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 officers. General-purpose law enforcement agencies include municipal, county, and regional police departments; most sheriffs’ offices; and primary state and highway patrol agencies. They are distinct from excluded special-purpose agencies (e.g., those with jurisdiction on tribal lands; and in parks, schools, airports, subways, hospitals, housing authorities, and government buildings), sheriff’s’ offices with only jail and court duties, and federal law enforcement agencies. Only general-purpose agencies are included in this report. 

From 1997 to 2016, the number of full-time sworn offers 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%).  As a result, the number of full-time sworn offers per 1,000 residents decreased, from 2.42 in 1997 to 2.17 in 2016 (down 11%). The 2016 rate of full-time sworn officers 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.