In 1993, an estimated 1 in 7 sworn sheriff's personnel were women. About one-sixth of sheriff's officers were members of a racial or ethnic minority, with the percentage being significantly higher in those jurisdictions having a population of 500,000 or more. Blacks accounted for 10% of all sheriff's officers in 1993, which represented no meaningful increase over the 1990 statistics. There was about a 2% increase in black officers compared to the 1987 measure. Hispanic officers fared better during the same years. There was a 35% increase in hispanic officers in 1993 over the year 1990 and a 70% increase when compared to the 1987 figures.¹⁵⁶

Ninety-seven percent of all sheriff's departments in 1993 had formal educational requirements for new officer recruits, which typically called for completion of high school. About 8% of all sheriffs required at least some college from their deputy recruits. Just over 5% of the nation's sheriffs required a two year degree in 1993 but less than 1% of sheriff's departments required recruits to have a four year degree. An estimated 90% of all sheriff's departments employing 97% of all officers, required new deputy recruits to complete formal training. Virtually all of the departments serving a population of 500,000 or more required this, and departments serving smaller jurisdictions requiring training was slightly lower. On average, departments required 565 training hours for new recruits. About 25% of all sheriffs required applicant drug testing as a part of their pre-employment screening. and about the same percentage had follow-up testing.¹⁵⁷