Of those identified in the survey, 130 lawmakers had served in a role with a city or county police department, 76 served with a sheriff department and 27 worked for a primary statewide law enforcement agency.
An additional 79 served in another type of law enforcement or public safety capacity in roles that included military police, federal law enforcement officers, state and local corrections officers, environmental or parks and wildlife officers, and probation and parole officers.
By chamber in 2024, there were 75 senators with a public safety employment background and 212 house members. Lawmakers with public safety backgrounds were identified in legislative bodies in 48 states, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Most of the lawmakers identified as having public safety employment experience are men, with just over 10% women.
New Hampshire had the greatest number of legislators, 13, with public safety employment backgrounds, followed by North Carolina with 11 and Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, each with 10. The Virgin Islands had the largest percentage of their legislative body with just over 30% of the 15 members having a public safety employment background.
"Having been a Washington state trooper myself, I've seen the incredible work our law enforcement does every day to keep our communities safe. I saw firsthand how different policies affected our officers and the people they're working to protect," said Washington Sen. John Lovick (D). "People want to be kept safe, but they also want to feel safe in their homes and neighborhood. I've used my experience as a state trooper every single day of my legislative career."
Lovick served as a Washington State Trooper for 31 years and later as the Snohomish County Sheriff.
Arkansas Rep. Dwight Tosh (R), a 37-year veteran with Arkansas State Police, echoed Lovick's comments, "Serving in the Arkansas House of Representatives has presented many challenges concerning legislation as it relates to our law enforcement communities. I'm very proud that my colleagues seek my opinion on law enforcement issues before they file a bill or even when it's just an idea."
NCSL also included people in non-sworn law enforcement roles in this survey. South Dakota Sen. Helene Duhamel (R) serves as majority whip and chair of the Senate Judiciary committee when the legislature is in session, but the rest of the year she works as the public information officer for the Pennington County Sheriff's Office.
"Working in law enforcement gives me a unique perspective and informed voice on tackling public safety issues in the South Dakota legislature," said Duhamel. "So often lawmakers come up with legislation that causes more harm than good or has a whole host of unintended consequences.
"At the Pennington County Sheriff's Office, I sit at the table as we struggle with crime, victimization, addiction, jail crowding, recidivism, homelessness, mental health crises and more. My unique perspective and access to law enforcement agencies help with creative, nontraditional approaches to community safety."
North Dakota Sen. Diane Larson (R) was a youth worker with the Police Youth Bureau from 1989 through 2023 and worked closely with state and local law enforcement agencies. Her career working with youth alongside law enforcement informed her work to rewrite the Juvenile Court Act and later pass legislation to improve recruitment and retention for law enforcement.
"As a part of the law enforcement family, I see what legislation is effective in making our communities safer. Seeing the trials and challenges that law enforcement faced every day has helped me to have a unique perspective on how legislation will affect officers and our communities," said Larson.
Her work with law enforcement is not yet through. She recently attended NCSL's Policing State Teams meeting with a team of local law enforcement and her colleague Rep. Pat Heinert (R), the former sheriff of Burleigh County, one of the jurisdictions Larson used to work with. Together, their team found ideas that they could bring back to North Dakota where the work will continue.