Federal Law Enforcement Jobs

Federal law enforcement jobs are available at a wide range of agencies. They include positions as unformed officers, special agents and in support roles.

Law Enforcement Jobs by the Numbers

According to statistics published on GoLawEnforcement.com, approximately 861,000 people were employed as police officers and detectives in 2006. The vast majority (79 percent) of these jobs were with local police agencies. Another 11 percent of people working in law enforcement were with state law enforcement agencies. Only seven percent of police officers and detectives were employed in federal law enforcement jobs.

Federal Law Enforcement Jobs: List of Agencies

Examples of federal law enforcement agencies that may have job openings at any given time inlcude:

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Central Intelligence Agency
Customs and Border Protection
Defense Criminal Investigative Service
Department of Homeland Security
Drug Enforcement Administration
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
IRS Criminal Investigations Division
U.S. Marshal Service
U.S. Postal Inspection Service
U.S. Secret Service

Uniformed Officer Jobs

Not all uniformed law enforcement officers are working for agencies operating at the local and state levels. For example, officers working for the Customs and Border Protection service may work in uniform. People working in uniformed positions are working in functions where the focus is on enforcing the law, as opposed to conducting investigations.

A uniformed police officer may be promoted to a position where he or she is conducting investigations after being with the law enforcement agency for a number of years. In most cases, an agency will not hire someone for one of these positions from outside the agency directly. The individual is promoted to work in that capacity.

Special Agent Jobs

Special agents or federal inspectors concentrate their efforts on conducting criminal investigations. They are usually assigned specific cases to work on and stick with them until the case is solved or dropped.

In the case of a federal law enforcement agency that focuses on conducting criminal investigations, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Drug Enforcement Administration, positions for special agents may be filled directly from outside the agency. New members of the organization may start working in this capacity immediately after being hired.

Support Positions in Law Enforcement

Along with working as a uniformed officer or a special agent or inspector, opportunities exist for people who are interested in working in a supporting role. These job titles include the following:

Crime Lab Technicians
Evidence Technicians
Firearms Examiners
Hand Writing Examiners
Intelligence Analysts
Investigative Assistants

Working Conditions

Working conditions in federal law enforcement positions vary, depending on the agency involved. For example, a person working for Customs and Border Protection may be expected to spend a good part of his or her time outside. He or she may need to cover rugged terrain while on the job, in all weather conditions.

Someone who is considering a career with the Secret Service may need to travel often for work, possibly with little advance notice of the trip. Relocation may be required a number of times over the course of a person's career.

Most work weeks are scheduled for 40 hours, but law enforcement officers are often required to work overtime, for which they are paid. Shift work is common in these types of jobs, since coverage must be in place on a 24-hour per day, seven days per week basis. Someone interested in pursuing this type of work needs to be prepared to work at night, on weekends and on holidays as required.

Education Required

To be considered for one of the federal law enforcement jobs available, an applicant will probably need to have at least an undergraduate degree. Each agency has its own criteria for minimum level of education required. To find out what each one is looking for, prospective employees should visit the agency's web site.