Andrea M. Burch, Bureau of Justice Statistics

June 16, 2016    NCJ 249757

Presents data on persons employed by the nation's sheriffs' offices on January 1, 2013, and employment trends since 1993. The report includes counts of sworn and civilian personnel by size of office and population served and examines trends on the number of sworn personnel by sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Data on the representation of female officers in supervisory positions are presented for the first time. Findings are based on data from BJS's 2013 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey.

Highlights:

• During 2013, sheriffs' offices accounted for a fifth (20%) of the nation's 15,400 general purpose state and local law enforcement agencies.
• Sheriffs' offices employed about a third (34%) of all full-time general purpose law enforcement personnel during 2013.
• About 189,000 (54%) full-time sheriffs' office employees were sworn officers, making up about a quarter (26%) of all full-time general purpose law enforcement personnel in 2013.
• Between 2007 and 2013, the number of full-time sworn personnel in sheriffs' offices increased by 10%, while civilian personnel decreased by 6%.
• In 2013, about 14% of full-time sworn officers in sheriffs' offices were female compared to 12% in 2007.

Part of the Sheriffs' Office Series

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