Local Police Department Personnel, 2020

• NCJ Number: 305187
• Date Published: November 2022
• Author(s): Sean E. Goodison
• Length: 26 pages
• Publication Series: BJS Bulletins
• Agencies: BJS
• Publication Type: Publication; Statistics

Abstract

This report provides data on full-time sworn officers and civilians employed by local police departments. It presents data on the number, sex, race or Hispanic origin, and responsibilities of full-time personnel at local police departments. The report also provides information on the policies and procedures that local police departments adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights

• Local police departments in the United States employed about 473,000 full-time sworn officers and 126,000 full-time civilian personnel in 2020.
• Almost half (46%) of all local police departments employed fewer than 10 full-time-equivalent sworn officers.
• In local police departments serving 250,000 or more residents, about 16% of police chiefs were female.
• About 14% of full-time sworn officers and 11% of first-line supervisors across local police departments were female.