Policing Functions

For example, agent Connolly must have reported to the director of the FBI who was Robert Mueller or at least, the branch supervisor. The hierarchy of the state police department is ranked. The American police organization mirrors a military style of discipline. Throughout the United States Law enforcement agencies on the federal, state, and local levels, tend to adapt a paramilitary structure that helps keep their administrative duties in order. On every level of policing these ranks are required and expected to pursue different responsibilities. In general, law enforcement rank structures often vary from one agency to another. However, the federal, state, and local levels adhere to similar tactical training. The two largest departments responsible for federal law enforcement are The Department of Justice and The Department of Homeland Security (DHS). However, many other agencies in the government contain branches within law

There are three types of law enforcement agencies, federal, state, and local. Federal agencies include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Secret Service, state agencies include state troopers and/or highway patrol and local law enforcement include sheriff departments, county police, and townships. Townships are the smaller division of a county with some corporate power. Townships make communities safe and pleasant places to live by communicating with the citizens and assisting them with all their needs. I am a resident of Copiague, Town of Babylon. The town of Babylon is a suburban area. Babylon is in the Police District in which 911 calls are responded to by the Suffolk County Police department. I have formed my perception of the Suffolk County Police Department by my few encounters with them.

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.

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 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.

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”.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

In the field of policing there are a couple different paths for an individual to choose from and they include private security and public policing. State government, city government, and towns normally provide the community with a public police force to enforce the laws and protect the citizens. Police officers are very important within a community but sometimes a private security can come in and help out and this frees up time for the public policing. Private security personnel generally work for a private company that handles their own dispatching, training and recruiting. Private security functions include loss-prevention duties or protective services that would not be