According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics' 2008 Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 509 law enforcement agencies exist in the U.S. state of California, employing 79,431 sworn police officers—about 217 for each 100,000 residents. California police officers' authority is derived from the California Penal Code (PC) beginning with Section 830. PC 830.1 includes the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) along with local and county agencies. PC 830.2 includes the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and nine other state agencies. PC 830.3 includes 21 state agencies with law enforcement divisions. The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training maintains a list of state law enforcement agencies on its website.

State agencies

County agencies

Municipal agencies

College and university agencies

K–12 school agencies

Special district and other agencies

Defunct agencies