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Local Police
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More than 12,000 local police departments were operating in the United States during 2016. A local police department is a law enforcement agency, other than a sheriffs' office, that is operated by a unit of local government, such as a town, city, township, or county.

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Data Collections & Surveys

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Publications & Products


Local Police Departments: Policies and Procedures, 2016 This report presents statistics on selected policies and procedures of local police departments, based on data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics' 2016 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey.
  Full report (PDF 460K) | Data tables (Zip format 20K)
Part of the Local Police Departments Series

Selected Findings from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program This report presents statistics on crimes known to law enforcement that were voluntarily reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
  Full report (PDF 523K) | Data tables (Zip format 12K)

Offenses Known to Law Enforcement in Large Cities, 2018 FBI reported crime data for large cities of 250,000 population or more.
  Full report (PDF 1.1M)

Local Police Departments, 2016: Personnel Provides personnel information on the approximately 12,300 local police departments in the United States.
  Summary (PDF 550K) | Full report (PDF 854K) | Data tables (Zip format 33K)
Part of the Local Police Departments Series

Body-Worn Cameras in Law Enforcement Agencies, 2016 Presents data on body-worn camera (BWCs) use and non-use in general-purpose law enforcement agencies for 2016.
  Press Release (251K) | Summary (PDF 209K) | Full report (PDF 484K) | Data tables (Zip format 29K)

Full-Time Employees in Law Enforcement Agencies, 1997-2016 Presents counts of full-time employees in general-purpose law enforcement agencies for 2016, with comparisons to prior years.
  Full report (PDF 325K) | Data tables (Zip format 7K)
Part of the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics Series

Police Vehicle Pursuits, 2012-2013 Presents data on police vehicle pursuits and pursuit-related policies, including the number of police vehicle pursuits conducted by general purpose state and local law enforcement agencies in 2012, and the types of written pursuit-related policies maintained by these agencies as of January 2013.
  Press Release | Summary (PDF 184K) | Full report (PDF 851K) | ASCII file (33KB) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 45K)
Part of the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics Series

Police Response to Domestic Violence, 2006-2015 Presents 2006-15 data on nonfatal domestic violence victimizations reported to police, the police response to these victimizations, the prevalence of related arrests or charges, and criminal complaints signed against the offender.
  Press Release | Summary (PDF 187K) | Full report (PDF 1.07M) | ASCII file (37K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format)

State and Local Law Enforcement Training Academies, 2013 Presents findings on the basic training programs of more than 600 state and local law enforcement training academies, including data on program content, recruits, and instructors.
  Summary (PDF 250K) | Full report (PDF 1.2M) | ASCII file (33K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 68K)
Part of the State and Local Law Enforcement Training Academies Series

National Sources of Law Enforcement Employment Data This report describes and compares three law enforcement employment data sources: 1) the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, 2) the Census Bureau's Annual Survey of Public Employment and Payroll (ASPEP), and 3) the Bureau of Justice Statistics' Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies (CSLLEA).
  Full report (PDF 1.8M) | ASCII file (48K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 23K)

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Terms & Definitions

Local law enforcement officer An employee of a local law enforcement agency who is an officer sworn to carry out law enforcement duties. Examples of this class are sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, chiefs of police, city police officers, and sworn personnel of law enforcement subunits of port and transit authorities. For national level general data, this class includes campus police officers employed by of local city and community college districts. Private campus police are excluded.
 
SARA SARA stands for Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment. SARA is a commonly used problem-solving method involved in community policing. For more information visit the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing site.
 
Sworn officers Persons formally authorized to make arrests while acting within the scope of explicit legal authority.
 
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