised more than a third of the total in jurisdictions with 500,000 or more residents. Blacks accounted for 11.7% of all local police officers in 1997. Black employment was highest among departments serving a population of 500,000 to 999,999 (23.4%). An estimated 7.8% of local police officers nationwide were Hispanic, with representation among departments serving a population of 1 million or more (15.6%) twice the overall average. In 1997 the estimated 41,493 female local police officers represented about 9,000, or 26%, more than in 1993. During this time female representation among local police officers increased from 8.8% to 10.0% (figure 2). The number of local police officers who were members of a racial or ethnic minority in 1997 (90,377) represented an increase of about 19,000, or 26%, over 1993 levels. From 1993 to 1997, minority representation in local police departments increased from 19.1% to 21.5%. The estimated 48,950 full-time black local police officers employed in 1997 represented an increase of about 6,600, or 16%, compared to 1993. This resulted in a slight increase in the percentage of officers who were black from 11.3% to 11.7%. There were an estimated 32,678 Hispanic officers employed by local police departments in 1997. This was about 9,300, or 40%, more than in 1993. From 1993 to 1997, the percentage of local police officers who were Hispanic rose from 6.2% to 7.8%. From 1993 to 1997 representation by other minority groups such as Asians, Pacific Islanders, and American Indians increased by 53% to about 8,800 officers. These groups comprised 2.1% of local police officers in 1997 compared to 1.5% in 1993. Screening of officer applicants Local police departments employed a variety of screening methods when hiring new officers (table 6). The most widely methods used were personal interviews (97% of departments employing 98% of all officers), criminal record checks (95% and 99%), background investigations (94% and 98%), driving record checks (90% and 98%), and medical exams (82% and 97%). A majority of departments serving a population of 2,500 or more also used psychological tests, drug tests, written aptitude tests, and physical agility tests to screen applicants for sworn positions. Overall, 64% of departments, employing 91% of all officers, used psychological tests; 54% of departments, employing 84% of all officers, used drug tests; 46% of departments, employing 84% of all officers, used aptitude tests; and 45% of departments, employing 78% of all officers, used physical agility tests. Education and training requirements Nearly all (97%) local police departments had an education requirement for new officer recruits (table 7). The typical minimum requirement was a high school diploma (83%). Fourteen percent of departments had some type of college requirement, usually a 2-year degree (8%). Just 1% required new recruits to have a 4-year college degree. The percentage of local police officers employed by a department with some type of college requirement for new officers in 1997 (31%) was twice that of 1993 (15%), and 3 times that of 1990 (10%) (figure 3). From 1993 to 1997, the percentage of local police officers employed by a departments with a nondegree college requirement increased from 8.5% to 22.5%. Nearly all departments serving a population of 2,500 or more had a training requirement for new officer recruits, as did about four-fifths of those serving fewer than 2,500 residents. The average number of training hours required ranged from more than 1,300 hours in those serving 250,000 to 999,999 residents to 422 hours in those serving fewer than 2,500 residents (table 8). The overall departmental average was about 600 hours with about two-thirds in the classroom, and a third in the field. When departments are weighted according to number of officers, it is estimated that the average new local police recruit in 1997 was required to undergo more than 1,000 of hours of training, with about two-thirds of it in the classroom. In addition to entry-level requirements, 87% of local police departments required officers to complete in-service training. On average, officers were required to complete 29 hours of such training during the year. Overall, just 3% of all local police departments operated a training academy; however, a large majority of those serving a population of 250,000 or more did so. Nationwide, nearly half (44%) of all officers were employed a department that operated an academy. Population Percent with served training academy All sizes 3% 1,000,000 or more 94% 500,000-999,999 96 250,000-499,999 82 100,000-249,999 45 50,000-99,999 5 25,000-49,999 2 10,000-24,999 2 2,500-9,999 1 Under 2,500 2 Expenditures and pay Operating expenditures The total operating expenditure of local police departments during fiscal 1997 was about $29.2 billion, 20% more than in 1993 (table 9). Controlling for inflation, the net increase in spending was8%. (These figures do not include capital expenditures such as equipment purchases or construction projects). Local police departments accounted for nearly three-fifths of the $50.7 billion in total operating expenditures for State and local law enforcement agencies during fiscal 1997. Agency operating expenditures (in billions) 1997 1993 Total $50.7 $41.9 Local police $29.2 $24.3 Sheriff 13.1 10.7 State police 5.2 4.2 Other 3.2 2.8 Nationwide, operating expenditures were about $2.16 million per department for fiscal 1997, ranging from $423 million for departments serving a population of 1 million or more, to $128,000 among those serving fewer than 2,500 residents. The overall operating cost per resident was $150, with departments in jurisdictions with a population of 1 million or more costing the most to operate, $222 per resident. Departments in jurisdictions with a population of less than 2,500 had the lowest per resident cost -- $109. Nationwide, local police departments cost an estimated $67,100 per sworn officer to operate for fiscal 1997, ranging from more than $75,000 per officer in jurisdictions with at least 50,000 but fewer than 1 million residents, to $33,200 per officer in jurisdictions with a population under 2,500. When both sworn and nonsworn employees are included, the average operating expenditure for local police departments was about $52,000 peremployee for the year, with a high of about $59,000 per employee in jurisdictions with 250,000 to 999,999 residents. Departments in the smallest jurisdictions cost about $30,000 per employee to operate for the year. Employee salaries and benefits accounted for about $7 of every $8 in local police operating expenditures. After controlling for inflation, per officer operating costs for 1997 were actually slightly lower than in 1993 (figure 4). Overall, per officer costs in 1997 were about $2,400 lower. The largest decrease was recorded in jurisdictions with 250,000 or more residents, from $77,900 to $72,600. Slight decreases were recorded in other population categories as well. Salaries The overall average base starting salary for local police chiefs was $38,700 in 1997 (table 10). Average starting salaries for chiefs ranged from about $101,000 in jurisdictions with 1 million or more residents to about $26,000 in those with a population of less than 2,500. By department, the average base starting salary offered to entry-level patrol officers in 1997 was about $23,300. Starting salaries ranged from about $19,000 in jurisdictions with fewer than 2,500 residents to near $30,000 in those with a population of 25,000 or more. Patrol officer salaries increased by about 10% after 1 year of service. When departments are weighted by number of officers, the overall average starting salary for entry-level local police officers was $28,400. This was 9% more than in 1993, but after controlling for inflation was actually a net decrease of 0.2%. Salaries for the position of sergeant or equivalent increased with jurisdiction size in a pattern similar to that for entry-level officers. Overall, the average starting salary for sergeants was $32,300, ranging from $47,500 in the largest jurisdictions to $24,300 in the smallest. When departments are weighted according to number of officers, the estimated average base starting salary for sergeants was $42,100. Special pay Nationwide, 29% of all local police departments offered education incentive pay to qualifying officers, including a majority of those serving a population of 10,000 or more (table 11). About half (53%) of all local police officers nationwide worked for a department that offered it. Hazardous duty pay was available in just 4% of all local police departments. About three-fifths of the departments serving a population of 500,000 or more, and half of those serving a population of 250,000 to 499,999 offered it. Nationwide, about a fourth of all local police officers were employed by a department that offered hazardous duty pay. Nineteen percent of local police departments, employing 27% of all local police officers nationwide, offered merit pay to qualifying officers. No more than 38% of the departments in any population category offered this type of special pay. Seventeen percent of all departments offered shift differential pay to their full-time officers. This included a majority of the departments serving a population of 250,000 or more and about two-fifths of those serving 50,000 to 249,999 residents. Nationwide, about half (48%) of all local police officers were employed by a department with shift differential pay. Work-related policies About half of local police departments, employing two-thirds of all officers, had a written policy on the maximum number of hours that officers can work (table 12). Departments serving a population of at least 500,000 but less than 1 million (79%) were the most likely to maintain such a policy, and those serving a population of less than 2,500 (37%) were the least likely. Two-thirds of all departments, employing 93% of all officers, had a written policy pertaining to off-duty employment by officers. All departments serving a population of 250,000 or more had such a policy as did at least 90% of the departments in each population category of 10,000 to 249,999. Unions and collective bargaining Forty-six percent of all local police departments authorized police union membership by their sworn personnel (table 13). This included at least 66% of the departments in each population category of 10,000 or more. Nationwide, 72% of all local police officers were employed by a department that authorized them to belong to a police union. Twenty-eight percent of local police departments, employing 44% of all local police officers nationwide, authorized membership in a nonpolice union. Seventy-six percent of all departments authorized officer membership in a police association. These departments employed 90% of all local police officers nationwide. Nationwide, 37% of all local police departments, employing 68% of all officers, authorized collective bargaining for sworn personnel (table 14). At least 65% of the departments in each population category of 10,000 or more authorized collective bargaining for officers. Just 14% of the departments in jurisdictions with fewer than 2,500 residents did. Nonsworn personnel in local police departments were somewhat less likely to have collective bargaining rights than sworn employees. Overall, 18% of local police departments, employing 56% of all nonsworn local police personnel, authorized collective bargaining for civilian employees. This included a majority of the departments serving a population of 25,000 or more. Operations Patrol and response All local police departments serving 10,000 or more residents provided routine patrol services in their jurisdiction in 1997 (table 15). Ninety-nine percent of those serving fewer than 10,000 residents did so as well. Nearly all departments used automobiles for routine patrol. In addition, half of all departments used foot patrol units on a routine basis. This included 94% of those serving a population of 1 million or more. Departments with routine foot patrol employed two-thirds of all officers. About 7 in 8 departments serving 500,000 or more residents had routine bike patrols, as did more than three-fifths of the departments in each population category of 25,000 to 499,999. Overall, 28% of departments, employing 71% of all officers, used bicycle patrol units on a routine basis. Overall, just 9% of departments used motorcycle patrol on a routine basis. However, more than three-fourths of those serving 100,000 or more residents did so. Departments using motorcycle patrols employed 57% of all officers. Overall, few departments routinely scheduled marine (3%) and horse (1%) patrol units. However, more than 60% of the departments serving 1 million or more residents used these patrol types routinely. A fourth of local police departments used foot patrol for special events only. Eight percent used bicycles for special events patrol, but not routine patrol. Percent of Type of agencies using for patrol special events only Foot 25% Bicycle 8 Motorcycle 3 Horse 2 Marine 2 Automobile 1 All but a few local police departments had primary responsibility for responding to citizen calls for service (table 16). Nearly half (44%) dispatched calls as well. This included all departments serving a population of 1 million or more, about 9 in 10 departments serving a population of 250,000 to 999,999, and nearly 8 in 10 departments serving a population of 10,000 to 249,999. 9-1-1 emergency telephone system In 1997, 85% of local police departments participated in an emergency telephone system whereby one of their units could be dispatched as a result of a call to 9-1-1 or its equivalent (table 17). At least 9 in 10 departments in each population category of 2,500 or more had 9-1-1, including all of those serving 100,000 to 999,999 residents. About three-fifths of local police 9-1-1 systems were enhanced, capable of pinpointing the location of a caller automatically. About 9 in 10 departments serving a population of 250,000 to 999,999 had enhanced 9-1-1, as did about 8 in 10 departments in the other population categories of 25,000 or more. Less than half of all local police departments in jurisdictions with fewer than 2,500 residents had enhanced 9-1-1. The 85% participation rate in 9-1-1 among local police departments in 1997 was a significant increase from 1993 when 68% of all local police departments were 9-1-1 participants, and nearly 3 times the percentage of departments with 9-1-1 participation in 1987 (figure 5). In 1997, 97% of all local police officers worked for a department with 9-1-1. The 53% of local police departments participating in an enhanced 9-1-1 system in 1997 also represented a sizable increase over 1993, when 41% were participants. This was 3 times the proportion reporting such a capability in 1990 (18%), and nearly 8 times as many as in 1987. In 1997, 4 in 5 local police officers were employed by a department with enhanced 9-1-1. Crime investigation Overall, 91% of local police departments had primary responsibility for investigating at least some types of crimes. Eighty-five percent had primary investigative responsibility for violent crimes such as rape, robbery, or assault (table 18). This included all departments serving a population of 250,000 or more and 98% of the departments serving a population of 10,000 to 249,999. Slightly lower percentages of departments in population categories under 250,000 were the primary investigative agency for homicides; however all departments serving a population of 250,000 or more had this responsibility. Ninety percent of all departments had primary responsibility for investigating property crimes such as burglary, larceny, or vehicle theft. As with violent crimes, all departments serving 250,000 or more residents handled such investigations, as did about 98% of those serving a population of 10,000 to 249,999. Two-thirds of all departments were responsible for arson investigations, with those serving a population of 10,000 to 49,999 (84%) the most likely to most likely to handle such incidents. About 3 in 8 departments were responsible for investigating environmental crimes. No more than 39% of the departments in any population category had responsibility for such investigations. Investigative support functions Nearly half of all local police departments were responsible for fingerprint processing (46%) (table 19). This included a large majority of those serving a population of 10,000 or more. Few departments were responsible for providing crime lab services (3%) or conducting ballistics tests (1%). Departments in jurisdictions with a population of 1 million or more were the most likely to be responsible for these functions: 87% were responsible for providing crime lab services and 75% for ballistics testing. Drug and vice enforcement About 7 in 8 local police departments had primary responsibility for the enforcement of drug laws in their jurisdiction (table 20). More than 90% of the departments in each population category of 10,000 or more had drug enforcement responsibilities, including all of those serving a population of 250,000 or more. Departments with drug enforcement responsibilities employed 97% of all local police officers. About half of local police departments, employing 88% of all officers, had primary vice enforcement responsibilities. This included all departments serving 250,000 or more residents, and more than 90% of those serving a population of 25,000 to 249,999. A majority of the departments serving 2,500 to 24,999 residents also had primary vice enforcement responsibilities, but just a third of those serving a population of less than 2,500 did. Drug testing of employees in local police departments, 1997 About 3 in 5 local police departments had some type of program that authorized the testing of regular field and patrol officers for illegal drug use. These departments employed 84% of all local police officers. At least 8 in 10 departments in each population category of 25,000 or more had a drug testing program for officers. About 7 in 10 departments serving a population of 2,500 to 24,999, and 5 in 10 departments serving fewer than 2,500 residents did also. In 22% of departments, employing 16% of all officers, all field/patrol officers were subject to drug testing. Sixteen percent of departments, employing 41% of all officers, used a random selection method for testing of field/patrol officers. Thirty-one percent of departments, employing 60% of all officers, authorized drug testing of officers suspected of using illegal drugs. A majority of the departments serving 25,000 or more residents had such a policy. Forty-one percent of departments, employing 70% of all civilian local police employees, included such employees under some type of drug testing program. Fourteen percent of departments had mandatory testing for all nonsworn employees. Fifteen percent of local police departments operated a special unit for drug enforcement with 1 or more full-time officers assigned (table 21). All of the departments serving a population of 1 million or more had a full-time drug enforcement unit, as did about 90% of those serving a population of 250,000 to 999,999. The number of local police officers assigned full-time to drug enforcement units totaled about 13,200 nationwide. Another 2,100 were assigned on a part-time basis. The average number of officers assigned full-time ranged from nearly 300 in jurisdictions with a population of 1 million or more to 2 in those with fewer than 25,000 residents. Drug enforcement task force participation In 1997 about a third of local police departments had one or more officers assigned to a multi-agency drug enforcement task force (table 22). About two-thirds of all local police officers worked for a department that assigned officers to a task force. About 6,200 officers were assigned full time, and another 3,200 on a part-time basis. The number of officers assigned full-time ranged from 27 in departments serving a population of 1 million or more to about 2 in those serving fewer than 50,000 residents. Drug asset forfeiture receipts Forty-three percent of all local police departments received money, property, or goods from a drug asset forfeiture program during the 12-month period ending June 30, 1997 (table 23). These departments employed 82% of all local police officers. At least 80% of the departments in each population category of 25,000 or more had drug asset forfeiture receipts. The overall median amount received from drug asset forfeiture programs by local police departments in fiscal 1997 was $4,000. By population category the median amount received ranged from about $1.8 million among departments serving a population of 1 million or more to $800 among those serving fewer than 2,500 residents. Collectively, local police departments received $1,130 in money, goods, and property from drug asset forfeiture programs for every sworn officer employed during fiscal 1997 (figure 6). Departments with at least 25 but fewer than 100 full-time officers, received the most about $2,000 per officer. Next highest were departments with 100 to 249 officers, with about $1,600 per officer. The largest departments, those with 1,000 or more officers, had total receipts of $558 per officer. Traffic and vehicle-related functions Nearly all local police departments had primary responsibility for traffic-related functions such as enforcing traffic laws (99%), investigating accidents (96%) and directing traffic (91%) (table 24). Eighty-four percent of all departments had primary responsibility for parking enforcement, including more than 90% of those serving 10,000 to 49,999 residents. Forty-three percent of all departments provided school crossing services, including a majority of those serving a population of 10,000 or more. Court-related functions Although 90% of local police departments executed arrest warrants, just 21% provided court security and 14% served civil process (table 25). Those in the largest jurisdictions (31%) were the most likely to be responsible for court security, while those in the smallest jurisdictions (20%) were the most likely to handle process serving. Departments handling court security employed 20% of all officers and those serving process, 8%. Detention-related functions About 1 in 8 local police departments operated a jail during 1997 (table 26). No more than 30% of the departments in any population category were operating a jail, and just 5% of the departments in jurisdictions with fewer than 2,500 residents operated one. Twenty-two percent of all local police officers worked for a department that had a jail. Thirty percent of local police departments operated at least 1 temporary holding (lockup) facility for adults that was separate from a jail (table 27). The median of the maximum holding time for these facilities was 22 hours. Most of the departments in jurisdictions with 10,000 or more residents had an adult lockup. The median total capacity of adult lockups ranged from about 70 in jurisdictions with 500,000 or more residents to 3 in those with fewer than 10,000 residents. The total adult capacity of local police lockups nationwide was 41,000. About 1 in 7 departments had a lockup facility for juveniles, including a majority of those serving a population of 500,000 or more. The median capacity of juvenile lockup facilities ranged from 16 in jurisdictions with 500,000 or more residents to 1 in those with fewer than 2,500 residents. Nation- wide, local police lockups for juveniles had a total capacity of 7,500 with a median maximum holding time of 6 hours. Special operations functions An estimated 23% of local police departments, employing 43% of all officers, had primary responsibility for search and rescue operations during 1997 (table 28). Departments serving a population of 1 million or more (88%) were by far the most likely to perform this function. No more than 35% of the departments in any other population category had primary responsibility for search and rescue. About a fifth of departments were responsible for tactical operations, utilizing what are commonly known as SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) teams. These departments employed 72% of all local police officers. All departments serving a population of 250,000 or more performed tactical operations, and a large majority of those serving a population of 50,000 to 249,999 did so as well. Five percent of local police departments, employing 35% of all officers, were responsible for underwater recovery operations. This included about three-fifths of the departments serving a population of 1 million or more, and half of those serving a population of 500,000 to 999,999. Bomb disposal was a responsibility of 3% of all departments, included a large majority of those serving a population of 250,000 or more. Departments with bomb disposal responsibilities employed 44% of all officers. Special public safety functions Another important area of responsibility for local police departments is the performance of special functions related to public safety. For example, 56% of departments had primary responsibility for animal control in 1997 (table 29). This included a majority of the departments serving a population of less than 25,000, and about half of those serving 10,000 to 99,999 residents. Departments handling animal control employed about a third of all officers. Other special public safety functions handled by small percentages of local police departments included emergency medical services (18%), civil defense (13%), and fire services (9%). No more than a fifth of the departments in any population group were responsible for providing emergency medical services. Departments providing such services employed 13% of all officers. Departments serving a population of 1 million or more (25%) were the most likely to handle civil defense functions. Twelve percent of all local police officers were employed by a department with civil defense responsibilities. No department serving a population of 250,000 or more provided fire services. About 1 in 10 departments serving fewer than 10,000 residents handled this function. Overall, just 3% of all local police officers were employed by a department that was responsible for providing fire services. Community Policing Community policing is a philosophy that promotes and supports organizational strategies to address the causes and reduce the fear of crime and social disorder through problem-solving tactics and community partnerships. A fundamental shift from traditional reactive policing, community policing stresses the prevention of crime before it occurs. The implementation of a community policing plan supports and empowers front-line officers, decentralizes command, and encourages innovative problem solving. In 1997, 16% of local police departments had a formally written community policing plan (table 30). Roughly two-thirds of departments serving a population of 100,000 or more had a formally written plan, as did about half of those serving a population of 50,000 to 99,999. Departments serving fewer than 2,500 residents (6%) were the least likely to have a formal plan. Departments with a formal, written community policing plan employed about 56% of all local police officers. In all population categories, a majority of local police departments had either a formal, written community policing plan or an informal, unwritten plan (figure 7). Departments serving a population of less than 50,000 were more likely to have a informal, unwritten plan than a formal, written one. Overall, 91% of local police officers worked for a department with some type of community policing plan. Community policing training During the 3-year period ending June 30, 1997, 53% of all local police departments, employing 83% of all officers, trained at least some new officer recruits in community policing skills such as problem-solving; Scanning, Analysis, Response, Assessment (SARA); and developing community partnerships (table 31). Forty percent of departments, employing 74% of all officers, trained all new recruits in community policing tech-niques. The larger the jurisdiction, the more likely a department trained all recruits in community policing, ranging from about 9 in 10 departments serving 500,000 or more residents to less than 3 in 10 departments serving fewer than 2,500 residents. About 3 in 5 departments, employing 5 in 6 officers, trained at least some in- service officers during the 3-year period. About a fourth of all departments, employing a third of all officers, trained all in-service officers in community policing, including nearly half of those serving a population of 100,000 to 499,999. Specially designated community policing personnel In 1997, 13% of local police departments, employing 45% of local police officers nationwide, operated a community policing unit with 1 or more officers assigned full-time (table 32). About two-thirds of the departments serving a population at least 50,000 but less than 1 million had a full-time community policing unit. About a fourth of local police departments did not have a full-time community policing unit, but had designated certain personnel to perform community policing activities. Another fifth did not have a full-time unit or specially designated community policing personnel, but had established policies or procedures to address problems and tasks related to community policing. Forty-one percent of local police departments, employing 11% of all local police officers, had no community policing unit, personnel, policies, or procedures. This included 56% of those serving fewer than 2,500 residents. Overall, 34% of departments, employing 60% of all officers, had full-time sworn personnel serving as community policing officers, whether as part of a separate unit or not (table 33). In some jurisdictions, these officers are known as community relations officers, community resource officers, or some other name indicative of the community policing approach they employed. Nationwide, local police departments employed about 16,000 community policing officers or their equivalent. A majority of departments serving a population of 10,000 or more had full-time community policing officers. Those serving a population of 1 million or more employed 93 such officers on average. Departments serving fewer than 10,000 residents had an average of 1 each. An estimated 38% of local police departments, employing 70% of all local police officers, had full-time school resource officers during 1997 (table 34). These officers use a community policing approach to provide a safe environment for stu- dents and staff. In addition to handling calls for service within the school, they work closely with school administrators and staff to prevent crime and disorder by monitoring crime trends, problem areas, cultural conflicts, and other areas of concern. Overall, local police departments had about 9,400 full-time sworn personnel assigned as school resource officers in 1997. Most of the departments serving 10,000 or more residents had school resource officers. The average number of school resource officers ranged from 73 in departments serving a population of 1 million or more, to 1 in those serving fewer than 25,000 residents. Community-oriented policies and programs Forty-two percent of all departments, employing 80% of all officers, gave patrol officers responsibility for specific geographic areas or beats during 1997 (table 35). This included more than 90% of the departments serving a population of 250,000 or more. Just 7% of departments, employing 44% of all officers, assigned cases to investigators by geographic area, although a majority of the departments serving a population of 100,000 or more did so. About a fourth of local police departments, employing just over half of all officers, actively encouraged patrol officers to become involved in problem-solving projects. About three-fifths of the departments serving a population of 100,000 or more had such a policy, as did about half of those serving 25,000 to 99,999 residents. Fifteen percent of all departments included problem-solving projects in the performance evaluation criteria for patrol officers. This included more than 40% of those serving a population of 100,000 or more. Departments including problem-solving projects in performance evaluation criteria employed 37% of all officers. Many local police departments maintain written policy directives to guide officers in dealing with special situations and populations in the community. For example, 85% of departments, employing 96% of all officers, had a written policy for dealing with domestic disputes (table 36). At least 90% of the departments in each population category of 2,500 or more had a written policy for this type of situation. This included all departments serving a population of 250,000 to 999,999. In special situations such as domestic disputes, some local police departments allow for officer discretion in making an arrest. Fifty-eight percent of all departments had some type of written policy pertaining to discretionary arrest power. These departments employed 70% of all officers. About 5 in 6 departments had a written policy pertaining to the handling of juveniles, including all of those serving a population of 250,000 or more. Departments with a policy on juveniles employed 96% of all officers. Fifty-seven percent of departments had had a written policy pertaining to the handling of mentally ill persons. These departments employed 82% of all officers. Just a fourth of departments, employing two-fifths of all officers, had a policy for dealing with homeless persons. Less than half of the departments in each population category had a written policy on this subject. About 3 in 10 local police departments enhanced their proactive role in solving community problems by forming problem-solving partnerships with community groups, local agencies, or others through written agreements (table 37). This included a majority of the departments serving a population of 25,000 or more. Departments forming partnerships through written agreements employed 63% of all officers. Nearly a fourth of all departments, employing nearly two-thirds of all officers, offered training to citizens on community policing topics such as community mobilization and problem-solving during the 12-month period ending June 30, 1997. A majority of departments serving 50,000 or more residents more offered such training. As of June 30, 1997, about 1 in 8 departments were operating at least 1 community substation. This included a majority of the departments serving 50,000 or more residents. Departments operating substations employed 57% of all officers. About 4 in 5 departments, including nearly all of those serving a population of 10,000 or more, met regularly with community groups during the year ending June 30, 1997. Departments holding regular community group meetings employed 96% of all officers. Departments meeting with neighborhood associations employed 87% of all local police officers (figure 8). The corresponding percentages for other types of groups that departments met with were as follows: school groups (84%), business groups (78%), youth service organizations (67%), tenants' associations (64%), religious groups (60%), and advocacy groups (57%). Nearly a third of local police departments, employing about half of all officers, surveyed the citizens in their jurisdiction during the year ending June 30, 1997 (table 38). This included at least half of the departments in each population category of 25,000 or more. Twenty-six percent of departments, employing 41% of all officers, surveyed citizens' regarding their satisfaction with police services. Twenty-one percent, employing 35% of all officers, surveyed citizens regarding their perception of crime problems; and 11%, employing 23% of all officers, surveyed citizens regarding their personal crime experiences. A majority of the departments conducting surveys used the data to provide information to officers (78%), and/or to prioritize crime-related problems (56%) (figure 9). Other uses included the formulation of agency policy and procedures (46%), the allocation of resources to neighborhoods (40%), and the redistricting of beats (15%). Citizen access to crime statistics Thirty-five percent of local police departments, employing 70% of all officers, provided citizens with routine access to crime statistics and/or crime maps (table 39). This included more than 80% of the departments serving a population of 100,000 or more. Departments were most likely to provide access to crime statistics at the county or city level (30% of departments employing 64% of all officers). An estimated 14% of departments, employing 37% of all officers, provided routine access to crime statistics by neighborhood; and 10%, employing 31% of all officers, provided them at the street or block level. Eight percent of departments, employing 32% of all officers, provided routine access to crime statistics by patrol beat. Just 5% of all departments provided routine citizen access to district or precinct crime statistics; however, a majority of the departments serving a population of 250,000 did so, and departments making such statistics available employed 42% of all officers. As of June 1997, 85% of the departments with routine access to crime statistics provided it to citizens who inquired in person (figure 10). Nearly half made crime statistics available through the newspaper (47%) or by telephone (43%). Smaller percentages provided access to crime statistics through the use of radio (18%), news-letters (16%), television (13%), or the Internet (5%). Equipment Sidearms In 1997, 94% of local police departments, employing 98% of all local police officers, authorized the use of some type of semi- automatic sidearm (table 40). These figures represent increases compared to 1993, when 84% of departments, employing 96% of all officers, authorized semiautomatic sidearms. As in 1993, the 9mm semiautomatic was the most popular type of local police sidearm. Two-thirds of all departments, employing about three-fourths of all officers, authorized its use by officers. A majority (57%) of departments also authorized 40-caliber semiautomatic sidearms. These departments employed about half of all officers. Other semiautomatic sidearms authorized included the .45-caliber (38%), the .380-caliber (14%), and the 10mm (14%). Nearly half (46%) of all local police departments authorized the use of one or more types of revolvers by officers, with the .357-caliber (38%) and the .38-caliber (24%) revolvers the most commonly authorized. About three-fifths (62%) of local police departments, employing 83% of all officers, supplied sidearms to officers. Another 5% of departments, employing 4% of all officers, provided a cash allowance for their purchase. Body armor In 1997, half all local police departments required at least some of their regular field officers to wear protective body armor while on duty (table 41). These agencies employed 63% of all officers. Eighty-one percent of all departments, employing 91% of all officers, supplied protective body armor to at least some of their regular field officers. An additional 9% provided a cash allowance for armor. The percentage of local police departments requiring all regular field officers to wear body armor increased from 33% in 1993 to 43% in 1997. Such an increase was seen in all population categories (figure 11). The largest increase was in jurisdictions with 50,000 to 249,999 residents, where 49% of local police departments required all officers to wear armor in 1997, compared to 31% in 1993. The next largest increase was in jurisdictions with 250,000 or more residents - from 30% to 41%. The percentage of local police officers employed by a department requiring all field officers to wear armor increased from 40% in 1993 to 52% in 1997. Nonlethal weapons In 1997 nearly all local police departments authorized officers to use one or more types of nonlethal weapons. Chemical agents, such as pepper spray, were the type of nonlethal weapon most commonly authorized for personal use by officers (table 42). Eighty-nine percent of all departments authorized pepper spray including at least 90% of the departments in each population category of 10,000 to 499,999. Other types of chemical agents authorized by local police departments for personal use by officers included CS (4%) and tear gas (3%). From 1993 to 1997 significant increases in the percentage of departments authorizing the use of pepper spray were recorded in all population categories (figure 12). In departments serving a population of 250,000 or more, 87% of departments authorized its use, compared to 74% in 1993. The increases in other population categories were as follows: 50,000 to 249,999 (from 66% to 95%); 10,000 to 49,999 (from 59% to 92%); under 10,000 (from 58% to 87%). In 1997 an estimated 91% of local police officers were employed by a department that authorized the use of pepper spray, compared to 69% in 1993. The other type of nonlethal weapon frequently authorized for personal use by officers was the baton; authorized by 88% of all departments. Departments authorizing 1 or more types of baton employed 96% of all officers. Collapsible batons (61%) were authorized by more departments than PR-24 (47%) or traditional (46%) batons. About three-fifths of local police officers nationwide worked for a department that authorized them to use a traditional (59%) or collapsible (58%) baton and about half for a department that authorized the PR-24 (51%) baton. Eleven percent of departments, employing 55% of all officers, authorized flash/bang grenades, including most of those serving a population of 50,000 or more. Eight percent of departments, employing 27% of all officers, authorized the use of electrical devices such as stun guns and tasers. This included 44% of departments serving a population of 1 million or more. Seven percent of departments, employing 18% of all officers, authorized the use of carotid holds, choke holds, or neck restraints. Departments serving a population of 1 million or more (44%) were the most likely to authorize holds and restraints. Ninety-one percent of all local police departments, employing 99% of all officers, had a written policy pertaining to use of deadly force by officers (table 43). All departments serving 25,000 or more residents, and nearly all (98%) departments serving 2,500 to 24,999 residents had such a policy. Eighty-four percent of departments, employing 96% of all officers, had a written policy pertaining to the use of nonlethal force. All departments serving a population of 250,000 or more had this type of policy, as did well over 90% of the departments serving a population of 10,000 to 249,999. Vehicles Nationwide, local police departments operated 49 cars per 100 sworn officers (table 44). By population category, the ratio of cars to officers was lowest in jurisdictions with 1 million or more residents C 25 cars per 100 officers. It ranged from 52 to 64 cars per 100 officers in other population categories. About a third of the cars operated by local police departments were unmarked (35%). The percentage of cars that were unmarked ranged from 45% in jurisdictions with a population of 1 million or more to 15% in jurisdictions with less than 2,500 residents. Forty-eight percent of local police departments, employing 37% of all local police officers, allowed officers to take marked vehicles home (table 45). The percentage of departments allowing officers to take vehicles home ranged from 62% in jurisdictions with fewer than 2,500 residents to less than 30% in jurisdictions with a population of least 10,000 but less than 50,000. In a large majority of the departments that allowed marked vehicles to be taken home, officers were allowed only to drive the vehicle to and from work. Ten percent of departments allowed officers to operate a marked vehicle for personal errands, ranging from 33% of departments serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents to 8% of those serving 2,500 to 24,999 residents. Sixty percent of local police departments, employing 75% of all officers, maintained a restrictive pursuit driving policy (table 46). This type of policy restricts vehicle pursuits according to specific criteria such as type of offense or maximum speed. A majority of the departments in each population category except the smallest had this type of policy. Twenty-three percent of departments, employing 14% of all officers, had a judgmental pursuit policy, one that leaves pursuit decisions to the officer's discretion. Six percent of departments, employing 6% of all officers, discouraged all vehicle pursuits. Seven percent of departments, employing 1% of all officers, had no pursuit driving policy. Five percent of local police departments operated at least 1 boat, including about two-thirds of those serving a population of 500,000 or more (table 47). Departments using boats employed 39% of all officers. Overall, just 1% of all departments operated any helicopters. About three-fourths of departments serving a population of 500,000 or more, and half of those serving a population of 250,000 to 499,999 operated at least 1 helicopter. Departments using helicopters employed 29% of all officers. Less than 1% of all departments operated any fixed-wing aircraft. Nearly half of departments serving a population of 1 million or more operated had at least 1 airplane, as did about a fifth of those serving a population of 250,000 to 999,999. Departments using airplanes employed 10% of all officers. Animals An estimated 23% of local police departments, employing 72% of all local police officers, maintained 1 or more dogs for use in activities related to law enforcement (table 48). This included more than 90% of those serving a population of 100,000 or more. A majority of departments serving a population of 25,000 to 99,999 also used dogs. About 6,100 dogs were maintained by local police departments in 1997. Just 2% of all local police departments used horses for law enforcement purposes, with those in jurisdictions with 1 million or more residents (75%) the most likely to be maintaining at least 1 horse. Local police departments collectively maintained approximately 1,200 horses, and those using horses employed 35% of all local police officers. Computers and information systems Types of computers used for administrative functions All local police departments serving a population of 25,000 or more, and nearly all of those serving 2,500 to 24,999 residents, used computers for administrative purposes in 1997 (table 49). The percentage of all local police officers employed by a department that used computers increased from 95% in 1993 to 98% in 1997. The type of computer most commonly used in local police facilities in 1997 was the personal computer, used by about two-thirds of all departments. Nearly all departments serving a population of 25,000 or more used personal computers. Departments using personal computers employed 93% of all officers in 1997 compared to 89% in 1993. About 3 in 8 local police departments were using a mainframe computer in 1997, including a majority of those serving a population of 10,000 or more. Departments using mainframes employed three-fourths of all officers, the same proportion as in 1993. About 1 in 8 departments were using a minicomputer in 1997, including a majority of those serving a population of 100,000 or more. Departments using minicomputers employed about half of all officers in both 1997 and 1993. Computer functions Local police departments utilized computers for a wide variety of functions in 1997. For example, 74% of all departments, employing 91% of all officers, used computers for record-keeping (table 50). These percentages represented increases over 1993 when 53% of departments, employing 88% of officers, used computers for this function. During 1997, 53% of all departments used computers to assist with criminal investigations, including more than 80% of those serving a population of 10,000 or more. Departments using computers for criminal investigations employed 84% of all officers in 1997. In 1993, 41% of departments, employing 77% of all officers, used computers for criminal investigations. In 1997, 41% of departments used computers for crime analysis, compared to 29% in 1993. A large majority of departments serving 10,000 or more residents used computers for this function. Those using computers for crime analysis employed 81% of all officers in 1997, up from 75% in 1993. Related to crime analysis efforts in local police departments is the use of crime mapping. In 1997 a sixth of all departments, including a large majority of those serving a population of 100,000 or more reported they used computers in conjunction with crime mapping. Departments using computers for crime mapping purposes employed 58% of all officers in 1997. About a fourth of all local police departments used computers for dispatching calls for service (27%). A majority of departments serving a population of 10,000 or more had computer-aided dispatch, and three-fourths of all officers worked for such departments. About a fifth of local police departments used computers for fleet management and resource allocation. A majority of departments serving a population of 100,000 or more used computers for these functions, and such departments employed a majority of all officers. Computerized files In 1997, a majority of local police departments were maintaining computerized files on arrests (69%), incident reports (69%), calls for service (61%) and traffic citations (56%) (table 51). Half had files on traffic accidents and nearly half had files on stolen property (47%). All of these types of information were maintained in a computerized format by a majority of the departments in each population category of 2,500 or more. A majority of the departments in each population category of 10,000 or more had computerized files with the following types of information: warrants, criminal histories, evidence, alarms, inventory, personnel, incident-based crime data, and summary crime data. A majority of departments serving a population of 25,000 or more had computerized information on field interviews and the agency payroll (table 52). A majority of those serving a population of 100,000 or more had linked crime analysis files. Except for incident-based crime data (45%), driver's license information (40%), summonses (38%), and vehicle registration (34%), a majority of local police officers worked for a department that had computer files on each type of information included in the 1997 LEMAS survey. Compared with 1993, the percentage of officers working for a department with computerized arrest data increased from 87% to 92% (figure 13). The increases for selected other types of information were as follows: calls for service (from 84% in 1993 to 90% in 1997); criminal histories (61% to 77%); stolen property (62% to 75%); traffic accidents (67% to 74%). About 1 in 8 local police departments had either exclusive or shared ownership of an Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) that included a file of digitized prints (table 53). These departments employed just over half of all officers. A majority of the departments serving a population of 100,000 or more had exclusive or shared ownership of an AFIS system. Three percent of local police departments used an AFIS terminal with access to a remote system. These departments employed 35% of all officers. Use of computers in the field A large majority of local police departments serving 25,000 or more residents used mobile computers or terminals in the field during 1997 (table 54). Overall, 29% of departments, employing 73% of all officers, were using in-field computers or terminals. Laptops were the most common type of in-field computer, used by nearly 3 in 4 departments serving a population of 500,000 or more and by nearly 3 in 5 departments serving a population of 25,000 to 499,999. Overall, 21% of local police departments, employing 58% of all officers, were using laptops. More than two-thirds of departments serving a population of 250,000 were using car-mounted data terminals. Overall, about 1 in 8 departments, employing about half of all officers used them. Smaller percentages of departments used car-mounted computers (4%) or hand-held terminals (1%). Departments using these technologies employed about a sixth of all officers. The 29% of local police departments using in-field computers or terminals in 1997 was about twice the percentage in 1993 (13%) and about 6 times that in 1990 (5%). Likewise, the 73% of local police officers working for a depart- ment with in-field computers or terminals in 1990 was considerably higher than in 1993 (55%) and 1990 (30%). From 1990 to 1997 increases in local police use of in-field computers and terminals occurred in jurisdictions of all sizes (figure 14). During this period, in-field computer use among departments serving 250,000 or more residents increased from 56% to 85%; among departments serving 50,000 to 249,999 residents, from 31% to 79%; among departments serving 10,000 to 49,999 residents, from 9% to 54%; and among departments serving fewer than 10,000 residents, from 2% to 19%. About a fourth of local police departments used in-field computers or terminals for writing incident reports (26%) (table 55). These departments employed 23% of all officers. About 1 in 7 departments used them for at least some in-field communications. These departments employed about half of all officers. In about a sixth of local police departments, at least some officers in the field could use computers to access vehicle or driving records in 1997 (table 56). This included a majority of the departments serving a population of 100,000 or more. Departments using in-field computers for these purposes employed more than half of all officers. In 10% of local police departments, employing a fourth of all officers, in-field computers or terminals could be used to access criminal history information. This included half of the departments serving a population of 1 million or more, and about a third of those serving a population of 100,000 to 999,999. In 9% of departments, employing 24% of all officers, in-field computers or terminals could be used to access calls for service information. This included more than half of departments serving a population of 500,000 to 999,999, and about two-fifths of those serving a population of 100,000 to 499,999. In 2% of all departments, employing 3% of all officers, in-field officers had access to linked files for crime analysis. In 86% of local police departments, paper reports were the primary method used to transmit criminal incident reports from the field to the agency's central information system (table 57). Other methods included computers and data devices (9%), and telephone and wireless communication systems (4%). Ninety percent of local police departments used paper reports to transmit traffic incident reports from the field to the agency's central information system. Six percent used computer and data devices, and 4% used telephone or wireless transmissions. Methodology The Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey collects data from a nationally representative sample of the approximately 19,000 publicly funded State and local law enforcement agencies in the United States. This report presents data from the 1997 survey describing the more than 13,000 local police departments operating in the United States in terms of their personnel, expenditures and pay, operations, community policing initiatives, equipment, computers and information systems, and written policies. Comparisons are made with prior years where appropriate. Nearly all local police departments are operated by municipal (86%) or township (13%) governments. As of 1997, about 100 local police departments were operated by tribal governments, and approximately 50 by county governments. The 1997 LEMAS survey questionnaire was mailed to 3,597 State and local law enforcement agencies. The overall response rate was 94.9%. Among local police departments, 2,012 of 2,097 surveys were returned for a 95.9% response rate. All 968 State and local law enforcement agencies in the United States with 100 or more sworn officers (as reported in the 1996 BJS Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies) received the full-length LEMAS survey questionnaire. This included 529 local police departments. These self-representing (SR) agencies were supplemented by a nationally representative sample of agencies with fewer than 100 sworn officers. Nonself-representing (NSR) agencies were chosen using a stratified random sample with cells based on the type of agency (local police, sheriff, or special police), size of population served, and number of sworn officers. The 2,629 NSR agencies received one of two shorter versions of the questionnaire that was mailed to the SR agencies. The initial mailing of the questionnaire was conducted in July 1997. The pay period containing June 15, 1997, was used as the reference date for personnel-related questions and June 30, 1997, for other questions. The data were collected by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Justice Statistics. After two followup mailings and additional telephone calls as needed, a final total of 3,412 agencies responded to the LEMAS questionnaire, including 909 SR agencies and 2,503 NSR agencies. The final database includes responses from 2,012 local police departments, 915 sheriffs' departments, 356 special jurisdiction police departments, 80 Texas constable offices, and the 49 primary State police departments. The base weight for all SR agencies is 1. For NSR sheriffs' departments, it is 4. For NSR local police departments, the base weights are determined by number of sworn officers employed as reported in the 1996 BJS Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies. For agencies with 0 to 6 sworn officers, the base weight is 15.55; for 7 to 13 officers, it is 9.65; for 14 to 23 officers, it is 7.09; for 24 to 39 officers, it is 4.95; for 40 to 62 officers, it is 3.38; and for 63 to 99 officers, the base weight is 2.14. Special police are similarly weighted based upon the number of sworn officers. For agencies with 0 to 9 officers, the base weight is 9.85; for 10 to 24 officers, it is 4.90; for 25 to 49 officers, it is 2.75; and for 50 to 99 officers, it is 1.52. The final weight associated with every agency, both SR and NSR, is the product of the base weight and a factor that adjusted for any nonresponding agencies in each cell. This agency nonresponse factor was based on number of sworn officers for SR agencies and on number of agencies for NSR agencies. Some responding agencies did not fully complete the LEMAS questionnaire. When an agency did not supply a response to an item, a donor agency was randomly selected from responding agencies in the same sample cell. The donor agency's value for the item was placed into the nonresponding agency's response field with an indicator that the value had been imputed. Complete documentation regarding sampling procedures and nonresponse adjustments is available upon request. Because the data from agencies with fewer than 100 sworn personnel were collected from a sample, the results are subject to sampling error. All statements of comparison in this report have been tested to ensure that observed differences between values are significant at 2 standard errors (the 95-percent confidence level) or higher. Data on the number of employees and on the amount of agency expenditures in this report are not comparable with figures based on the BJS Survey of Criminal Justice Expenditure and Employment series. In the latter, these data are presented by governmental function, whereas in the LEMAS survey, expenditures are classified by type of agency. For example, what might be attributed to sheriffs' departments in the LEMAS survey would be apportioned among various functions, such as police protection and corrections, in the expenditure and employment series. Also, the LEMAS figures for operating expenditures include employee benefits, but the expenditure and employment figures do not. U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D. Director Brian A. Reaves and Andrew L. Goldberg prepared this report. Timothy C. Hart provided statistical review. Tom Hester and Tina Dorsey edited the report and provided production assistance. Jayne Robinson prepared the report for printing. Debra Cohen, Joseph B. Kuhns III, Tammy Rinehart, Karin Schmerler, and Meg Townsend of the Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) developed the community policing content of the 1997 LEMAS questionnaire. Funding for the community policing section of the questionnaire was provided by the COPS Office. Additional information on the COPS Office is available on the Internet at: http://www.usdoj.gov/cops. The 1997 LEMAS data were collected and processed by the Governments Division of the Bureau of the Census under the supervision of Stephanie Brown and Stephen Owens. Census Bureau project staff included Carolyn Gates, Henrietta Herrin, Martha Haselbush, Martha Greene, and Patricia Torreyson. Sample selection and imputation procedures were done by Yukiko Ellis and Suzanne Dorinski of the Economic Statistical Methods and Procedures Division of the Census Bureau under the supervision of Carma Hogue. Data presented in this report may be obtained from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data at the University of Michigan, 1-800-999-0960. The report and data are available on the Internet at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs End of file 2/2/00 ih