Police Department Roles and Functions
Police Department Roles and Functions
CJA/214
September 20, 2012
Scott Mann
Roles and Functions The Police Department must serve many roles and purposes so they also must take care of any issues that arise, dealing with the law or public safety. For this reason they have different specialized concentrations of officers designed to carry out certain functions. This also varies according to jurisdiction where there are state, local and even federal jurisdictions. This also affects what are their basic roles while doing patrol work or carrying out the specialized detail for whatever function they need enforced. In the United States the mission of law enforcement is to maintain the public safety, by reducing the occurrence of crimes on society. To accomplish this responsibility, many roles must be played by police officers. By enforcing the laws, police help preserve peace, by providing service, they help prevent crime and by apprehending offenders, they enforce the laws. (Schmallenger, 2011) They perform all these functions by following five basic responsibilities. Enforce the law, to effectively do so all officers must know the law and understand the communities needs to what laws are important. Arrest offenders, upon identifying individuals who are breaking the law, the officer must attempt to apprehend that individual in the safest way for both their own safeties. Prevent crime, by anticipating crime risk and reducing the opportunities the officers actually reduce crime and improve the trust of the public and their safety. Preserve the peace; all activities that involve enforcement improve peace in the community just like the simple presence of an officer. Provide service, officers assist citizens who are lost, have auto breakdowns, medical emergencies and even in times of victimization. (Schmallenger, 2011) Police officers must wear different hats for the different roles they play in the community especially when trying to earn the public trust and gain
CJA/214
September 20, 2012
Scott Mann
Roles and Functions The Police Department must serve many roles and purposes so they also must take care of any issues that arise, dealing with the law or public safety. For this reason they have different specialized concentrations of officers designed to carry out certain functions. This also varies according to jurisdiction where there are state, local and even federal jurisdictions. This also affects what are their basic roles while doing patrol work or carrying out the specialized detail for whatever function they need enforced. In the United States the mission of law enforcement is to maintain the public safety, by reducing the occurrence of crimes on society. To accomplish this responsibility, many roles must be played by police officers. By enforcing the laws, police help preserve peace, by providing service, they help prevent crime and by apprehending offenders, they enforce the laws. (Schmallenger, 2011) They perform all these functions by following five basic responsibilities. Enforce the law, to effectively do so all officers must know the law and understand the communities needs to what laws are important. Arrest offenders, upon identifying individuals who are breaking the law, the officer must attempt to apprehend that individual in the safest way for both their own safeties. Prevent crime, by anticipating crime risk and reducing the opportunities the officers actually reduce crime and improve the trust of the public and their safety. Preserve the peace; all activities that involve enforcement improve peace in the community just like the simple presence of an officer. Provide service, officers assist citizens who are lost, have auto breakdowns, medical emergencies and even in times of victimization. (Schmallenger, 2011) Police officers must wear different hats for the different roles they play in the community especially when trying to earn the public trust and gain
References: Schmallenger, F. (2011). Criminal Justice Today. (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Retrieved from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/content/eBookLibrary2/content/eReader.aspx?assetMetaId=d85695f2-2402-4730-adf6-a9f839d3511f&assetDataId=a3e73825-358b-460d-83e2-e1b30b3e46c8 Schmallenger, Arthur: Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text to the 21st Century, Eleven Editions; Person Education