Section VI: law enforcement personnel

Uniform Crime Reports: Crime in the United States, Annual, 2002

Law enforcement personnel provide services in cities, colleges and universities, suburban counties, rural counties, and states, each population with its own unique law enforcement needs. Even within a particular community type, such as cities, the law enforcement needs vary from locale to locale. For example, a small town positioned between two larger cities may need more law enforcement personnel than a same-sized community that does not have a nearby urban center. A city with legal gambling establishments may pose unique law enforcement challenges when compared to a similarly populated city with a neighboring military base.

Not only are the law enforcement needs of various locales different, but the functions of the officers serving those areas differ as well. In some areas, the county sheriff's officers may be responsible for a variety of civil functions such as tax collection; they may also be the enforcement authority for local and state courts; and they may administer jail facilities. In other locales, officers may be the only law enforcement agency in the county and, thus, responsible for providing all necessary services across what may be a large geographical area. State police and highway patrol officers may focus primarily on traffic enforcement on highways and interstates or investigative responsibilities of violent crimes throughout the state. Data users must consider the different service requirements and duties when attempting any comparison of law enforcement employee rates.

The data presented in the following tables should be viewed as guidelines or averages; they should not be considered recommended staffing levels. Only after careful study and analysis of a myriad of conditions affecting service requirements can the appropriate personnel needs of any jurisdiction be determined.

The average number of law enforcement personnel collectively employed by agencies within each of the UCR population groups are presented in Tables 70-75. Table 76 reports the number of law enforcement employees working within state law enforcement agencies for each state; Tables 77-81 present the number of law enforcement employees for states, cities, colleges and universities, and suburban and rural counties. Table 82 offers data from county and city agencies serving the Nation's transit systems, parks and forests, schools and school districts, hospitals, etc., that usually share concurrent jurisdiction with local law enforcement.

Law Enforcement Rate

On average, there were 3.5 fulltime law enforcement employees, officers and civilians, for every 1,000 inhabitants in the Nation in 2002. (Based on Table 74.) In the Nation during 2002, a total of 13,981 city, college and university, county, and state police agencies employed 665,555 full-time officers and 291,947 civilians providing law enforcement services for more than 271 million inhabitants. (See Table 74.)

Collectively, cities in the United States reported 3.1 law enforcement employees per 1,000 inhabitants in 2002. The highest average among cities, 4.1 law enforcement employees per 1,000 in population, was recorded in those with fewer than 10,000 in population. Those cities with a population of 250,000 or more inhabitants had an average of 3.9 law enforcement employees per 1,000 inhabitants. (See Table 70.) Suburban counties reported the highest rate, an average of 4.7 law enforcement employees. Rural counties had an average of 4.2 law enforcement employees per 1,000 inhabitants. (Based on Table 74.)

By region, the cities in the Northeast and the South each posted a law enforcement employee rate of 3.5 per 1,000 in population. Cities in the Midwest recorded a rate of 2.8; in cities in the West, the rate was 2.4. (See Table 70.)

Sworn Personnel

When considering only sworn officers, the Nation's cities recorded a rate of 2.3 officers per 1,000 inhabitants. By population grouping, rates ranged from 1.8 officers per 1,000 inhabitants for cities with 25,000 to 99,999 in population to 3.2 officers for cities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. (See Table 71.) Suburban counties reported an average of 2.7 sworn officers per 1,000; rural counties had an average of 2.5. (Based on Table 74.)

In terms of geographic location, cities in the Northeast had the highest ratio of sworn officers to population with 2.7 officers for every 1,000 persons. The South followed with 2.6 officers for every 1,000 inhabitants, and the Midwest had a rate of 2.2 officers. The West had a rate of 1.7 sworn officers per 1,000 inhabitants. (See Table 71.)

Males comprised the majority of sworn officers, 88.7 percent, nationally and also in cities collectively. In rural counties, 92.1 percent of sworn officers were males; 86.9 percent in suburban counties were males. Females made up 11.3 percent of the Nation's sworn officers in 2002. Cities with a population of 1 million inhabitants or more had the highest percentage of sworn female officers at 17.5 percent. (See Table 74.)

Civilian Employees