Policing Functions

United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2015, December 17). Bureau of Labor Statistics. (O. o. Projections, Editor, & United States Department of Labor) Retrieved January 2017, from Occupational Outlook Handbook: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/prtective-service/police-and-detectives.htm

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

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is the third largest police agency in the United States. The LAPD has approximately 9885 sworn officers and 2718 support staff. They cover approximately 500 square miles and is for the protection of over 4 million people. With that in mind, managing such a behemoth agency is a complicated and problematic endeavor. Therefore, one of the LAPD strengths is the way they manage themselves and protect citizens. Another strength of the LAPD is created many various kinds of investigation divisions, bureaus unit and special operation units. The components allow the LAPD to address a different kind of crimes, services, and investigation. Some of these components are specialized units with members that specially trained to for the unit's purpose or the specific type of crime or investigation. For an example, they have counter-terrorism bureau, background investigation unit, commercial crime division, gang and narcotic division, juvenile division, robbery homicide division and also technical investigation division. The LAPD also addresses the needs of the community by setting up many stations to handle the needs of their constituents. The LAPD also has a support unit to manage the day to day operation such as the personal division, jail division, property division and administrative section to manage massive bureaucratic tasks.

Public policing and private security both have a positive relationship with the criminal justice system but they are held to different standards. They use their resources to help work together when needed by sharing information, joint operations, networking, training and the development and promotion of state and federal legislation of mutual interest (Ortmeier, 2009).

With all of this responsibility, it is logical to say that the FBI is a field-oriented organization. They have nine divisions and four offices at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. These divisions and offices provide direction and support services to 56 field offices and approximately 10,100 Special Agents and 13,700 other employees.

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.

What many do not seem to realize is that a law enforcement agency is not a job, it is a career. One must truly be dedicated and determined to work in the field because it is all about your love for what you are doing.

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 have encountered some very deadly days. The life of a law enforcement officer is one of constantly being aware of your surroundings, dealing with the uncertainty of not knowing the individuals you have to approach, and being able to cope with the visual images seen after vicious crimes. The life of a law enforcement officer, who protects and serves, is both challenging and rewarding. The first law enforcement system was established in Boston, Massachusetts over 350 years ago. During this time in the Colonies that were not heavily populated, the sheriff served as the main law enforcement officer. During the 1800’s, 24-hour law enforcement service and systems similar to what is used today began to emerge (NLEMI). Law enforcement officers face incredible dangers. With over 900,000 law enforcement officers nationwide the Federal Bureau of Investigations reported approximately 1,165,383 violent crimes in 2014. Approximately one law enforcement officer dies every 61 hours (NLEMI).The law enforcement profession is the most challenging and dangerous career, because officers must be aware of every law and action they take at all times, manage constant training and stress, and protecting others as well as themselves in the line of duty.

Federal agencies are considered the smallest branch in the criminal justice system. According to Julie Campbell (2012) there are 73 different federal agencies, which employ120,000 sworn law enforcement agents with arrest powers (pg.2). The first federal enforcement agency that was created were the U.S. Marshalls, they were chosen by George Washington and they help establish the federal system. The U.S. Marshalls are still chosen by the president today, but it must be passed by the senate. Some of the duties performed by the U.S. Marshalls are judicial security, fugitive investigations, and transporting federal court criminals. Another agency under Federal Law Enforcement is the Secret Service, in which they were created to combat counterfeit

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