Policing Functions
Policing Functions
Mathew Scherer
CJA/394
February 10, 2014
Mr. David Kurylowicz
Policing Functions
Law enforcement in the United States consists of local municipal, county, state, and federal agencies. These agencies make up a very large and very complex enterprise. Throughout the United States, there are almost 18,000 different law enforcement agencies at the local, county, state, and federal levels. Along with the law enforcement agencies also comes private security industry that is made up of over a million people. Each of these agencies have some similar characteristics in common with each other, however to completely generalize a typical police department is very risky.
Local organization level.
Local organization levels consist of Municipal Police and County Sheriff. The Municipal Police are usually responsible for the law enforcement duties within city limits. The County Sheriff deals with exactly what their name says, and that is the county that they are responsible for enforcing (Walker & Katz, 2008).
The Municipal Police, better known as the City Police are considered the most important component of American law enforcement. According to a poll taken in the year 2000, city police represented over 71 percent of all law enforcement agencies and employed 62 percent of all sworn officers. Municipal Police play a more complex role than any other law enforcement agency nationwide. Due to the fact that cities have the most diversity in population, Municipal Police have the responsibility of dealing with serious crimes (Walker & Katz, 2008).
The roll of the County Sheriff is a very unique role that serves all three levels of the criminal justice system. These levels include law enforcement, courts, and corrections. Almost all sheriffs’ departments perform the basic law enforcement functions of patrolling and investigating crimes. Almost all serve the courts by process serving (subpoenas, etc.) and providing security for the
Mathew Scherer
CJA/394
February 10, 2014
Mr. David Kurylowicz
Policing Functions
Law enforcement in the United States consists of local municipal, county, state, and federal agencies. These agencies make up a very large and very complex enterprise. Throughout the United States, there are almost 18,000 different law enforcement agencies at the local, county, state, and federal levels. Along with the law enforcement agencies also comes private security industry that is made up of over a million people. Each of these agencies have some similar characteristics in common with each other, however to completely generalize a typical police department is very risky.
Local organization level.
Local organization levels consist of Municipal Police and County Sheriff. The Municipal Police are usually responsible for the law enforcement duties within city limits. The County Sheriff deals with exactly what their name says, and that is the county that they are responsible for enforcing (Walker & Katz, 2008).
The Municipal Police, better known as the City Police are considered the most important component of American law enforcement. According to a poll taken in the year 2000, city police represented over 71 percent of all law enforcement agencies and employed 62 percent of all sworn officers. Municipal Police play a more complex role than any other law enforcement agency nationwide. Due to the fact that cities have the most diversity in population, Municipal Police have the responsibility of dealing with serious crimes (Walker & Katz, 2008).
The roll of the County Sheriff is a very unique role that serves all three levels of the criminal justice system. These levels include law enforcement, courts, and corrections. Almost all sheriffs’ departments perform the basic law enforcement functions of patrolling and investigating crimes. Almost all serve the courts by process serving (subpoenas, etc.) and providing security for the
References: Walker, S., & Katz, C. (2008). The Police in America: An introduction (6th ed.). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.