The country will need more law enforcement and protective services workers in the coming years to fill new homeland security jobs, handle a new breed of tech-savvy criminals and replace retiring employees.

A recent government analysis of various industries projected that, by 2014, the number of people needed in most law enforcement professions would increase by more than 10 percent from 2004 levels.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, which published the employment analysis, reported the increases would be in government jobs — such as patrol officers and police detectives — and non-government positions, including security guards and private investigators.

“We’ve been expecting a big move in law enforcement for several years and now it’s happening,” said Dave Whelan, criminal justice administration department chairman at Doylestown Township’s Delaware Valley College.

Whelan called it the “9/11 effect,” referring to the widespread security upgrades implemented around the country following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“You’re seeing more demand, from federal jobs like the Transportation Security Administration to security guards at major companies and corporations,” Whelan said.

He added that the need for law enforcement officers tends to run in cycles. There was a large influx of people into criminal justice jobs in the early 1970s, which means many of those workers are nearing retirement.

Others said staffing increases are unavoidable in a world where case-cracking methods have become more technologically sophisticated.

“Where we’ve seen our needs increase is in forensic sciences,” said Pennsylvania State Police spokesman Jack Lewis. “For all convictions, offenders are providing DNA samples that are put into a national database in the last two years. That increases the workload.”

Pennsylvania has more than 4,400 state police troopers — including those who cover state gaming facilities, Lewis said. The state Legislature recently authorized the hiring of about 200 more. Most would fill patrol positions. The forensics jobs mix troopers and non-uniformed staff members.

The Internet has created types of crimes and criminals that aren’t bound by geography, Bucks County District Attorney Diane Gibbons pointed out.

“You used to have a cop on the corner and, when a robbery would happen, he’d run or drive down the street and respond,” she said. “Now you have people on eBay from L.A. ripping off people in Buckingham.”

County law enforcement training director Harry McCann said the number of police officers in Bucks has risen from 650 in the early 1990s to almost 800 this year. He attributed the increase to population growth and the types of industry found in Bucks County, particularly Philadelphia Park’s casino. Bensalem hired 16 additional officers in 2006 to meet casino-related demand.

While the need for law enforcement and protective services workers is expected to grow, so will the number of people trained to fill those positions, according to area academics.

Whelan said more students are enrolling in criminal justice classes than in previous years, “but I’m not sure it’s necessarily because of the job market.”

More people wanted to become profilers in the mid-1980s, following the release of the movie “Silence of the Lambs,” he said. The same thing is happening in forensics today, with the emergence of the CSI and other television franchises, he said.

This fall, for the first time, Holy Family University will offer a master’s degree program in criminal justice, which will be taught at the school’s Newtown Center in Newtown Township.

“Jobs in law enforcement and corrections are not hard to come by,” said Leanne Owen, director of the criminal justice program. “You may have to work your way up to your dream job, but we’re never going to run out of crime.”

Projected growth in law enforcement
and protective services careers

Occupation 2004-2014 % increase
Security guards 1,016,379-1,143,978 12.6
Police/sheriff’s patrol officers 638,795-738,008 15.5
Correctional officers/jailers 428,888-457,676 6.7
Detectives/investigators 90,959-105,830 16.4
Private investigators 42,567-50,108 17.7
Parking enforcement workers 10,594-12,196 15.1
Gaming surveillance officers 8,735-10,872 24.5
Source: U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics