As of June 2026, Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers has an AI-exposure score of 55/100 (Elevated exposure) on the AI-Safe Careers index, blending O*NET tasks, the Anthropic Economic Index, the Penn/OpenAI study, and BLS data. This is an estimate of task exposure, not a prediction of job loss.
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
More exposed than 48% of the roles we track. Median pay ~US$76,210. About 53,700 projected openings a year (BLS 2024–34 — growth plus replacement).
Pay & demand figures are US medians (BLS, in USD) — your local figures will differ. Your exposure score applies broadly.
How you compare to similar Protective Service roles
Your tasks, by AI exposure
- Record facts to prepare reports that document incidents and activities.
- Relay complaint and emergency-request information to appropriate agency dispatchers.
- Evaluate complaint and emergency-request information to determine response requirements.
- Review facts of incidents to determine if criminal act or statute violations were involved.
- Photograph or draw diagrams of crime or accident scenes and interview principals and eyewitnesses.
- Verify that the proper legal charges have been made against law offenders.
- Testify in court to present evidence or act as witness in traffic and criminal cases.
- Identify, pursue, and arrest suspects and perpetrators of criminal acts.
- Execute arrest warrants, locating and taking persons into custody.
- Provide for public safety by maintaining order, responding to emergencies, protecting people and property, enforcing motor vehicle and criminal laws, and promoting good community relations.
- Patrol specific area on foot, horseback, or motorized conveyance, responding promptly to calls for assistance.
- Drive vehicles or patrol specific areas to detect law violators, issue citations, and make arrests.
- Transport or escort prisoners and defendants en route to courtrooms, prisons or jails, attorneys' offices, or medical facilities.
- Patrol and guard courthouses, grand jury rooms, or assigned areas to provide security, enforce laws, maintain order, and arrest violators.
- Monitor traffic to ensure motorists observe traffic regulations and exhibit safe driving procedures.
- Direct traffic flow and reroute traffic in case of emergencies.
- Investigate traffic accidents and other accidents to determine causes and to determine if a crime has been committed.
- Monitor, note, report, and investigate suspicious persons and situations, safety hazards, and unusual or illegal activity in patrol area.
- Investigate illegal or suspicious activities.
- Render aid to accident survivors and other persons requiring first aid for physical injuries.
No durable tasks identified for this role — its real, individually-assessed tasks consistently read as augmentable (75%).
Safer adjacent roles
Your AI-Safe Career Report
Every task scored with what to do about it · 5–10 safer roles with salary, demand & reachability · skill-gap map · a 30/60/90-day roadmap · plus a résumé & LinkedIn rewrite · PDF.
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Workers with AI skills earn a roughly 62% wage premium — adapting pays. — PwC Global AI Jobs Barometer, 2026
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Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers — median pay by US state (BLS OEWS, USD)
Median annual wage, in USD. US national: US$76,210. More states are being added.