Chapter 3 Componets Of The American Law Enforecement Flashcards
Local policing
Municipal
County police
County sheriffs
State policing
State police ( troopers)
Bureaus of criminal investigation
Federal
Federal law enforcement agencies
Military law enforcement
Special district police
Public schools
Transit police
College & university police
( private schools are special district )
Native American tribal police
Basic features of American law enforcement
- Local political control
- local governments responsible for providing police
- fragmented, decentralized system - Police services provided on four different levels
- city, county, state, federal
Types of agencies
- municipal police
- county police
- sheriffs
Municipal police
- 71% all law enforcement agencies are city police
- handle serious crime
- provide emergency services
County police
- municipal police same as structure different operates county wide
Sheriffs
- responsibilities defines in state constitution
- elected position
- serve All three components of criminal justice
System: law enforcement, courts, corrections
The constaban
- Role defines by state constitution (warrants, eviction)
- typically work within county court system
Corner
Are elected to their position, not necessarily physicians
Medical examiners
Appointed and receive special training
Special district police
- serve particular government agencies ( transmit, university’s)
- tribal police
State police
- share responsibilities w/ local police
- varying degrees of criminal investigation responsibility depending on the state
Highway patrol
Enforces traffic laws on the main highways
Federal law enforcement post 9/11
Homeland security act
Department of homeland security
Department of justice restructured
Department of homeland security
Customs & border protection
Immigration & custom enforcement
Federal emergency management agency
Transportation security administration
U.S cost guard
U.S secret service
Department of justice
Drug enforcement administration
Federal bureau of investigation
Bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms & explosives
US Marshall service
The private security industry
Estimated 90,000 private security organizations employing 2 million
3:1 ratio of private to public police officers in U.S
What’s the common goal of police ?
To protect life
Advantages of bureaucratic model?
- recruitment, training and selection emphasized
- emphasizes rules and accountability
- supervision, performance standards
- led to specialization
Limitations of the bureaucratic model?
- rigid & inflexible- resistant to change
- communication breakdown up the chain of command
- creativity is quashed
- rules, rules, rules
- numbers - driven
What are the current trends in police organization the three C’s
- Civilization
- Contracting
- Consolidation
- Civilization
Benefits of civilization:
- cost
- frees up sworn officers to focus on critical police work
- specialized expertise ( computers, analysis)
- Consolidation
- resources
- consolidation ( merging two or more departments )
- ( need the last one )
- Contracting
For police service
It’s is buying police service from someone else
Advantage & Disadvantages ?
- same as consolidation
Benefits of consolidation
- police departments are expensive
- share the cost
Impact of turnover & attrition
Better police service ?
- More training
- coordination, not fragmentation
Disadvantage of consolidation
- autonomy ( the right or condition of self government )
- less personal
- different standards, policies, and practice
