14 facts about law enforcement

Law enforcement professionals are in the business of keeping people safe and secure. Statista reports that, in 2022, there were 70,566 police officers across Canada and 708,001 officer employed in the United States.

People from all walks of life work in law enforcement, where careers include dispatchers, crime scene technicians and police chiefs. The law enforcement field is vast and interesting, and the following are 14 facts about those who protect and serve, courtesy of Fact Retriever, Kiddle, the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, and the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund.

1. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police provide police services to every province in Canada except Quebec and Ontario.

2. In 1916, Georgia Ann Robinson became the first African American police woman.

3. Law enforcement agencies are still staffed primarily with men. However, about 12 percent of sworn law enforcement officers in the U.S. are women.

4. The deadliest day in law enforcement history was on September 11, 2001. Seventytwo officers were killed while responding to the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and other locations.

5. Police are trained in first aid and rescue because they usually are the first to arrive on the scene of an emergency.

6. The police are known by different names in other countries. In Ireland, for example, they are known as the Garda.

7. Around 90 percent of London’s police officers do not carry firearms.

8. Police in the United States cannot make an arrest without probable cause and the intent to prosecute.

9. The vast majority of Americans (71 percent) are satisfied with local police.

10. Most cops (95 percent) never fire their service weapons on duty during their entire careers.

11. 99.9 percent of police calls are resolved peacefully.

12. In colonial America, law enforcement officers had less authority and personnel and were not effective at apprehending criminals. The church congregation would hold trials to “catch” criminals.

13. The first policing organization was created in Egypt around 3000 BCE. However, Nicolas de la Reynie was the first Lieutenant General of the Paris police, and his views on law enforcement were used to form the basis for modern police forces.

14. Only about onethird of a police officer’s time is spent actually enforcing crime. Officers spend the majority of their time maintaining the peace and solving problems.