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America's crime record

Police

Sworn officers

783,714

sworn officers, 2025 · Up 1.4% from 2024

Rate 228.8, about 1 in 440 residents

Timeline

sworn officers each year, from FBI police employee files (1960 to 1984 from Jacob Kaplan's cleaned copy, CC BY 4.0, doi:10.7910/DVN/AHDIWG, summed by CrimeDB); U.S. residents from the Census Bureau
👤︎ U.S. residents, Census Bureau.

Full-time sworn officers on October 31, summed over the agencies that sent the FBI a count.

Source and method

Agencies that sent none are missing, and far fewer sent one in the 1960s, so the rate over the people those agencies police is the figure to compare.

FBI police employee files (1960 to 1984 from Jacob Kaplan's cleaned copy, CC BY 4.0, doi:10.7910/DVN/AHDIWG, summed by CrimeDB) · One day each year · 1960 to 2025

  • 1960–1984These years come from Jacob Kaplan's police employee (LEOKA) files, filling a gap in the Police employees (PE) master file. CDE serves police employees from 1985 only. Kaplan's cleaned copy stands in for the years before and is never merged with the FBI's file.
  • 1985From 1985 the FBI's own police employee files; 1960 to 1984 Jacob Kaplan's copy of them, which matches the FBI's files exactly 1985 to 1990
  • 1985–1990Jacob Kaplan's police employee (LEOKA) files and the Police employees (PE) master file hold the same records side by side. CrimeDB uses the Police employees (PE) master file; the other is kept as a check. Loaded only to check Kaplan's copy against the FBI's file: they agree on every agency-year.

Breakdown

Sworn officers by sex, 2025

Sworn officers by sex, 2025
Male85%668,656
Female15%115,058

All 783,714 sworn officers in 2025.

FBI police employee files (1960 to 1984 from Jacob Kaplan's cleaned copy, CC BY 4.0, doi:10.7910/DVN/AHDIWG, summed by CrimeDB)

Every figure as a table

Sworn officers, sworn officers, by year

YearCountRateNote
2025783,714229
2024772,777227
2023760,826227
2022753,463225
2021715,164215
2020724,601219
2019712,756216
2018704,746215
2017673,429206
2016659,864237
2015651,458231
2014649,864235
2013643,484238
2012688,874241
2011733,169243
2010705,602242
2009724,815250
2008706,927247
2007699,913245
2006683,668241
2005674,437241
2004675,699243
2003664,897242
2002665,555245
2001659,417246
2000654,693247
1999637,373252
1998623,860245
1997599,171239
1996595,105239
1995581,426239
1994570,683233
1993555,077227
1992543,989225
1991535,392225
1990523,251224
1989496,319216
1988485,551210
1987480,325212
1986475,842212
1985470,672210
1984467,056208
1983449,323202
1982403,478183
1981398,170183
1980395,892187
1979391,884189
1978384,665190
1977389,311195
1976373,418188
1975365,410188
1974354,624189
1973344,919183
1972377,502197
1971296,513184
1970275,139181
1969253,875172
1968230,025160
1967230,298158
1966216,592153
1965217,900153
1964193,071146
1963192,944148
1962200,293150
1961181,451154
1960177,062171

Rate: Per 100,000 people living where the counted agencies police, by the FBI's population for those agencies. Agencies that sent no count add neither officers nor people.

FBI police employee files (1960 to 1984 from Jacob Kaplan's cleaned copy, CC BY 4.0, doi:10.7910/DVN/AHDIWG, summed by CrimeDB) · One day each year

Sworn officers by sex, 2025

SexCountShare
Male668,65685%
Female115,05815%

All 783,714 sworn officers in 2025.

FBI police employee files (1960 to 1984 from Jacob Kaplan's cleaned copy, CC BY 4.0, doi:10.7910/DVN/AHDIWG, summed by CrimeDB)

Full-time sworn officers in local police and sheriffs' offices by race and Hispanic origin (BJS survey of agencies), 2020

Race (BJS survey)CountShare
White+MENA449,35469%
Hispanic91,71814%
Black72,08811%
Asian, NHPI, AIAN, or two or more24,8664%
Race unknown11,6892%

All 649,715 full-time sworn officers in local police and sheriffs' offices in BJS's 2020 race tables (as of 2020-12-31). A different source and year from the FBI count above: BJS's Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey is a sample of agencies weighted to national estimates, so these are estimates, national only, never by state. BJS's own headcount of these officers that year is 647,001; the shares come from the race tables and are never scaled to it. Other is the rest of the races, two or more races included. Agencies report their officers from their own records.

Primary state agencies (state police and highway patrols), 2020, shares only, as BJS prints them: White+MENA 80.2%, Black 6.5%, Hispanic 10.4%, Asian, NHPI, AIAN, or two or more 2.4%, Race unknown 0.6%. Every wave from 1997 is in the chart below. Unknown is an answer from 2007, and two or more races join the rest of the races from 2013, so that group changes name there.

BJS LEMAS 2020: Local Police Departments Personnel, 2020, Table 7; Sheriffs' Offices Personnel, 2020, Table 6 (counts added by CrimeDB)

Full-time sworn officers in local police and sheriffs' offices by race and Hispanic origin (BJS survey of agencies), every survey wave

Survey yearWhite+MENABlackHispanicAsian, NHPI, or AIANAsian, NHPI, AIAN, or two or moreRace unknown
202069.2%11.1%14.1%–3.8%1.8%
201672.7%10.8%12%–3.3%1.3%
201372.3%11%11.1%–3.1%2.5%
200774.1%10.8%9.4%2.7%–3.1%
200377.7%11.2%8.5%2.6%––
200078.9%11%7.7%2.4%––
199779.2%11.7%7.2%1.9%––

Shares as BJS printed them, never rescaled. LEMAS is a sample of agencies weighted to national estimates, national only, and a different source from the FBI's officer count; – means not an answer that wave (Race unknown from 2007).

BJS LEMAS, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2013, 2016, 2020: race tables of local police departments and sheriffs' offices together, shares as printed