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Law Enforcement Breakdown: Agencies by Type Across the Country

There are more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the country.

When it comes to technology for law enforcement and public safety, there are a lot of companies offering up new ideas.

There’s ShotSpotter, which recently went public, offering sensors to detect gunshots. Then there’s Axon, which is swallowing up artificial intelligence firms so it can better process the video from body cameras. There’s predictive policing companies like PredPol and CivicScape, and then there’s Mark43 bringing computer-aided dispatch and records management systems into the cloud.

But just how big a market is this?

As it turns out, pretty big. According to the Center for Digital Government*, there are more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the country — nearly as many as there are local governments.

Of those, the majority are local police forces. The graphic above has a breakdown of all the other types and how many of each there are.

*The Center for Digital Government is part of e.Republic, Government Technology's parent company.

Ben Miller is the associate editor of data and business for Government Technology. His reporting experience includes breaking news, business, community features and technical subjects. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, and lives in Sacramento, Calif.