AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 33-3051.00

Will AI replace Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers?

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers: AI can already handle 25 of 30 tasks; the work mostly needs a standard-tier model.

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Every task, scored

The 30 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers, from most to least exposed. 25 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.

Task AI exposure Evidence Model tier Importance
Verify that the proper legal charges have been made against law offenders. 80 Estimated Efficient 4.2
Identify, pursue, and arrest suspects and perpetrators of criminal acts. 75 Estimated Efficient 4.7
Record facts to prepare reports that document incidents and activities. 75 Estimated Efficient 4.5
Render aid to accident survivors and other persons requiring first aid for physical injuries. 75 Estimated Efficient 4.5
Investigate illegal or suspicious activities. 75 Estimated Efficient 4.4
Monitor, note, report, and investigate suspicious persons and situations, safety hazards, and unusual or illegal activity in patrol area. 75 Estimated Efficient 4.4
Testify in court to present evidence or act as witness in traffic and criminal cases. 75 Estimated Standard 4.4
Monitor traffic to ensure motorists observe traffic regulations and exhibit safe driving procedures. 75 Estimated Standard 4.3
Relay complaint and emergency-request information to appropriate agency dispatchers. 75 Estimated Standard 4.3
Execute arrest warrants, locating and taking persons into custody. 75 Estimated Efficient 4.3
Photograph or draw diagrams of crime or accident scenes and interview principals and eyewitnesses. 75 Estimated Efficient 4.2
Patrol specific area on foot, horseback, or motorized conveyance, responding promptly to calls for assistance. 75 Estimated Standard 4.2
Investigate traffic accidents and other accidents to determine causes and to determine if a crime has been committed. 75 Estimated Efficient 4.2
Supervise law enforcement staff, such as jail staff, officers, and deputy sheriffs. 75 Estimated Frontier 4.2
Transport or escort prisoners and defendants en route to courtrooms, prisons or jails, attorneys' offices, or medical facilities. 75 Estimated Efficient 4.1
Direct traffic flow and reroute traffic in case of emergencies. 75 Estimated Efficient 4.1
Question individuals entering secured areas to determine their business, directing and rerouting individuals as necessary. 75 Estimated Efficient 3.9
Notify patrol units to take violators into custody or to provide needed assistance or medical aid. 75 Estimated Standard 3.7
Place people in protective custody. 75 Estimated Efficient 3.6
Serve statements of claims, subpoenas, summonses, jury summonses, orders to pay alimony, and other court orders. 75 Estimated Efficient 3.6
Locate and confiscate real or personal property, as directed by court order. 75 Estimated Standard 3.4
Provide road information to assist motorists. 75 Estimated Efficient 3.4
Conduct community programs for all ages concerning topics such as drugs and violence. 75 Estimated Standard 3.3
Review facts of incidents to determine if criminal act or statute violations were involved. 65 Estimated Efficient 4.4
Evaluate complaint and emergency-request information to determine response requirements. 65 Estimated Frontier 4.2
Inform citizens of community services and recommend options to facilitate longer-term problem resolution. 40 Observed Efficient 3.6
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. 20 Estimated Efficient 4.7
Process prisoners, and prepare and maintain records of prisoner bookings and prisoner status during booking and pre-trial process. 20 Estimated Efficient 4.4
Patrol and guard courthouses, grand jury rooms, or assigned areas to provide security, enforce laws, maintain order, and arrest violators. 20 Estimated Efficient 4.3
Drive vehicles or patrol specific areas to detect law violators, issue citations, and make arrests. 8 Estimated No tier 4.3

Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 1 of 30 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 29 of 30. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.

The model tier this role needs

A standard-tier model or lower covers 90% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 97% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 4% is hands-on.

Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.

Wages, employment and outlook

US employment
670,520
Median annual wage
$76,210
Middle half of earners
$59,290 to $97,600
Projected change, 2024 to 2034
+3.1%

Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034. BLS publishes these figures by SOC code, so O*NET occupations that share a SOC code show the same figures.

Adjacent roles

The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.

Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.

Questions about Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers and AI

Will AI replace Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers?

AI already handles 25 of the 30 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 65 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by +3.1% from 2024 to 2034.

What is the AI exposure of Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers?

65 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 1 of the 30 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 29 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.

Which Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers tasks can AI already do?

The tasks with the highest exposure are: Verify that the proper legal charges have been made against law offenders; Identify, pursue, and arrest suspects and perpetrators of criminal acts; Record facts to prepare reports that document incidents and activities. They are three of the 25 tasks that reach 60 or more.

What AI model tier does this role need?

A standard-tier model or lower covers 90% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.

How many people work as Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers, and what do they earn?

670,520 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $76,210 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +3.1% from 2024 to 2034.

How to cite

Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.

JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/police-and-sheriffs-patrol-officers

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