This is a list of law enforcement agencies in the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...

. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics' 2008 Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, the District has six local law enforcement agencies employing 4,262 sworn police officers, about 722 for each 100,000 residents. This is the highest proportion of police officers to citizens of any state or territory.

Listed by age

The oldest agencies are the: *

United States Marshals Service The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforcem ...

, founded September 24, 1789 * United States Park Police, founded in 1791 as park watchmen to guard federal property in DC * United States Mint Police, founded in 1792 *

United States Capitol Police The United States Capitol Police (USCP) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States with nationwide jurisdiction charged with protecting the United States Congress within the District of Columbia and throughout the United States an ...

, founded in 1828 *

Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), more commonly known as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the DC Police, and, colloquially, the DCPD, is the primary law enforcement agency for the District of Columbi ...

, founded in 1861 (took the place of DC City Watch, founded in 1802) *

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...

, founded July 5, 1865 *

District of Columbia Protective Services Division The District of Columbia Protective Services Division (formerly, the Protective Services Police Department) is a division of the Department of General Services of the District of Columbia Government. The organization is responsible for ...

, founded by Congress in 1899 under the Watchmen in Municipal Facilities Act

Primary DC law enforcement (local and federal)

District of Columbia Department of Corrections The District of Columbia Department of Corrections (DCDC) is a correctional agency responsible for the adult jails and other adult correctional institutions for the District of Columbia, in the United States.http://doc.dc.gov/doc/cwp/view,a,3,q,491 ...

* District of Columbia Housing Authority Police Department of Public Safety (Has city-wide jurisdiction throughout Metropolitan area) *

District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), more commonly known as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the DC Police, and, colloquially, the DCPD, is the primary law enforcement agency for the District of Columbi ...

(local municipal police covering all of DC with approximately 3,800 officers) *

* District of Columbia Public Schools Police - Law Enforcement Division (has city-wide jurisdiction on 119 DCPS owned and leased properties) * District of Columbia Public Library Police *

Metro Transit Police Department The Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) is the transit police agency of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), created by the WMATA Compact on June 4, 1976. The MTPD is unique in U.S. law enforcement as it is the only U. ...

(has jurisdiction in Metro rail and near Metro bus stops in DC, VA, and MD; 526 officers) *

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is an independent airport authority, created with the consent of the United States Congress to oversee management, operations, and capital development of the two major airports serving the U. ...

Police (jurisdiction actually falls within specific locations in VA eagan National and Dulles airports formerly FAA Police) *

United States Marshals The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...

(deputies at the

Superior Court of the District of Columbia The Superior Court of the District of Columbia, commonly referred to as DC Superior Court, is the trial court for the District of Columbia, in the United States. It hears cases involving criminal and civil law, as well as family court, landlor ...

fulfill duties similar to those of a sheriff in local court matters, while deputies at the

United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District ...

perform more traditional and federal district court duties) * United States Park Police (national parks federal police for the

National Mall The National Mall is a landscaped park near the downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institution, art galleries, cultural institutions, and va ...

, monuments, parkways, and all national park service properties in D.C and surrounding regions; several hundred officers; shares jurisdiction with

D.C. Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), more commonly known as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the DC Police, and, colloquially, the DCPD, is the primary law enforcement agency for the District of Colum ...

in addition to exercising federal authority) *

Washington National Cathedral Police The Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation Police, commonly known as the Washington National Cathedral Police, is a small private police force responsible for protecting the land of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, which mainly c ...

(officers licensed by the MPD as special police officers) *Washington Humane Society Law Enforcement (charted by Congress in 1870 to enforce the Districts anti-cruelty laws)

Federal police agencies with a uniformed presence in District of Columbia area

The majority of federal law enforcement agencies have some type of jurisdiction and/or headquarter offices in the District of Columbia; however, some are more overt than others. *

Amtrak Police Department The Amtrak Police Department (APD) is a quasi-federal railroad police department and the law enforcement agency of Amtrak (also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corporation), the government-owned passenger train system in the United Sta ...

(quasi-federal, as Amtrak is government-owned) *

Armed Forces Retirement Home The Armed Forces Retirement Home refers to one of two facilities, one in Gulfport, Mississippi, the other in Washington, D.C., that house veterans and active duty members of the United States Armed Forces. Current status In 1991 Congress incorp ...

Police (located in northwest District of Columbia; an independent, executive-level federal agency with a force of fewer than a dozen police officers and investigators; formerly known as the United States Sailor's and Airman's Home and the Soldier's Home; established in 1834) * Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police *

Central Intelligence Agency Security Protective Service Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

(Provides law enforcement and security services to CIA facilities in and around the District) *

District of Columbia National Guard The District of Columbia National Guard is the branch of the United States National Guard based in the District of Columbia. It comprises both the District of Columbia Army National Guard, D.C. Army National Guard and the District of Columbia A ...

Military Police/Security Forces, if any (unique in that the DC Guard always answers to the President rather than to a governor) *

Federal Bureau of Investigation Police The FBI Police is the uniformed security police of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and is part of the Bureau's Security Division. The FBI Police is tasked with protecting key FBI facilities, properties, personnel, users, visitors, infor ...

(the FBI Police are the uniformed officers responsible for the protection of FBI facilities and employees) *

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...

(

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

) * Federal Protective Service (tasked with protection of federal facilities not otherwise protected by other agencies) * Government Publishing Office Police (formerly Government Printing Office Police) *

Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...

(active and reserve of the various

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

): Military Police Corps (United States Army);

Master-at-arms A Master-at-Arms (US: MA; UK & some Commonwealth: MAA) may be a naval rating, responsible for law enforcement, regulating duties, security, anti-terrorism/force protection (AT/FP) for/of a country's navy; an army officer responsible for physical ...

(

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

);

United States Air Force Security Forces The United States Air Force Security Forces (SF) are the ground combat force and military police service of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force. USAF Security Forces (SF) were formerly known as Military Police (MP), Air Police (AP), and Se ...

; USMC Military Police; and the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...

and

United States Coast Guard Police The United States Coast Guard Police (CGPD) are law enforcement units stationed at certain shore facilities of the United States Coast Guard. Uniform Officers wear a modified Operational Dress Uniform (ODU) with "CGPD" collar devices in ...

* Naval District of Washington Police (Responsible for the Washington Navy Yard, Anacostia, Bolling Air Base, Naval Research Lab, et al.) *

Smithsonian Police The Smithsonian Institution Office of Protection Services is the guard force of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a federal guard force consisting of 850 officers with special police authority tasked with protecting visitors, staff, property, ...

and National Zoo Police (Smithsonian museums federal special police who maintain concurrent jurisdiction with the U.S. Park Police) *

Supreme Court Police The Supreme Court of the United States Police is a federal law enforcement agency that derives its authority from . The Supreme Court Police enforce federal and District of Columbia laws and regulations, as well as enforce regulations governing ...

(Supreme Court Federal Police; under a hundred officers) *

(Congressional Federal Police; many hundreds of officers) *

United States Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilit ...

(CBP Officers enforce customs laws at Reagan National and Dulles International Airport, and at the Port of Washington) *

United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police The United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police (VA Police) is the uniformed law enforcement service of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, responsible for the protection of the VA Medical Centers (VAMC) and other facilities such as ...

(VA Police, responsible for the District of Columbia, VA Medical Center) * U.S. Federal Reserve Police (the law enforcement arm of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the US) * United States Mint Police (the law enforcement and protective service of the United States Mint, assigned to the US Mint Headquarters Facility) * National Gallery of Art Office of Protective Services (National Gallery of Art federal police and special police who maintain concurrent jurisdiction with U.S. Park Police) * United States Park Police *

United States Pentagon Police The Pentagon Police Division (PPD) is the uniformed division of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA). PPD's role is to provide law enforcement and protective security services for The Pentagon and other Office of the Secretary of Defense (O ...

(Pentagon Police also have jurisdiction at Department of Defense-leased property throughout the National Capital Region, and at the US Military Court of Appeals in District of Columbia) * United States Postal Police (uniformed division of

United States Postal Inspection Service The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), or the Postal Inspectors, is the law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. It supports and protects the U.S. Postal Service, its employees, infrastructure, and customers by enf ...

) *

United States Secret Service Uniformed Division The United States Secret Service Uniformed Division (USSS UD) is the security police force of the U.S. Secret Service, similar to the U.S. Capitol Police or DHS Federal Protective Service. It is in charge of protecting the physical White House gro ...

(Uniformed Division was formerly known as the

White House Police Force The White House Police Force was a security police force formed in 1922 to protect the White House and the President of the United States. It became part of the United States Secret Service in 1930. It was renamed the Executive Protective Service ...

)

College and university agencies

* American University Police Department * Catholic University Department of Public Safety * George Washington University Police (GWPD) * Gallaudet University Department of Public Safety * Georgetown University Police DepartmentGeorgetown University Police Department
/ref> * Howard University Campus Police * University of the District of Columbia Police Department * Trinity University Department of Public Safety

References

{{LawByState *District of Columbia *

Law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEA ...

Listed by age

Primary DC law enforcement (local and federal)

Federal police agencies with a uniformed presence in District of Columbia area

College and university agencies

See also

References