Mid Term Essay
Michael J. Almasy
Criminal Justice 211-04 Police Operations
July 13, 2010
Kaplan University
The development of Law Enforcement originated with the need to protect Humans, and property. Once organized systems were put into place, August Vollmer, the first Town Marshall for Berkeley, and later the Chief of Police and Crimininalist for Berkeley California is credited as being instrumental in many facets of Law Enforcement which are still used today and have been enhanced and improved several times over the past decades. His contribution were immediately implemented and respected by many large departments in the United States. August Vollmer served as Chief of Police for the Los Angeles Police Department, and during
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The State also has authority, and we have Federal Agencies which is our Federal Government. Overall, citizens view Law Enforcement as protectors, regardless of the Levels of law enforcement. The contrast as seen by the Citizen is that there is none, and that Police Officers are the defenders of Citizens against crimes.
The reality is that in law enforcement there is a contrast between the levels of law enforcement. Each level has substantial responsibility to protect citizens of the United States against foreign and domestic criminals and must be able to operate cohesively as one during the times of severe emergencies and when called upon to work together whether it is, for example transporting a fugitive or a catastrophic event such as 9/11.
The following are the differences between the levels of law enforcement:
Most of the law enforcement activity occurs at the local level, and therefore the local level has most of the authority and responsibility. The Local levels are dealing with the community relations, community policing and has jurisdiction of their cities and counties.
The State Law Enforcement Officers primary responsibility is that of traffic enforcement of our state highways, which in California is the CHP, California Highway Patrol. They also have the responsibility to ensure the vehicles that travel our highways are meeting state safety
In the United States, there are city, county, state, and national police forces. They have very difficult and dangerous responsibilities. These public servants are required to perform many different jobs. They enforce laws and maintain order. They teach people how to help prevent crime and to protect themselves ( Mittleman, 2000). They offer assistance and take charge of many different situations such as car accidents, flooding, and hurricanes. Police
State agenies and policies are complex to say the least. Unlike federal government the state dose not have the “control over the functioning of theses agencies (Marion & Oliver, 2006 p. 356).” The state however can set policies along with procedures that the law enforcement agency is to follow. The state level is also able to set standards for training, certification along with recertification all of these local law enforcement is required to follow what the state sets. The state also is a go between so to speak for the local and federal agencies. If there are grants for instance it may be given to the state and then the state will pass it on to the local agenicies.
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”.
A variety of police agencies to enforce the law is created by local, state, and federal law enforcement. Federal law enforcement agency is “A U.S government agency or office whose primary functional responsibility is to enforce
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.
Many roles are involved the leadership, management, and administration of a law enforcement agency. The greatest role across all parts of these individuals is to uphold the law using discretion while being firm and fair to everyone in
3. The actions, or inactions, of government impact children less than any other group in
What are the strengths and weaknesses of leaving the primary responsibility for police protection to local governments versus the federal or state government?
The goals and objectives of the federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies differ in what they can each handle. As a whole, they have the objective to protect and serve the public, but separately, each branch, federal, state, and local handles their own sections of the government services. For example, the federal law enforcement agencies have goals and objectives that involves the protecting of our border, making sure that we are enforcing customs regulations, as well as upholding immigration laws. The state law enforcement goals and objectives are lie with highway patrol, investigations, and emergencies that extend beyond the control and power of local law enforcement agencies (2008, Matrix Group). Whereas, the local law
Police Agencies in modern society are a part of the American fabric to serve and protect the American public. The United States currently have more than 15,000 police agencies, (Walker & Katz, 2011). Police Departments across the United States face similar critical issues policing. All police officers face dangers in the job of policing the dangers can emanate from internal and external origins. Police officers have continued to evolve to serve communities by finding better less than lethal alternatives to weapons used. In addition, police departments have continued to keep up with
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.
Law enforcement officers must be aware of the laws governing the state they work in and analyze every action the decide to take. The number of statutes and laws is enormous. For example, there are more than 20,000 federal laws
The law enforcement community operates and has similarities like the military. They both have some type of basic training. They wear uniforms, have a rank structure, policy and procedures govern their actions, and in most cases have a politician as their commander or chief. Military members make up the largest candidate pool for law enforcement
The American people look at individuals who work in law enforcement as individuals who are supposed to protect and hold up the constitutional rights of all individuals. The fourth Amendment clearly states that a person has “The right to be secure in their purses, houses, and
There are several roles that local law enforcement officers can provide when fighting terrorism. In the article by Waxman (2009), he states that these roles include criminal law enforcement, public protection, emergency response, and intelligence gathering. Local law enforcement should not have one primary role but instead need to make all these roles their priority in order to fight terrorism. Taking on criminal law enforcement is a given. Communities need a system that constantly monitors for criminal activities or it would be chaotic. The public needs a authoritative figure to help protect their communities. Without law enforcement, it would be difficult for individuals to protect themselves from the dangers in the world. Emergency response