police fragmentation
POLICE FRAGMENTATION
Police Fragmentation The Nature of Policing in the United States will constantly change based on certain events that happen. The government will always look for ways to adjust, trying to make policing more efficient, fair, and effective. Unlike policing in other countries, the structure of policing in the United States is extremely fragmented. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there are currently 21,000 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in the United States. In different levels of the government, there are thousands of different agencies that are responsible for specific tasks. Due to a high amount of different law enforcement agencies, it will always raise a concern on “what works” and “what does not work”. In recent years, the structure of American policing has dramatically changed. In today’s society crimes such as drugs, murders, rapes and cyber crimes are at an all time high and much care and respect has to be given to the chain of command. From 1980 to now law enforcement agencies have had to reform and reconstruct how day to day business is conducted. There must be clear and concise lines drawn as to who is in the chain of command so that proper actions can be taken when needed. Heightened awareness of new era crimes has drastically evolved in the last thirty years, factors such as gang activity, increased drug use and internet crimes have changed law enforcement as a whole leading to policy and procedure changes. In the 1980s and the early 1990s gang and drug activity became an epidemic and law enforcement agencies were forced to create special gang and drug task force units to specifically concentrate on these crimes. Although gangs already existed, they seemed to have become more widespread throughout the nation and they were even emerging in small communities. During this era the drug trafficking played a major role
Police Fragmentation The Nature of Policing in the United States will constantly change based on certain events that happen. The government will always look for ways to adjust, trying to make policing more efficient, fair, and effective. Unlike policing in other countries, the structure of policing in the United States is extremely fragmented. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there are currently 21,000 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in the United States. In different levels of the government, there are thousands of different agencies that are responsible for specific tasks. Due to a high amount of different law enforcement agencies, it will always raise a concern on “what works” and “what does not work”. In recent years, the structure of American policing has dramatically changed. In today’s society crimes such as drugs, murders, rapes and cyber crimes are at an all time high and much care and respect has to be given to the chain of command. From 1980 to now law enforcement agencies have had to reform and reconstruct how day to day business is conducted. There must be clear and concise lines drawn as to who is in the chain of command so that proper actions can be taken when needed. Heightened awareness of new era crimes has drastically evolved in the last thirty years, factors such as gang activity, increased drug use and internet crimes have changed law enforcement as a whole leading to policy and procedure changes. In the 1980s and the early 1990s gang and drug activity became an epidemic and law enforcement agencies were forced to create special gang and drug task force units to specifically concentrate on these crimes. Although gangs already existed, they seemed to have become more widespread throughout the nation and they were even emerging in small communities. During this era the drug trafficking played a major role
References: Canterbury, Chuck. "The Future of Law Enforcement in the United States of America." National Fraternal Order of Police, 2010. Web. Cordner, Gary. “The Architecture of U.S. Policing: Variations among the 50 States,” Police Practice and Research 12, no. 2 April 2011: 107–119. "Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing:The Evidence." The National Academies Press. National Research Council, 2004. Web. Sung, Hung-En. The Fragmentation of Policing in American Cities: Toward an Ecological Theory of Police- citizen Relations. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002. Print. Wheaton, William C. Metropolitan Fragmentation, Law Enforcement Effort and Urban Crime. Journal of Urban Economics, Forthcoming. http://ssrn.com/abstract=875447