Statistical Brief

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Statistics

 

August 2018 NCJ 251762 

Full-Time Employees in Law 

Enforcement Agencies, 1997-2016

Shelley Hyland, Ph.D., BJS Statistician 

As of June 30, 2016, the 15,328 general-purpose 

law enforcement agencies in the United States 

employed an estimated 701,000 full-time sworn 

ofcers (fgure 1). General-purpose law enforcement 

agencies include municipal, county, and regional 

police departments; most sherifs’ ofces; and primary 

state and highway patrol agencies. Tey are distinct 

from special-purpose agencies (e.g., those with 

jurisdiction on tribal lands; and in parks, schools, 

airports, subways, hospitals, housing authorities, 

and government buildings), sherifs’ ofces with only 

jail and court duties, and federal law enforcement 

agencies. Only general-purpose agencies are included 

in this report. 

FIGURE 1 

Full-time sworn ofcers in general-purpose law 

enforcement agencies, by agency type, 1997–2016 

Number

800,000 

700,000 

600,000 

500,000 

400,000 

300,000 

200,000 

100,000 

0 

Local police Sheri ̃'s o°ce* Primary state police 

Note: See table 2 for estimates and appendix table 2 for standard errors. 

*Excludes sherifs’ ofces without primary law enforcement jurisdiction 

in the counties they serve. 

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Law Enforcement Management and 

Administrative Statistics surveys, 1997–2016. 

1997 2000 2003 2007 2013 2016 

From 1997 to 2016, the number of full-time sworn 

ofcers in general-purpose law enforcement 

agencies increased by about 52,000 (up 8%). 

During the same period, the total U.S. population 

increased by about 56 million (up 21%) (table 1). 

As a result, the number of full-time sworn ofcers 

per 1,000 residents decreased, from 2.42 in 1997 

to 2.17 in 2016 (down 11%). Te 2016 rate of 

full-time sworn ofcers per 1,000 residents was 

also lower than the rates in 2000 (down 7%), 2003 

(down 8%), and 2007 (down 7%). Findings are 

based on the Law Enforcement Management and 

Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) surveys from the 

Bureau of Justice Statistics. 

TABLE 1 

Ofcer-to-resident ratio for general-purpose law 

enforcement agencies, 1997–2016 

Full-time sworn 

Year U.S. populationa Total full-time sworn ofcersb ofcers per 1,000 U.S. residents 

1997 267,743,595 648,688 2.42 † 

2000 282,162,411 656,645 2.33 † 

2003 290,107,933 683,599 2.36 † 

2007 301,231,207 700,259 2.32 † 

2013 316,234,505 724,690 2.29 

2016* 323,405,935 701,169 2.17 

Note: See appendix table 1 for standard errors. 

*Comparison year. 

†Diference with comparison year is signifcant at the 95% confdence level. 

a

U.S. Census Bureau. National estimates as of July 1. Data for 1997 were 

retrieved from www.stats.indiana.edu/web/state/ftp/st_est98.txt. Data 

for 2000, 2003, and 2007 were retrieved from https://www2.census. 

gov/programs-surveys/popest/tables/2000-2010/intercensal/national/ 

us-est00int-01.csv. Data for 2013 and 2016 were retrieved from https:// 

www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/tables/2010-2017/national/ 

totals/na-est2017-01.xlsx. 

b

The reference date for the LEMAS survey in 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2016 

was June 30. In 2007, the reference date was September 30. In 2013, the 

reference date was January 1. 

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Law Enforcement Management and 

Administrative Statistics surveys, 1997–2016. 
 

Other fndings 

 Te number of full-time employees in general-purpose 

law enforcement agencies increased by about 174,000 

(up 20%) from 1997 to 2016 (table 2). 

 From 1997 to 2016, the number of full-time sworn 

ofcers in local police departments increased by 

about 48,000 (up 11%). 

 Te number of full-time sworn ofcers in 

primary state police agencies increased by about 

5,000 (up 10%) from 1997 to 2016. 

 From 1997 to 2016, the number of full-time civilians 

in general-purpose law enforcement agencies 

increased by about 121,000 (up 53%). 

 From 1997 to 2016, the number of full-time 

civilians in sherifs’ ofces increased 110%, or 

by about 98,000. 

TABLE 2 

Full-time employees in general-purpose state and local law enforcement agencies, by agency type, 

1997–2016 

Agency type 1997 2000 2003 2007 2013 2016 

Number of agencies 16,700 15,798 15,766 15,636 15,388 15,328 

Total full-time employees 876,719 941,807 993,442 1,046,499 1,045,360 1,050,441 

Local police 531,313 565,644 580,749 601,027 604,959 599,501 

Sherif's ofce* 263,145 289,135 330,274 346,337 351,904 359,843 

Primary state police 82,261 87,028 82,419 99,135 88,497 91,097 

Total full-time sworn ofcers 648,688 656,645 683,599 700,259 724,690 701,169 

Local police 419,996 440,770 451,737 463,147 477,317 468,170 

Sherif's ofce* 174,486 159,528 174,251 172,241 188,952 173,354 

Primary state police 54,206 56,348 57,611 64,872 58,421 59,645 

Total full-time civilians 228,031 285,162 309,843 346,239 320,670 349,272 

Local police 111,317 124,874 129,013 137,880 127,642 131,332 

Sherif's ofce* 88,659 129,608 156,022 174,096 162,952 186,489 

Primary state police 28,055 30,680 24,808 34,263 30,076 31,452 

Note: See appendix table 2 for standard errors. In the 1997 and 2013 LEMAS surveys, there were two personnel categories: sworn ofcers with 

general arrest powers and non-sworn employees (i.e., civilians). Sherifs’ ofces may employ a third type of full-time personnel: ofcers with limited 

or no arrest authority (e.g., jail or court ofcers). In these years, responding sherifs’ ofces that had ofcers with limited or no arrest authority had to 

determine which category best suited those personnel. For the 2000, 2003, 2007, and 2016 LEMAS surveys, agencies were asked to provide counts for 

all three types of employees. For these years, counts of ofcers with limited or no arrest powers were added to the civilian counts. 

*Excludes sherifs’ ofces without primary law enforcement jurisdiction in the counties they serve. 

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics surveys, 1997–2016. 

Full-Time Employees in Law Enforcement Agencies, 1997-2016 | August 2018 2 
 

Methodology Sample design and selection 

Conducted approximately every 4 years since 1987, 

the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative 

Statistics (LEMAS) survey collects data on a range of 

topics from a nationally representative sample of state, 

county, and local law enforcement agencies. 

Te methodology for the 1997, 2000, 2003, 2007, 

and 2013 LEMAS surveys is discussed in previously 

published reports on the Bureau of Justice Statistics 

website. Results from these LEMAS surveys may be 

reproduced using the most current versions of the 

datasets available through the National Archive of 

Criminal Justice Data (https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ 

icpsrweb/NACJD/series/92). Results using these data 

may difer from previously published tables. 

2016 Law Enforcement Management and 

Administrative Statistics survey 

Survey overview 

Te sample for the 2016 LEMAS survey was derived 

from the 2016 Law Enforcement Agency Roster 

(LEAR) database. Te LEAR originated from a variety 

of sources, including, but not limited to, the 2008 and 

2014 Census of State and Local Law Enforcement 

Agencies and the 2013 LEMAS survey. Te 2016 

LEAR includes a census of 15,810 general-purpose 

law enforcement agencies, including 12,695 local and 

county police departments, 3,066 sherifs’ ofces, and 

49 primary state police departments. 

Te original 2016 LEMAS sample included 3,499 state 

and local law enforcement agencies. Te sample 

represents all general-purpose state and local law 

enforcement agencies in the United States with the 

equivalent of at least one full-time sworn ofcer 

(part-time sworn ofcers were counted as 0.5 full-time 

equivalents), with separate samples drawn for local 

police departments, sherifs’ ofces, and state agencies. 

Agencies serving special jurisdictions (such as tribal 

lands, schools, airports, or parks) or with special 

enforcement responsibilities (such as conservation 

laws or alcohol laws) were considered out of scope 

for the survey. Additionally, sherifs’ ofces without 

primary law enforcement jurisdiction in the counties 

they served and federal law enforcement agencies were 

ineligible for LEMAS. 

During the initial contact phase, 27 departments were 

determined ineligible for the survey. Two agencies 

were serving special jurisdictions or had special 

enforcement responsibilities. Fourteen local police 

departments had closed, and two had contracted out 

their law enforcement services to another agency. 

Nine local police departments had only one part-time 

sworn ofcer. Afer removing out-of-scope cases, the 

fnal eligible sample size for the survey was 3,472. 

Consistent with previous LEMAS administrations, all 

agencies with the equivalent of 100 or more full-time 

sworn ofcers received the survey. Agencies with 

fewer than 100 sworn ofcers were selected using a 

stratifed random sample based on the number of 

sworn personnel and agency type. Te fnal sample 

included 1,045 self-representing (SR) agencies with the 

equivalent of 100 or more full-time sworn personnel 

and 2,427 non-self-representing (NSR) agencies with 

fewer than the equivalent of 100 full-time sworn 

personnel. Te SR agencies included 638 local police 

departments, 358 sherifs’ ofces, and 49 state law 

enforcement agencies. Overall, the NSR local police 

department sample included 1,975 agencies and the 

NSR sherif ’s ofce sample included 452. 

Te sampling design includes 15 strata that were based 

on the number of sworn personnel and agency type. 

Including all primary state police, the base weight for 

all SR agencies is 1.000. For NSR agencies, the base 

weights were determined by the number of sworn 

ofcers employed, as reported in the 2016 LEAR. Te 

base weights consist of the ratio of the sampling frame 

counts for each stratum (at the time of sampling before 

removing ineligible agencies) divided by the number of 

units sampled in the strata (see appendix table 3). 

Agency response rate 

Data were collected using two self-administered 

modes: web (75%) or hardcopy (25%). Te mode used 

was based on agency preference. Sixty-nine agencies 

responded using both web and hardcopy. In such cases, 

data obtained via web were used. 

Submitted surveys were considered complete if 

at least 60% of the questionnaire was complete. 

A total of 2,780 agencies completed their LEMAS 

Full-Time Employees in Law Enforcement Agencies, 1997-2016 | August 2018 3 
 

questionnaires for an overall response rate of 80.1% Accuracy of the estimates 

(table 3). Tis included 879 SR agencies (84.1%) and 

1,901 NSR agencies (78.3%). Te response rate was 

81.7% for local police departments, 74.1% for sherifs’ 

ofces, and 89.8% for state law enforcement agencies. 

Te fnal database included completed responses 

from 2,136 local police departments, 600 sherifs’ 

ofces, and 44 state agencies. An additional four state 

agencies provided data on item 1 (personnel counts) 

of the questionnaire as part of a fnal non-response 

follow-up efort. 

An adjustment factor unique to each stratum was used 

to account for non-response. Tese non-response 

adjustments were multiplied by the base weight to 

create the fnal analytical weight for each stratum 

(see appendix table 3). 

Item non-response and imputation 

Regardless of size, all departments were asked to 

complete the 51-item LEMAS survey. Imputation was 

used to determine the number of full-time sworn 

ofcers when it was missing. Cold-deck imputation was 

implemented using the value from the LEAR database 

for 30 agencies, including the one primary state agency 

that did not provide data on item 1. 

TABLE 3 

LEMAS response rates, by agency type, 2016 

Number of full-time sworn ofcers Response rate 

Total 80.1% 

Local police 81.7% 

100 or more 88.4 

50–99.5 81.8 

25–49.5 85.3 

10–24.5 84.5 

5–9.5 80.4 

2–4.5 72.4 

1–1.5 64.2 

Sherif’s ofce 74.1% 

100 or more 75.7 

50–99.5 79.0 

25–49.5 79.8 

10–24.5 66.7 

5–9.5 76.7 

2–4.5 63.2 

1–1.5 50.0 

Primary state police 89.8% 

Note: Includes both full- and part-time ofcers, with a weight of 0.5 

assigned to part-time ofcers. 

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Law Enforcement Management and 

Administrative Statistics survey, 2016. 

Te accuracy of the estimates presented in the fnal 

report depends on two types of error: sampling 

and non-sampling. Sampling error is the variation 

that may occur by chance due to collection of a 

sample rather than a complete enumeration of the 

population. Non-sampling error can be attributed 

to many sources, such as the inability to obtain 

information about all cases in the sample, inability 

to obtain complete and correct information from the 

administrative records, and processing errors. Te full 

extent of the non-sampling error is difcult to measure 

in any survey. 

As measured by an estimated standard error, the 

sampling error varies by the size of the estimate and 

of the base population. Because the 2016 LEMAS data 

were collected from a sample, the results are subject to 

sampling error. Variance and standard error estimates 

for the 2016 LEMAS were generated using the IBM SPSS 

statistical sofware package. Te Taylor linearization 

method for a “stratifed without replacement” design 

was used for these calculations. See appendix tables 1 

and 2 for the standard error estimates. 

Standard error estimates may be used to construct 

confdence intervals around numeric variables such 

as personnel counts. For example, the 95% confdence 

interval around the number of full-time sworn 

personnel is approximately 701,169 ± 1.96 × 17,274, or 

667,312 to 735,026. 

Standard error estimates may also be used to test the 

signifcance of the diference between two sample 

statistics by pooling the standard errors of the two 

sample estimates. For example, the standard error 

of the diference between the rate of full-time sworn 

ofcers per 1,000 U.S. residents in 1997 compared 

to 2016 was 0.065 (the square root of the sum of the 

squared standard errors for each group). Te 95% 

confdence interval around the diference would be 

1.96 × 0.065 (or 0.13). Because the observed diference 

of 0.25 (2.42-2.17) was greater than 0.13, the diference 

would be considered statistically signifcant. 

Full-Time Employees in Law Enforcement Agencies, 1997-2016 | August 2018 4 
 

APPENDIX TABLE 1 

Standard errors for table 1: Ofcer-to-resident 

ratio for general-purpose law enforcement 

agencies, 1997–2016 

Year Full-time sworn ofcers per 1,000 U.S. residents 

1997 0.04 

2000 0.02 

2003 0.03 

2007 0.04 

2013 0.06 

2016 0.05 

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Law Enforcement Management and 

Administrative Statistics surveys, 1997–2016. 

APPENDIX TABLE 2 

Standard errors for table 2: Full-time employees in general-purpose state and local law enforcement 

agencies, by agency type, 1997–2016 

Agency type 1997 2000 2003 2007 2013 2016 

Total full-time employees 13,041 8,649 13,725 16,717 26,669 25,849 

Local police 11,358 7,026 10,612 13,225 22,539 21,923 

Sherif's ofce 6,408 5,044 8,703 9,268 14,255 13,694 

Primary state police 0 0 0 4,320 0 0 

Total full-time sworn ofcers 10,043 6,007 9,072 10,703 18,026 17,274 

Local police 9,094 5,356 7,894 9,384 16,460 15,834 

Sherif's ofce 4,262 2,719 4,471 4,237 7,348 6,905 

Primary state police 0 0 0 2,926 0 0 

Total full-time civilians 3,625 3,394 6,017 7,077 9,853 9,930 

Local police 2,376 1,854 2,903 4,048 6,385 6,343 

Sherif's ofce 2,738 2,843 5,270 5,553 7,504 7,640 

Primary state police 0 0 0 1,689 0 0 

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics surveys, 1997–2016. 

Full-Time Employees in Law Enforcement Agencies, 1997-2016 | August 2018 5 
 

APPENDIX TABLE 3 

Base weights, non-response adjustments, and fnal weights by strata, by agency type, 2016 

Number of full-time sworn ofcers Base weight Non-response adjustment Final weight 

Local police ~ ~ ~ 

100 or more 1.000 1.131 1.131 

50–99.5 5.879 1.222 7.185 

25–49.5 5.897 1.172 6.914 

10–24.5 5.897 1.183 6.978 

5–9.5 5.873 1.244 7.305 

2–4.5 5.893 1.380 8.134 

1–1.5 5.885 1.557 9.162 

Sherif's ofce ~ ~ ~ 

100 or more 1.000 1.321 1.321 

50–99.5 5.855 1.265 7.408 

25–49.5 5.899 1.253 7.392 

10–24.5 5.874 1.500 8.811 

5–9.5 5.878 1.304 7.667 

2–4.5 5.763 1.583 9.125 

1–1.5 6.250 2.000 12.500 

Primary state police 1.000 1.000 1.000 

Note: Includes both full- and part-time ofcers, with a weight of 0.5 assigned to part-time ofcers. 

~Not applicable. 

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey, 2016. 

Full-Time Employees in Law Enforcement Agencies, 1997-2016 | August 2018 6 
Office of Justice Programs

Building Solutions • Supporting Communities • Advancing Justice

www.ojp.usdoj.gov

NCJ 251762

Te Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice 

is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, 

criminal victimization, criminal ofenders, victims of crime, 

correlates of crime, and the operation of criminal and civil 

justice systems at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels. BJS 

collects, analyzes, and disseminates reliable statistics on crime 

and justice systems in the United States, supports improvements 

to state and local criminal justice information systems, and 

participates with national and international organizations to 

develop and recommend national standards for justice statistics. 

Jefrey H. Anderson is director. 

Tis report was written by Shelley Hyland. Connor Brooks 

verifed the report. 

Eric Hendrixson and Jill Tomas edited the report. Morgan Young 

produced the report. 

August 2018, NCJ 251762