The Different Law Enforcers At Work To Keep Our Streets Safe
By: Amit Kothiyal
Submitted: 2011-07-16 02:44:20 | Word Count: 679
When it comes to keeping the streets of America and its residents safe, law enforcement forms one of the three major components of the criminal justice system, the other two being the courts and corrections. Although there is an element of collaboration associated with the criminal justice system in the US, each component has an individual purpose and works independently from the rest.
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The purpose of having law enforcers on our streets is largely to keep the public safe, but these teams of people also work to maintain order and service functions and also investigate suspected criminal activity. The law enforcement agencies at work in the US also provide the first response to emergencies and the protection of certain public facilities.
In America there are various types of police at work. There are numerous types of agency operating at different levels and as each state has their own rules and regulations which are unique to it when it comes to policing agencies, it can get very confusing. The powers, responsibilities and funding for each policing agency will vary from state to state; therefore it is important to understand the difference between the law enforcers at work.
A federal police officer will have full federal authority given to them under United States Code. These officers have the authorization to enforce various laws which not only operate on a federal level but they also have the authority to enforce state, county and local laws. A federal police officer is considered to operate at the highest level of the law and possess nationwide jurisdiction for the enforcement of federal law.
Because of the way that the US is organized into states with individual jurisdiction for each state, it is hard for the federal government to exercise general police powers to all members of the police force. Each sovereign state retains their police, military and domestic law-making powers which can make things complicated.
Most states in America have government agencies which are responsible for providing law enforcement duties. These can be known as the State Police, State Patrol or the Highway Patrol. In most cases these agencies are part of the state Department of Public Safety. The Highway Patrol is a police unit that has been created for the purpose of enforcing traffic safety compliance on the country's roads and highways. The duties of highway patrols or traffic police can include a whole range of things. They are responsible for investigating accidents and determining the cause, enforcing traffic laws, teaching the public how to drive safely, emergency response, maintenance of the roads and also traffic enforcement to make sure that all the relevant traffic regulations are met, for example speed limits.
County police is also an important part of law enforcement in the United States. Within parishes and boroughs, law enforcement is the responsibility of sheriff's departments and county police. In general, county police are only in use in metropolitan countries, if need be there will also be a sheriff's department on hand to deal with minor issues such as service papers. However, in other areas there is no county police and the local sheriff takes on the responsibility of sole law enforcer. In this case, the sheriff will act both as sheriff and county police; this is the most common approach.
The sheriff's job is similar to that of a police chief and in some areas; the sheriff can be the highest ranking law enforcement officer. A sheriff is not required to patrol or handle street crime as this is the job of the city police. A sheriff's duties include making arrests, warrants, conducting criminal investigations and maintaining the county jail. A sheriff is also responsible for providing court security, for example he will be required to serve summonses and divorce papers, as well as collect overdue taxes.
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