October 09, 2014 MEMORANDUM FOR SENATOR JANE DOE FROM: KIMBERLY EMERSON SUBJECT: Issues in Contemporary Law Enforcement Senator Doe, first off I would like to congratulation you on your appointment to the Committee on Crime and Criminal Justice. This memo has been created to give you background knowledge in the contemporary issues in law enforcement in the United States. There are three levels of law enforcement, the federal level, the state level and the local level. Each of these levels is very different and comprised of different departments held within. The jobs they do together make up an important conglomeration, as they are our countries first line of defense. They provide us with homeland security, investigate crimes, arrest offenders, and also provide detention and correction supervision. They provide us with crime prevention assistance and help to ensure the general public safety of our citizens. On the federal level, as of today, there are 65 different federal agencies and each agency provides its own degree of defense support depending on, its mission, what it oversees at the federal level and its jurisdiction. Within each agency there are a range of varying departments with their own mission and jurisdiction. Some examples of the departments on the federal level include; The Department of Defense, Department of Commerce, Department of Education, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Army, the
Every day, law enforcement officers encounter danger while carrying out their duties. The foremost duty of law enforcement officers are to serve and protect citizens. Most law enforcement agencies do this successfully. However, many people view law enforcement officers as the enemy. People need to be better informed about law enforcement and why officers take specific actions in certain circumstances. In our society, police are in a very dangerous position when it comes to the amount of force they can use when dealing with an individual. Officers use discretion when deciding the best course of action for the situation, whether it be physical force, persuasion, or coercion. They must take the correct course of action, because if they are too lenient or to forceful, even when dealing with petty things, they can be reprimanded by superiors and the public. Should police use force? Which circumstances warrant use force and what are the limits of force they can use? These questions are often asked when police are compelled to use force.
The different career types of law enforcement career options may have similarities or be quite different depending on whether the work involves federal, state, or local agency. The differences at local state and federal levels includes: benefits, jurisdictions, pay structure, job responsibilities, travel requirements, and career advancement opportunities among others. The similarities include power to make arrests without warrant for some crimes; they all carry firearms and are trained in similar law enforcement skills. Most of them have the same form of military structure. They also all risk their lives to ensure the law is enforced. According to Scheb&Scheb (2011), “there are different roles played by legislatures, courts, and federal enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels of government”.
In the United States, there are three levels of law enforcement; the lowest level is local law enforcement agencies that include local police as well as sheriff departments. The next echelon in the chain is the State agencies that include state or highway patrol, the top tier is the Federal Agencies that not only include the FBI, but also the Secret Service as well. Each one of these agencies consequently has a unique extensive past.
There is a significant health issue facing the public as well as law enforcement every day, suicide. The numbers surrounding suicide are shocking effects people of all backgrounds. In the year 2010 more than 38,000 adults committed suicide. Then in 2011 around 1 million adults admitted to attempting suicide, while 8 million had serious suicidal thoughts. Law Enforcement officers are at an even higher risk then most due to experiencing such a large number of risk factors. These factors include but are not limited to poor physical health, access to fire arms, domestic abuse, substance abuse, exposure to violence and suicide; depression, anxiety and other mental diseases. These factors lead to an above average number of officer suicides every
Chapter 9 focuses on special topics, which reviews the five present and controversial issue in the criminal justice system. Out of all 5 of these issues I think that the use of confidential informants in war on drug is the most harmful to our nation’s correctional system and should be eliminated. The reason I think that the use of confidential informants should be eliminated drug war on drugs is because the use of CI’s frequently have negative consequence on the war on drugs (Austin & Irwin, 2012). The first example, is that CI’s are not appropriately screened and supervised, which causes innocent individuals to be arrest. In my opinion, I think that if CI’s are going to be used then they should be supervised at all time because the lack
Law Enforcement officers have one of the most critical jobs in the United States. Their lives are always on the line and they are of high regards. This means they cannot fail! The results of their jobs do not only depend on their actions but also on the people. What this means is the community has a huge role when it comes to solving crime. Though many people may not believe it, they are the key to a successful crime prevention community. The people of the United States don’t really understand both the positive and negative effects that community policing actually brings. Some may say it is very dangerous based on their experiences. Others may say it’s the best way to do away with crime. Today the two will be compared and put to test by true officers serving our country. The facts will be stated and questions will be answered. Let’s take a look at what community policing is really all about!
All together law enforcement has changed, but few see the drastic changes that have happened. Everyday, police and sheriffs are working to keep the people in their community safe. With improved technological advances and social changes, police and sheriffs are keeping a closer eye on things today. For example, improved weapons such as tasers have helped keep suspects safe, computers in police cruisers allow instant access of information of individuals. Other social changes, such as women allowed to join the police forces have helped law enforcement a lot with domestic violence cases because they are calmer then most men. No matter what happens police and the sheriffs will be there to protect and serve
Since the beginning years of American history and basically every other country has been kept safe by the police or police type department. In the United States, there are three levels of law enforcement, there is the Federal level, the State level, and the Local level. The levels of law enforcement have various duties but most duties are very similar. Every day in the field is very different. The job can also be extremely stressful, and law enforcement professionals need specific training to succeed. A career in law enforcement is a secure job to have because crime never stops. What is law enforcement? It is a system where members of society perform in such manner to enforce laws by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing the members of society who violate the laws that protect society. In other words “The generic name for the activities of the agencies responsible for maintaining public order and enforcing the law, particularly the activities of prevention, detection, and investigation of crime and the apprehension of criminals” (BJS).
A critical issue that law enforcement faces from the time it was created to present day, is a lack of police training. The most recent data research done by the Bureau of Justice Statistics about police training across the United States was done in 2009. It reported that in the year 2009 basic training programs averaged 761 hours of classroom training (about 19 weeks). A third of academies also had additional mandatory field training with an average length of 453 hours. The topics with the average most instruction time in these training programs consisted of firearm training (60 hours), self-defense (51 hours), health and fitness (46 hours), patrol procedures (40 hours), investigations (40 hours), emergency vehicle operations (40 hours), criminal law (36 hours), and basic first aid (24 hours). In Texas, only 618 hours of basic training are required by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.
The realities and everyday necessities in Indigenous communities seem concealed and compromised in the enduring Indigenous criminal law discourse which is framed by issues throughout history, jurisdictions, prisons, courts and the criminal justice system. Whilst today’s intergeneration effects of poverty and the loss of autonomy fuel Indigenous disadvantage, the criminal law institution is another contributor which vividly displays disadvantages and barriers which preclude Indigenous Australians from sufficiently accessing justice. However, the pursuit for justice is more multifaceted than a return to Indigenous tradition and retainment of the dominant criminal justice system. The following essay will highlight this
n effort to correct these abuses. Seattle, Oakland, and New Orleans Police Departments have also been placed under Federal monitoring after similar suits were filed against those agencies (Winston, 2013).
List 5 significant challenges to the MA DOC then explain how each got to be a challenge.
The principle role of police organizations is to uphold and enforce the law. Police organizations achieve this by safeguarding life and property, maintaining public order, and through detecting and preventing crime. Policing at the state level is composed of separate police organizations. At the state level we have the City or Local Police, County Sheriff and State Police, also known as Highway Patrol or State Troopers. The U.S. government gives each state the authority to self-govern so each state has its own Penal Codes and every state policing organization follows its own Penal Code. Policing at the Federal level is composed of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Secret Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Federal policing agencies oversee all federal laws.
Criminal justice administration mainly focuses on crime prevention and punishing any illegal activities. Criminal justice administration is wide and it entails law enforcement and the judicial administration. Some of the jobs that relate to criminal justice administration include; security coordination, juvenile delinquency administration, law enforcement and being a courtroom official. Additional crime is also part of criminal justice administration. This field entails terrorism prevention, immigration policies and social policies. Other duties that criminal justice entails include; police officer, community relations advocate and correctional officer. For an officer working with the criminal justice administration, his work involves law enforcement (Bharti, 2008).
In today’s society it seems as if all the violence that is occurring is revolved around race. Negative law enforcement involvement has been one of the major controversial topics that our generation has been faced with. Race, violence and authority is a very well-known racial disparity that will take some time to be seen otherwise. After the incidents occur, what really shakes the nation is that there is no real accountability. No one wants to admit that an injustice occurred and a small altercation lead to a casualty. Leadership within the justice system often gets challenged with such scenario. Does one discipline and makes an example out of his law enforcement officer (LEO), or does one address the public so that there is no uproar on such final decision.