Will AI replace Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers?
Estimated risk score: 36 out of 100
Lower replacement risk
Estimate from published task research, not reviewed by a person · how we estimate
Within about 19 points for 4 in 5 of the jobs we checked (17 to 55).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 30 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 33-3051.00 · Protective Service
Tasks rated in 2023 as ones AI could do or speed up
Tasks a GPT-4-class model could do, or do in half the time or less: 3 of its 30 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Record facts to prepare reports that document incidents and activities.
- Relay complaint and emergency-request information to appropriate agency dispatchers.
- Provide road information to assist motorists.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 17 of its 30 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Execute arrest warrants, locating and taking persons into custody.
- Identify, pursue, and arrest suspects and perpetrators of criminal acts.
- Locate and confiscate real or personal property, as directed by court order.
- Patrol and guard courthouses, grand jury rooms, or assigned areas to provide security, enforce laws, maintain order, and arrest violators.
- Place people in protective custody.
- Transport or escort prisoners and defendants en route to courtrooms, prisons or jails, attorneys' offices, or medical facilities.
What the job is
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.
Also called: Cop, SRO, Trooper, ALE Agent, Constable, Policeman, K-9 Deputy, K-9 Handler.
Source. This site includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. (O*NET, CC BY 4.0.) Task ratings: Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock (2023), “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”, data used under the MIT licence (licence texts). Our change: we averaged the ratings over this occupation’s tasks and calibrated them to our 0–100 scale. It is not a prediction about any one person and not career advice. Disagree? Write to hello@yourstopwashit.com. How we estimate