Section VI: law enforcement personnel

Uniform Crime Reports: Crime in the United States, Annual, 2000

As of October 31, 2000, law enforcement agencies across the Nation employed an average of 2.5 full-time officers for every 1,000 inhabitants. When full-time civilian employees were included, the rate was 3.5 per 1,000 inhabitants. The 13,535 city, county, and state police agencies reporting in 2000 collectively employed 654,601 officers and 271,982 civilian employees and provided law enforcement service to approximately 265 million of the Nation's inhabitants. Table 77 provides a listing of reported full-time law enforcement officers and civilian employees by state.

Varying demographic traits as well as other jurisdictional characteristics greatly affect the requirements for law enforcement service from one locale to another. The needs of a community having a highly mobile or seasonal population, for example, may be very different from those of a city whose population is relatively stable. Similarly, a small community situated between two large cities may require a greater number of law enforcement personnel than a community of the same size which has no urban center nearby.

The functions of law enforcement are also significantly diverse throughout the Nation. In certain areas, sheriffs' responsibilities are limited almost exclusively to civil functions and/or the administration of the county jail facilities. Likewise, the responsibilities of state police and highway patrol agencies vary from one jurisdiction to another.

In view of these differing service requirements and responsibilities, care should be used when attempting any comparison of law enforcement employee rates. The rates presented in the following tables represent national averages; they should be viewed as guides or indicators, not as recommended or preferred police strengths. Adequate personnel for a specific locale can be determined only after careful study and analysis of the various conditions affecting service requirements in that jurisdiction.

There were an average of 3.1 law enforcement employees per 1,000 inhabitants in the Nation's cities collectively. Cities with populations of 1 million and over had the highest rate with 4.8 employees per 1,000. Suburban and rural counties each had a rate of 4.3 employees per 1,000 population. (See Table 74.)

By region, the law enforcement employee rate was 3.5 per 1,000 inhabitants in both the Northeast and in the South, 2.8 in the Midwest, and 2.5 in the West. (See Table 70.)

Sworn Personnel

When based solely on sworn law enforcement personnel (excluding civilians), the national rate for all cities was 2.4 officers per 1,000 inhabitants. By city population grouping, the rates ranged from 3.7 for cities with populations of 1 million and over to 1.8 in cities with 25,000 to 99,999 inhabitants. Suburban and rural counties each had a rate of 2.6 officers per 1,000 in population. (See Table 74.)

By region, the Northeastern States had the highest rate of sworn officers to population, 2.8 per 1,000. This rate was followed by the Southern States with 2.7, the Midwestern States with 2.2, and the Western States with 1.8 officers per 1,000 inhabitants.

Males made up 89.0 of all sworn officers nationally and 89.1 percent of all sworn officers in cities. Men accounted for 91.9 percent of sworn officers in rural counties and 87.2 percent in suburban counties.

Civilian Employees

Civilians constituted 29.4 percent of the total law enforcement employee force in the United States in 2000 and represented 22.7 percent of the police employees in cities. Civilian employees comprised 39.4 percent in suburban counties and 38.5 percent in rural counties. Females accounted for 62.7 percent of all civilian employees.

Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted

Fifty-one law enforcement officers were feloniously slain in the line of duty in 2000, nine more than in the previous year. An additional 84 officers were accidentally killed during the performance of their official duties in 2000--19 higher than the 1999 total of 65 officers accidentally killed.

Extensive data on line-of-duty deaths and assaults on city, county, state, and federal officers can be found in the Uniform Crime Reports publication, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted.