July 16, 2012
CJA/394
The roles of policing from the local, state, and federal all have several roles, that they must take part in everyday. Law enforcement has different branches that oversee a variety of jurisdictions. All of these variety jurisdictions have a main purpose, to protect citizens and enforce laws that have been passed. Depending on your jurisdiction and what you are doing will decide on what type of law enforcement will be assisting you in the activity. The various policing functions of local, state and federal all have their own roles and are important for each jurisdiction.
The most common law enforcement that we see in our daily lives is the local police department. The main goal for the local law enforcement is to uphold the laws on streets and in their neighborhoods that they patrol. Our local police department consists of 83.5 employees, which of these 57 are sworn police officers (City of San Luis Obispo, 2012). Local law enforcement provides service to their community and to special assignments. Special assignments can include field training, crime scene investigator, SWAT, and others. Many individuals look at their local law enforcement as people who do not respect their community members. This is not the case in many situations. Law enforcement is in place to help communities and the individuals who live there. If there was no local law enforcement in communities, criminal activities would be out of control. If an individual respects a police officer they will give you the respect back.
State agencies as well have several roles. State police is in charge of securing state highways and other areas of their state. Sheriff’s and their deputies are responsible for patrolling an area’s state and federal routes, as well as unincorporated or unpoliced municipalities. My state, California has highway patrol’s that enforce state
References: CA. Gov (N.D) Department of Fish and Game. Retrieved July 13, 2012 from www.dfg.ca.gov/about/ CBP.Gov (N.D.) Border Security. Retrieved July 13, 2012 from www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/border_ Security/bs/ City of San Luis Obispo Police (2012) Police Department. Retrieved July 13, 2012 from www.ci.san-luis-obispo.ca.us/police/about.asp The Federal Bureau of Investigation (N.D.) Ten years after the FBI since 9/11. Retrieved July 13, 2012 from www.fbi.gov/about-us/ten-years-after-the-fbi-since-9-11