Brian A. Reaves, Ph.D.

December 2, 2010    NCJ 231174

Presents data collected from a representative sample of local police departments nationwide on a variety of agency characteristics. Based on the 2007 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey, the report provides national estimates on staffing levels, operating costs, race and gender of officers, officer salaries and special pay, screening methods used in the officer selection process, and training requirements for new officer recruits. The report also examines the types of weapons authorized, use of in-car video cameras and computers, community policing efforts, task force participation, and emergency preparedness activities.

Highlights include the following:

• The estimated 12,575 local police departments operating in the United States during 2007 employed approximately 463,000 full-time sworn personnel.
• Operating budgets of local police departments totaled $55.4 billion for fiscal year 2007, 14% more than in 2003 after adjusting for inflation.
• In 2007, average starting salaries for entry-level local police officers ranged from $26,600 in the smallest jurisdictions to $49,500 in the largest.

Part of the Local Police Departments Series

PDF (580K)
ASCII file (28K)
Spreadsheet (Zip format 58K)

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