Bureau of Justice Statistics
Bulletin
June 2007, NCJ 212749
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Census of State and Local Law
Enforcement Agencies, 2004
By Brian A. Reaves, Ph.D.
BJS Statistician
In September 2004, 17,876 State and local law enforce-
ment agencies with the equivalent of at least 1 full-time
officer were operating in the U.S. The total included:
• 12,766 local police departments
• 3,067 sheriffs' offices
• 49 primary State law enforcement agencies
• 1,481 special jurisdiction agencies
• 513 other agencies, primarily county constable offices
in Texas.
State and local law enforcement agencies employed nearly
1.1 million persons on a full-time basis, including 732,000
sworn personnel (defined in the census as those with gen-
eral arrest powers). These agencies also employed approx-
imately 105,000 part-time employees, including 46,000
sworn officers.
Local police departments were the largest employer of
sworn officers, accounting for 61% of the total. Sheriffs’
offices were next, accounting for 24%. The remainder were
employed by the 49 primary State law enforcement agen-
cies (8%) or special jurisdiction agencies (7%).
Most State and local law enforcement agencies were small,
with about half employing fewer than 10 officers. These
agencies accounted for 5% of all sworn personnel. Nearly
two-thirds of sworn personnel were employed by the 6% of
agencies that employed 100 or more officers.
From 2000 to 2004, full-time employment by State and local
law enforcement agencies nationwide increased overall by
57,400 (or 5.6%). Sworn personnel increased by 23,900 (or
3.4%), and nonsworn by 33,500 (or 10.8%). The number of
sworn personnel added from 2000 to 2004 was less than
the increase observed from 1996 to 2000 (44,500) or from
1992 to 1996 (55,400).
The number of total full-time