Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

AUTOMATION RISK

CALCULATED

6%

risk level

POLLING

19.7%

Based on 542 votes

LABOR DEMAND

GROWTH

3.1%

by year 2032

WAGES

$72,280

or $34.75 per hour

Volume

646,310

as of 2023

SUMMARY

JOB SCORE

7.2/10

6% (Minimal Risk)

Minimal Risk (0-20%): Occupations in this category have a low probability of being automated, as they typically demand complex problem-solving, creativity, strong interpersonal skills, and a high degree of manual dexterity. These jobs often involve intricate hand movements and precise coordination, making it difficult for machines to replicate the required tasks.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Sentiment

The following graph(s) are included wherever there is a substantial amount of votes to render meaningful data. These visual representations display user poll results over time, providing a significant indication of sentiment trends.

Sentiment over time (yearly)

Wages

High paid relative to other professions

In 2023, the median annual wage for 'Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers' was $72,280, or $34 per hour

'Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers' were paid 50.4% higher than the national median wage, which stood at $48,060

Wages over time

Comments

Leave a comment

Damanpreet Singh (No chance) 3 months ago

How is supposed to change Because it’s a human kind of human can feel about the person

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Kevin 3 months ago

It would work great because the AI would know the law and wouldn't retaliate against people they don't like.

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matthew fitzgerald (Low) 7 months ago

robo cops wouldn't work because you would have to program them to have emotions, so they don't go into overdrive and kill or destroy everything.

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Deputy Dredd (Low) 7 months ago

the question is would people find an automated law enforcement officer more credible than a human police officer. I think there will be more Artificial intelligence added to the job but not all automation as we currently understand computers

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Sam 1 year ago

The public will likely never allow it to pass the legislature due to lack of trust for the technology.

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Caleb (Low) 1 year ago

Many aspects of this profession require a human element (i.e., emotional intelligence, de-escalation, interviewing, rapport building, etc.) that current AI technology is incapable of reproducing at this time.

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Philip Low (Low) 1 year ago

Although unlikely I do believe that more technology will be Implemented into day to day policing and such tasks as processing criminals may become automated but a lot of the human elements will never be automated.

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Kirsten 1 year ago

Where I am from, they have automated speed radars and red light traffic cameras. Both of which will capture the vehicle registration and issue a ticket. Just saying. I agree it's safe from full take-over, but some changes will present.

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Martin 2 years ago

Partially replaced for sure. There will likely always be some people, but you can replace a lot of the monotonous work with machines. Cameras and sensors can spot speeders and light runners. The new Boston Dynamics robots can do backhand springs. One cop could send a host of A.I. swarm bots to a crack house and handle it like a video game. Quadcopters, mechanical mice with cameras and microphones, armed dog bots, humanoid arrest bots, and self-driving cars.

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Will 3 years ago

Over a year and NOBODY made a "Robocop" reference? The internet has disappointed me once again.

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Steve W. 3 years ago

Imagine a cop that doesn't get emotional, doesn't have an ego, doesn't care about politics, and never uses the excuse, "I was afraid for my life."

Yes, we need AI-controlled robotic cops immediately. Many lives will be saved.

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Sam 1 year ago

“Many lives”

In 2022 only about 1,000 deaths caused by police officers occurred and most were justified. There’s over 700,000 police officers to date, which comes out to less than 1% of all police officers in the entire USA.

You’re being completely ridiculous.

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Antonio 5 months ago

Ok buddy 😂

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Metrixfr 23 days ago

Ok so if a criminal is about to boot your head off and send u 6ft under u would just allow that to happen. Your response is u just being completely delulu and do u really think a robot would be able to arrest a criminal with out humans help like I'm pretty sure a criminal would just destroy it and run away bruv.

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Angel Vollant (No chance) 3 years ago

No chance. Policing requires critical thinking, logic, situational assessment and decision-making which can’t fit into a program. When a police officer sees someone committing a crime, it’s up to them to decide what to do. If a man’s smoking pot alone in the park, do they deserve to be arrested? The cop will go up to them, talk a bit, leave a warning and may or may not leave a ticket depending on how the man acts. If he’s polite and cooperative, the officer will probably let him off with a warning. If he’s erratic and violent, he’ll arrest him. A robot, however, won’t think that far. Sees someone committing a crime (smoking pot) and simply arrest him. If he doesn’t comply, use violence. They’re programmed to do what the programmer put into it. If someone has a knife, take them out. Simple as that. Doesn’t matter if it’s a woman defending herself against an abuser. The robot’ll see a knife and shoot her. Robocop explained it very well. Police officers need compassion and emotions. If you could program a robot to do that, you’ve got yourself a human.

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Anon 6 months ago

It's over 3 years since your post. AI has greatly progressed. I don't think anyone in 2020 thought AI would be where it is now. AI can easily do all the critical thinking, logic, situational assessment and decision-making, and it might not be available yet, but it is apparent that it can fit inside a program. What is more difficult is that policing requires a physical presence. Robotics just isn't there yet, and even if it ever does get there, you'd basically need a highly expensive robot to replace each individual officer. Whereas AI on a single server with access to multiple phone lines (and ai voice automation) can easily replace a 100+ person office.

It's not impossible for AI to take over policing, but due to economic factors, it is likely one of the least at-risk professions to be taken over by AI

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mister sir 3 years ago

I think it's good that they have a low chance of being replaced by robots because although humans can be biased, humans make better decisions and can pick up on clues or emotions better.

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My name isn't your bidness. (Uncertain) 3 years ago

There is a lot of talk about things like the androids from D:BH so I think it could go either way if artificial intelligence is improved.

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Khan (Low) 4 years ago

Competent police officers require human communication skills and human coordination (for the later see the old “robots struggle to walk up stairs” problem)

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frankie (Low) 4 years ago

as police need to have good decision making skills as robots do not

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Anonomous (Low) 4 years ago

THAT IS CRAZY HOW WOULD THEY GET COPS REPLACED!??!!?

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Meep (Uncertain) 4 years ago

Because if you only go up to 20 years from now it may change past then.

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Lachlan Beck (No chance) 4 years ago

Because Robots lack the feeling of emotions and aren't able to be empathetic to other humans or robots therefore they lack a key skill of being an officer

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Hope Pringle 4 years ago

Yeah, I want to see a person behind the badge, not some dumb robot who can feel for the victims or people in general! I want to be a police officer when I grow up NO robot will take my job. I will not let that happen!

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Ben 4 years ago

A computer has the capacity to think thousands of times faster than a human. When AI and robotics reach the level of performing the job... People can't compete. Almost perfect job performance...or a human... You choose. Computers aren't stressed out, they have no bias... They are, in every way capable of being better at the job...

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