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Police and citizens often come into contact with each other for reasons other than criminal investigation. In addition to enforcing criminal law, police officers often engage in community service. Community service may include providing information and/or assistance to people in need, as well as offering youth education and coordinating community outreach efforts. In many communities, police officers network to establish partnerships between residents and the law enforcement agency. Community-oriented policing seeks to address the causes of crime and to reduce fear of social disorder through problem-solving strategies and police- community partnerships. Typically, it involves a greater use of foot and bicycle patrols and frequent meetings with community groups.

Data Collections & Surveys

• City-Level Survey of Crime Victimization and Citizen Attitudes
• Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS)
• Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS)

Publications & Products

Sheriffs' Office Personnel, 1993-2013 Presents data on persons employed by the nations sheriffs offices on January 1, 2013, and employment trends since 1993.
	Press Release | Summary (PDF 233K) | PDF (801K) | ASCII file (28K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 22K) 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
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Local Police Departments, 2003 Full-time employment by local police departments, 1987-2003 Local Police Departments, 2003 Full-time employment by local police departments, 1987-2003
	Spreadsheet (1K)
State and Local Law Enforcement Training Academies, 2006 Presents findings from the 2006 BJS Census of Law Enforcement Training Academies, updating the results of the initial census conducted in 2002.
	Press Release | PDF (163K) | ASCII file (31K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 27K) Part of the State and Local Law Enforcement Training Academies Series
Contacts between Police and the Public, 2005 "Police stop white, black and Hispanic drivers at similar rates according to Department of Justice report"
	Press Release | More information about this release
Contacts between Police and the Public, 2005 Presents data over a 12-month period on the nature and characteristics of face-to-face contacts between residents of the U.S. and the police. The report also provides demographic and other characteristics of residents involved in traffic stops and use of force incidents.
	Press Release | PDF (305K) | ASCII file (32K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 21K) Part of the Contacts between Police and the Public Series
Female and minority local police officers, 1987 and 2003 Figure 3 from Local Police Departments, 2003
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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)
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 Part of the Local Police Departments Series
Contacts between Police and Public: Findings from the 2002 National Survey Presents data on the nature and characteristics of contacts between residents of the U.S. and the police over a 12-month period.
	PDF (886K) | ASCII file (62K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 25K) Part of the Contacts between Police and the Public Series

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