Conducted every 3 to 4 years, LEMAS collects data from over 3,000 state and local law enforcement agencies, including all those that employ 100 or more sworn officers and a nationally representative sample of smaller agencies. Data are obtained on the organization and administration of police and sheriffs' departments, including agency responsibilities, operating expenditures, job functions of sworn and civilian employees, officer salaries and special pay, demographic characteristics of officers, weapons and armor policies, education and training requirements, computers and information systems, vehicles, special units, and community policing activities.
On This Page |
Data Experts |
Collection Period |
Questionnaires |
Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (CJ-38L) | ||
2000 PDF (91K) | ||
Sample Survey of Law Enforcement Agencies (CJ-44) | ||
2007 Short PDF (560K) | 2007 Long PDF (709K) | 2003 PDF (350K) | 1999 PDF | 1997 PDF |
Documentation |
Methodology |
The Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey collects data from a nationally representative sample of publicly funded state and local law enforcement agencies in the United States. The 2003 LEMAS sample design called for the survey questionnaire to be mailed to 3,179 state and local law enforcement agencies. Twenty-five agencies were determined to be out-of-scope for the survey because they had closed, outsourced their operations, or were operating on a part-time basis, resulting in a final mailout total of 3,154 agencies. The initial mailing of the questionnaire was conducted in December 2003. The pay period containing June 30, 2000 was used as the reference date for all questions, unless otherwise noted.
Allowing for the exclusion of special jurisdiction agencies and Texas constables, 955 law enforcement agencies in the United States with 100 or more sworn officers as of June 30, 2000, were included in the sample as self-representing (SR) agencies. This included 574 local police departments, 332 sheriffs' offices, and the 49 primary state law enforcement agencies.
The self-representing (SR) agencies were supplemented by a nationally representative sample of agencies with fewer than 100 sworn personnel. These nonself-representing (NSR) agencies were chosen using a stratified random sample with cells based on the type of agency (local police or sheriff), size of population served, and number of sworn personnel. The 2,199 NSR agencies selected included
1,539 local police departments and 660 sheriffs' offices.
A total of 2,859 agencies responded to the LEMAS questionnaire for a response rate of 90.6%. This included 904 SR agencies (94.7%) and 1,955 NSR agencies (88.9%). The final database includes responses from 1,947 local police departments, 863 sheriffs' offices, and the 49 primary state law enforcement agencies. The overall response rate for local police departments was 92.1%, for sheriffs' offices, 87.0%, and for the state law enforcement agencies, 100%.
Publications & Products |
Press Releases
Local Police Departments, 2007 Presents data collected from a representative sample of local police departments nationwide on a variety of agency characteristics. | |
PDF (580K) | ASCII file (28K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 58K) Part of the Local Police Departments Series |
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Gang Units in Large Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 2007 Presents data from the first nationwide study of specialized police units dedicated solely to addressing gang activity. | |
Acrobat (PDF 378K) | ASCII file (20K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 33K) |
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Women in Law Enforcement, 1987-2008 Presents data from the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) surveys, covering 1987 to 2007, and from the Census of Federal Law Enforcement Officers (FLEO), from 1996 to 2008. | |
PDF (196K) | ASCII file (11K) | Spreadsheets (Zip format 9K) |
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Citizen Complaints about Police Use of Force Presents data on citizen complaints about police use of force received by large, general purpose State and local law enforcement agencies as well as on complaint dispositions. | |
Press Release | PDF (337K) | ASCII file (34K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 60K) | Codebooks and Datasets | To order paper version |
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Local Police Departments, 2003 Presents data collected from a representative sample of local police department nationwide on a variety of agency characteristics based on the 2003 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey. | |
PDF (844K) | ASCII file (34K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 60K) | Codebooks and Datasets | To order paper version Part of the Local Police Departments Series |
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Sheriffs' Offices, 2003 Based on the 2003 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey, presents data collected from a representative sample of sheriffs' offices nationwide on a variety of agency characteristics. | |
PDF (729K) | ASCII file (34K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 60K) | Codebooks and Datasets | To order paper version Part of the Sheriffs' Office Series |
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Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 2000: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers Compiled from the 2000 LEMAS survey, this report presents agency-specific data collected from more than 755 local agencies and 49 State agencies that employed 100 or more sworn officers. | |
Full Report (PDF 4M) | Full Report - No tables or graphs (ASCII file 32K) | All local tables (PDF 1.7M) | All local tables - Zip format (Spreadsheet 1M) | Summary tables A-C (PDF 88K) | Summary tables A-C - Zip format (Spreadsheet 18K) | Section I: Personnel - Local agencies (PDF 697K) | Section I: Personnel - Local agencies - Zip format (Spreadsheet 401K) | Section I: Personnel - State agencies (PDF 232K) | Section I: Personnel - State agencies - Zip format (Spreadsheet 21K) | Section II. Expenditures and Pay - Local agencies (PDF 377K) | Section II. Expenditures and Pay - Local agencies - Zip format (Spreadsheet 288K) | Section II. Expenditures and Pay - State agencies (PDF 97K) | Section II. Expenditures and Pay - State agencies - Zip format (Spreadsheet 10K) | Section III. Operations - Local agencies (PDF 552K) | Section III. Operations - Local agencies - Zip format (Spreadsheet 355K) | Section III. Operations - State agencies (PDF 125K) | Section III. Operations - State agencies - Zip format (Spreadsheet 11K) | Section IV. Community Policing - Local agencies (PDF 473K) | Section IV. Community Policing - Local agencies - Zip format (Spreadsheet 286K) | Section IV. Community Policing - State agencies (PDF 87K) | Section IV. Community Policing - State agencies - Zip format (Spreadsheet 8K) | Section V. Policies and programs - Local agencies (PDF 442K) | Section V. Policies and programs - Local agencies - Zip format (Spreadsheet 280K) | Section V. Policies and programs - State agencies (PDF 81K) | Section V. Policies and programs - State agencies - Zip format (Spreadsheet 7Kq) | Section VI. Equipment - Local agencies (PDF 743K) | Section VI. Equipment - Local agencies - Zip format (Spreadsheet 406K) | Section VI. Equipment - State agencies (PDF 187K) | Section VI. Equipment - State agencies - Zip format (Spreadsheet 16K) | Section VII. Computers and Information Systems - Local agencies (PDF 545K) | Section VII. Computers and Information Systems - Local agencies - Zip format (Spreadsheet 345K) | Section VII. Computers and Information Systems - State agencies (PDF 124K) | Section VII. Computers and Information Systems - State agencies - Zip format (Spreadsheet 11K) | Codebooks and Datasets | To order paper version Part of the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics Series |
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Local Police Departments, 2000 Presents data collected from a representative sample of the nearly 13,000 general-purpose local police departments nationwide. | |
PDF (591K) | ASCII file (68K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 57K) | Codebooks and Datasets | To order paper version Part of the Local Police Departments Series |
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Tribal Law Enforcement, 2000 Presents information on the characteristics of tribally operated law enforcement agencies in the United States, including personnel, services, and functions. | |
PDF (76K) | ASCII file (11K) | ZIP Format (Spreadsheet 11K) | To order paper version |
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Sheriffs' Offices, 2000 Presents data collected from a representative sample of the more than 3,000 sheriffs' offices nationwide. | |
PDF (585K) | ASCII file (65K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 39K) | Codebooks and Datasets | To order paper version Part of the Sheriffs' Office Series |
Average base starting salary for entry-level officers in local police departments, 2000 and 2003 Figure 7 from Local Police Departments, 2003 | |
Download CSV file (Data Table 1 KB) |
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Female and minority local police officers, 1987 and 2003 Figure 3 from Local Police Departments, 2003 | |
Download CSV file (Data Table 1 KB) |
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Special public safety functions of local police departments, by size of population served, 2003 Table 36 from Local Police Departments, 2003 | |
Data Table (2 KB) |
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Selected Crime, Criminal Justice, and Demographic Data - 25 Largest Cities Presents selected crime data, as well as data on criminal justice resources and demographic variables, for the 25 largest cities. | |
Download CSV file (Spreadsheet 12K) |
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Selected Crime, Criminal Justice, and Demographic Data - 90 Most Populous Counties Selected crime data, as well as data on criminal justice resources and demographic variables, for the 90 most populous counties. | |
Download CSV file (Spreadsheet 34K) |
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Criminal Justice Resources - 90 Most Populous Counties Selected crime data, as well as data on criminal justice resources and demographic variables, for the 90 most populous counties. | |
Download CSV file (Spreadsheet 34K) |
Related Topics |
Bureau of Justice StatisticsBJS Statistical Principals and Practices Scientific Integrity Statement OJP Freedom of Information Act |
Web Site |
PartnersFederal Bureau of Investigation Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center |
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