The Council for Law Enforcement Reserves is committed to providing a national platform for Reserve Country that includes comprehensive and current information about all things "Reserve." To this end, the Council has once again completed a national census of RLEOs. This herculean effort involves contacting state-level agencies in all 50 states, plus three US territories, D.C., and this year - for the first time - we've included Tribal Police.
Reserve Country continues to grow, as this year's survey reflects. We found more than 86,000 RLEOs serving across the nation. Importantly, some states already have reserve policies under development, to better facilitate hiring, training, and utilization of RLEOs.
It's important to note that we have current and relatively accurate numbers for our census, with figures being at the most one year old. Some are estimates - best guesstimates by knowledgeable state officials who track law enforcement officer certification. This currency of our data appears to be unique.
We do hope to see more tracking of RLEO numbers by state certification authorities. The Council feels that this goal will be achieved, in part, by our annual census, which brings Reserve Country to the attention of the right officials and agencies. 86,000 trained, equipped, and experienced law enforcement personnel are simply too many -- too much of a national resource -- to remain overlooked. RLEOs of America -- we salute you! Thanks for serving! Stay safe.
