The Effect of Federalism on Compensation of Law Enforcement Officers in the United States

Comparisons to the United States for questions of compensation to law enforcement officers (LEOs) frequently fail to consider the diversity found within the U.S. federalist system, where numerous different support schemes are offered. With roughly 18,000 police agencies competing for sworn officers, competition for recruitment and retention of officers is demonstrated at local and nationwide levels through varying salary rates even after cost-of-living factors have been discounted. Published compensation data for LEOs in various policing agencies in the San Diego California metropolitan south area is analyzed and found to differ from costs of living, suggesting competition: evidence of recruitment of lateral transfers (“poaching”) supports this finding.