Within any organization, it is important for the chief to delegate roles and functions to each department as applicable. As a result of effective administration, the departments come together to achieve a particular goal. An analogy of this method would be that of the mechanisms of a clock which has plenty of unique working parts that, when put together, will tell the time. As such, the roles and functions of police organizations will be identified along with their role as it applies to the law. There are various types of police agencies ranging from the local to federal level which will also be described. Finally, the specific role and function of patrol work will be explained.…
2. Swanson, C. S., Territo, L., & Taylor, R. W. (2012). Police administration, structures, processes, and behavior. (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River,NJ: Prentice Hall.…
American law enforcement organizations is hierarchal and it is a bureaucratic structure adopting ways of the military. The quasi-military structure found in police departments will emphasize the importance of specializations in task, duties, objectives, and responsibilities. Each level in the chain of command has specific authority and tasks to carry out. Historically speaking, Peel’s principles of a professional police organization can be seen in today’s philosophy of community-oriented policing (COP). Peel’s principles emphasized the following guidelines for a professional police organization: (1) a police mission statement and core values; (2) crime prevention; (3) respect or citizenry; (4) respect for the law; (5) minimizing the use of…
Law enforcement agencies are no exception. Police confront problems of cutback management brought on by increasing demands and declining resources in which services have had to be prioritized and cut altogether (Stewart, 1985). A large majority of police attention is being focused toward felonious crimes. Less attention is being paid on follow-ups of serious crimes. Solvability scales being set up for prioritizing cases to be investigated (Stewart, 1985). In relation to the bigger picture, law enforcement personnel are being put in a compromising moral and ethical position. Effectively to do their jobs while maintaining order, the decisions in which they are forced to make are not an easy…
Ethical issues in policing reach back to the early ages of law enforcement. The profession of policing plays a vital role in the rationale and motivation of how officers conduct themselves while on and off duty. This is a primary focus point of the society in which they work, due to the society’s level of trust and confidence in the officers to act accordingly and responsibly without any negative person vengeances or vendetta. As a result of the numerous negative encounters of officers interacting with the public, which has been mainstreamed by the media, there is a heightened sense of entitlement and false responsibility of citizens to report to higher authorities or the media when they do not get whatever it is that they want or receive the…
As public expectations of police change from crime fighters to public safety problem solvers, police administrators must modify their organizational structure in order to meet broader mission statements…
In our text, discretion is defined as having to decide between two or more courses of action or behavior. Discretion is practiced in all aspects of the criminal justice system, police, corrections, judges and attorneys all have the power and capabilities to exercise discretion. An example of police discretion is a police officer responding to a domestic violence call, the officer can analyze the situation and decide to arrest one or both parties or, attempt to provide them the resources to get help or give a warning. An example of a correctional officer using discretion is, if the correctional officer witnesses an inmate breaking a law or code of the facility and can make the decision to do nothing or follow procedure. Another example of discretion…
The individuals that work in the field of law enforcement today are presented with issues and concerns unlike any faced by those of the past. The changing face of crimes and criminal activity in this country and around the world are at the root of many of these challenges. In this country, the most significant issue is the shift to a more multicultural society. There are also concerns regarding police corruption, use of deadly force, racial profiling and the job hazards of policing in an increasingly dangerous world. The way police agencies enforce the laws and work to provide a safe environment to those they serve has perhaps never been more complex than it is today. The…
Police departments draft and implement policies and procedures to provide consistency and eliminate ambiguity in department practices. These are guidelines are for staff and officers to follow in a variety of different situations. Police policies and procedures may have the force of law, or be considered by a court or jury in determining whether an officer acted lawfully in the line of duty. Procedures related to employee actions can also be subject to legal scrutiny in some cases. A lack of policies on issues involving the community may result in unlawful and inconsistent police action. These adverse actions can create a negative reaction within the community, and open the police officers within the department to legal liability.…
@When it comes picturing the criminal justice and its various administrations most people tend to believe that for the most part it is quite rigid and regulated as every procedure has to be followed down to the letter, but they would be surprised to find out how often formal structures, policies, and preferred practices are undermined by informal rules and group processes. The practice of informal rules and group processes allows criminal justice personnel to exercise more discretion when doing their jobs as some scenarios like minor offenses are not indicative for the need to arrest people and prosecute them. To analyze this in regards to the criminal justice system there are three key pointers that one should understand like why such informal practices exist, how they function in practice, and what variations exist in their application in police, courts, and corrections.…
Police discretion is issued to officers for the purpose of maintaining a just society. Discretion is defined the ability to form decisions based on their own judgment. These decisions are concluded through copious reasons such an officer’s experience or through their own individual backgrounds. Police discretion has the ability to dismiss minor crimes, yet laws exist where discretion is invalid and officers must accomplish whatever means legally to punish the criminal.…
There have been ongoing debates about the guidelines for police officers when conducting discretionary searches. One police department that has been in the headlines for its practices of discretionary searches have been the New York City’s Police Department. New York City’s Stop and frisk policy allowed police officers to stop and search an individual on the street at their discretion based on suspicion of criminal activity. One of the most highly publicized cases of NYPD’s stop and frisk tactic was the 2014 death of Eric Garner in the hands of Staten Island Police Department. The Eric Garner’s case followed outpours from citizens calling for change in NYPD’s stop and frisk guidelines and other police departments as well. This week’s article…
Discretion is a term that describes the flexibility that people like judges have when deciding the fate of offenders. They could choose to give someone the maximum penalty or be a little more lenient. This is all dependent on the situation and the amount of discretion they are given. There are many individuals involved within a case that have discretion. Three of the most prominent of these individuals would be police officers, prosecuting attorneys, and judges…
Police discretion is the ability to choose a course of action because of broad limits of power. It "refers to the autonomy an officer has in choosing an appropriate course of action" (The Police In America, 113). It "includes authority to decide which of the various means of helping the helpless, maintaining order, and keeping the peace are best suited to particular circumstances" (www.worldandi.com/specialreport/1989/january/Sa15878.htm). The police need to have discretion since it is impossible to record everything on what they are supposed to do and not do. We can also understand that if you could record all the rules and regulations it would be too extensive for an individual to comprehend.…
“While people of color make up about 30 percent of the United States Population, they account for 60 percent of those imprisoned (American Progress).”…