Here is a summary of the law enforcement employee statistics for 2003:
- In 2003, there were 3.5 full-time law enforcement employees, including both sworn officers and civilians, per 1,000 inhabitants in the United States.
- Throughout the Nation, 14,072 city, county, state, and tribal police agencies actively participated in the law enforcement segment of the UCR Program. These agencies employed 663,796 full-time officers and 285,146 civilians and furnished law enforcement services to more than 274 million inhabitants.
- Law enforcement in 2003 provided services to the Nation's cities collectively at a rate of 2.3 sworn law enforcement officers for every 1,000 inhabitants. Law enforcement in the Nation's smallest cities, those with less than 10,000 inhabitants, provided services at a rate of 3.3 sworn officers per 1,000 in population, the highest rate among population groups. Law enforcement in the Nation's cities with 25,000 to 49,999 inhabitants provided services at a rate of 1.8 sworn officers per 1,000 in population, the lowest employment rate among the population groups.
- Law enforcement agencies providing services to metropolitan counties had 2.6 sworn officers for each 1,000 in population, and law enforcement agencies providing services to nonmetropolitan counties had 2.8 sworn officers for each 1,000 in population.
- Most sworn law enforcement officers (88.6 percent) were male. Females comprised the majority (62.5 percent) of civilian law enforcement employees.
