Patrol Officers

Patrol Officers are not assigned a case to try and solve. In most major cities police departments have enough personal to cover every aspect of a crime, however, the role of the patrol officer during investigations has increased. On page 23, in the book, under the patrol officer as an investigator, it mentions that the role of the patrol officer has been limited, however, as time continues that same role seem to increase. The role of the patrol officer has taken over some of the same responsibilities as the investigators have. Such as providing immediate assistance to victims, locates witness, and interviews both victims and witnesses. Also, the patrol officer has the authority to initiate and complete investigations of certain classifications of crime. With all of the changes to the role of the patrol officer, there have been numerous benefits that have been noticed, such as, the cases are handled expeditiously, relations within the department have improved, morale problems have decreased, and an increase in the investigator productivity because they have more time to focus on high profile cases. The benefit that really stands out to me is the fact that the investigator can really focus on his case loads, because he is not overwhelmed, which results in a benefit to the community as well as the entire department. The last thing a police department wants to do is give enough time for the same crime to happen again, causing the community to really question if the police can protect them. With crimes being solved a quick basis, it sends a message, if you want to do the crime, you will get caught and put in jail.
The job of a patrol officer is to patrol an assigned area to protect the members of that area from any crimes that may occur. I was reading through the book and searching online, it seems to me that the patrol officer do most of the leg work in solving the crime. Let me explain, what I mean is that the patrol officers are the muscle, and the