ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST                    BJS
SUNDAY, MARCH 12, 2000                         202/307-0784  
               
         
NUMBER OF FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
GREW 11 PERCENT IN TWO YEARS


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The number of federal law
enforcement officers grew by about 8,000 men and women, or
11 percent, from June 1996 through June 1998, the Justice
Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced
today.  Approximately half of this growth was within the
department's Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). 
The number of INS Border Patrol officers rose from 5,441 men
and women in 1996 to 7,714, an increase of 42 percent.
     As of June 1998 federal agencies employed about 83,000
full-time law enforcement officers with arrest powers and
firearms authorization.  That number included 16,552 in INS,
12,587 in the Bureau of Prisons, 11,285 in the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, 10,539 in the Customs Service,
3,587 in the Secret Service, and 3,490 in the Postal
Inspection Service.  In addition there were 3,361 in the
Internal Revenue Service, 3,305 in the Drug Enforcement
Administration, 2,705 in the Marshals Service and 1,723 in
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.  The totals
include both supervisors and non-supervisors but exclude law
enforcement officers serving with the armed forces and
federal officers abroad.
     The BJS report said women accounted for 14 percent of
the federal officers in both 1996 and 1998.  The number of
minority officers increased from 28 percent to 29 percent
during the two-year period, with Hispanics comprising 15
percent of the officers in 1998 and African-Americans 11
percent.
     Nationwide, there were 31 federal officers per 100,000
U.S. residents.  The concentration of federal officers in
the states ranged from a high of 68 per 100,000 residents in
Arizona to a low of 4 per 100,000 in Iowa.
     The bulletin, Federal Law Enforcement Officers, 1998
(NCJ-177607) was written by BJS statisticians Brian A.
Reaves and Timothy C. Hart.  Single copies may be obtained
from the BJS  fax-on-demand system by dialing 301/519-5550,
listening to the complete menu and selecting document number
193.  Or call the BJS clearinghouse number: 1-800-732-3277. 
Fax orders for mail delivery to 410/792-4358.  The BJS
Internet site is:
           http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
     Additional criminal justice materials can be obtained
from the Office of Justice Programs 
homepage at:
             http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov
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BJS00055
After hours contact: Stu Smith at 301/983-9354