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Maintain order and protect life and property by enforcing local, tribal, state, or federal laws and ordinances. Perform a combination of the following duties: patrol a specific area; direct traffic; issue traffic summonses; investigate accidents; apprehend and arrest suspects, or serve legal processes of courts. Includes police officers working at educational institutions.
Explore this career in the militaryWhat you can expect to experience while on the job
Overall employment of police and detectives is projected to grow 3 percent from 2021 to 2031, slower than the average for all occupations. Despitelimitedemployment growth, about 68,500 openings for police and detectives are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Most of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
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