BJS: Bureau of Justice Statistics
| Home | About Us | Contact Us | Help | A-Z Topic List |
- Home
- Topics
- Publications & Products
- Data Collections
- Funding
- Data Analysis Tools
View Dynamic Tools
- Arrest Data Analysis Tool Home Page (Updated)
- Corrections Statistical Analysis Tool (CSAT) - Parole
- Corrections Statistical Analysis Tool (CSAT) - Prisoners
- Corrections Statistical Analysis Tool (CSAT) - Probation
- Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) Data Tool
- Federal Criminal Case Processing Statistics (FCCPS)
- NCVS Victimization Analysis Tool
- National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) API
- Prisoner Recidivism Analysis Tool - 1994 Home Page
- View By Topic
- Key Statistics
- About Us
- Research
- How many officers do these state and local law enforcement agencies employ?
- What is the difference between sworn and nonsworn officers?
- How do the Bureau of Justice Statistics' (BJS) counts of law enforcement officers differ from the annual counts of the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)?
- Which types of less than lethal weapons are authorized for use by local police officers?
- How many cars are operated by state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide?
 |
MORE FAQs |
Local Police
| On This Page |  |
| About this Topic |  |
More than 12,000 local police departments were operating in the United States during 2013. A local police department is a general purpose law enforcement agency, other than a sheriffs office, that is operated by a unit of local government, such as a town, city, township, or county. Tribal police are classified as local police in Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) data collections.
| Data Collections & Surveys | |
- Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies
- Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS)
| Publications & Products | |
| Local Police Departments, 2013: Equipment and Technology Presents findings on local police departments by population served in 2013, including comparisons with previous survey years. | |
|
Press Release (8KB) | Summary (PDF 243KB) | PDF (640KB) | ASCII file (25KB) | Comma-delimited format (.csv) (Zip format 38KB)
Part of the Local Police Departments Series |
|
| Local Police Departments, 2013: Equipment and Technology AN ESTIMATED 32 PERCENT OF LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS WERE USING BODY-WORN CAMERAS IN 2013 | |
|
Press Release
|
|
| Local Police Departments, 2013: Personnel, Policies, and Practices Presents findings on local police departments by population served in 2013, including comparisons with previous surveys dating back to 1987. | |
|
Press Release | Executive Summary (PDF 85K) | PDF (751K) | ASCII file (36K) | Comma-delimited format (.csv) (Zip format 46K)
Part of the Local Police Departments Series |
|
| Police Behavior during Traffic and Street Stops, 2011 STUDY FINDS SOME RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN PERCEPTIONS OF POLICE BEHAVIOR DURING CONTACT WITH THE PUBLIC | |
|
Press Release
|
|
| Requests for Police Assistance, 2011 STUDY FINDS SOME RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN PERCEPTIONS OF POLICE BEHAVIOR DURING CONTACT WITH THE PUBLIC | |
|
|
|
| Hiring and Retention of State and Local Law Enforcement Officers, 2008 - Statistical Tables Presents the results of a special survey administered to a nationally representative sample of agencies that participated in the 2008 Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies. | |
|
PDF (995K) | ASCII file (36K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 89K)
Part of the Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies Series |
|
| Victimizations Not Reported to the Police, 2006-2010 NEARLY 3.4 MILLION VIOLENT CRIMES PER YEAR WENT UNREPORTED TO POLICE FROM 2006 TO 2010 | |
|
Press Release
|
|
| Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories, 2009 Presents data on the more than 400 state, municipal, county, and federal crime laboratories operating in the United States during 2009. | |
|
Press Release | PDF (861K) | ASCII file (36K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 48K)
Part of the Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories Series |
|
| Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories, 2009 NEARLY 1.2 MILLION FORENSIC REQUESTS TO PUBLICLY FUNDED CRIME LABS WERE BACKLOGGED AT YEAREND 2009, UNCHANGED FROM 2008 | |
|
Press Release
Part of the Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories Series |
|
| Arrest-Related Deaths, 2003-2009 - Statistical Tables Provides data on the circumstances of deaths that occur during, or shortly after, state or local law enforcement officers engage in an arrest or restraint process. | |
|
Press Release | PDF (1M) | ASCII file (23K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 44K)
Part of the Arrest-Related Deaths Series |
|
| Terms & Definitions | |
| Local law enforcement officer | An employee of a local law enforcement agency who is an officer sworn to carry out law enforcement duties. Examples of this class are sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, chiefs of police, city police officers, and sworn personnel of law enforcement subunits of port and transit authorities. For national level general data, this class includes campus police officers employed by of local city and community college districts. Private campus police are excluded. |
| Sworn officers | Persons formally authorized to make arrests while acting within the scope of explicit legal authority. |