Organizational Management and Operations Paper

Organizational Management and Operations Paper

CJA/484

January 25, 2015

Organizational Management and Operations Paper

     Law enforcement plays an important role in society by providing security for citizens and their property and ensuring that the law is adhered to and order is maintained. While law enforcement plays the same role no matter if they are from a local, state, or federal policing agency there are also distinct differences in the authority provided to the different levels of policing. All police officers identify criminal suspects, conduct investigations, question witnesses, and arrest criminal suspects but each function within a specified jurisdiction and are provided with different levels of discretion or authority.

     Police officers exist in order to ensure the criminal element is deterred and that when they commit crimes are removed from society. Police officers respond to crimes and keep the peace to ensure members of society are not put in harm’s way. Citizens rely on law enforcement to perform a variety of functions, such as catching criminals, preventing crime, keeping the peace, maintaining order, and interpreting the law (Stevens, 2004). Without law enforcement criminals would have free reign and society would fall into chaos and lawlessness. In order to ensure that all citizens in every community receive these services from the police local, state, and federal policing agencies have been developed.

     The most distinct differences in the local, state, and federal policing agencies are in the area in which they police or in which they have jurisdiction. There are different police and different levels of policing in order to meet the needs of all citizens. Federal police cannot police all aspect of American society just like state police cannot police the entire state. Each city, county, and community is provided with a policing agency to ensure that the law is maintained and followed and citizens are provided with the assistance they require.

     Federal police have jurisdiction over matters that affect the nation but do not have jurisdiction over all crime events that occur in the country. In other words the state has jurisdiction over the crimes that fall within their jurisdiction unless the crime crosses state lines or creates a threat to the nation. Federal police organizations have jurisdiction over immigration crimes, terrorism, kidnapping, drug trafficking, weapons sales, etc. If the federal crime were to occur within the borders of the state, it will not stop the federal police from having the authority to take over the case.

    Local police are the first line of defense against crime and have the most interaction with the public on a daily basis. They are responsible for the crimes that are committed within their jurisdiction. Responsibilities include traffic and patrol, public assistance, calls for service and investigations (Johnson, 1994). A city police department would have jurisdiction over the crimes that occurred within that city unless the crime crossed county lines making it fall under the jurisdiction of state police. County police would have jurisdiction over all crimes that occurred in the county but not within the city limits of a city within the county. The county will be lead by a sheriff and policed by deputy sheriffs while the leadership at the city police station would be a Chief of Police with police officers being responsible for law enforcement duties.

     The state police have statewide jurisdiction. They handle crimes that cross county lines and occur on the highways or interstates. In areas that do not have a local police department the state police act as the local agency would. Each policing agency has clearly defined jurisdictions but since the attacks on 9/11 the jurisdiction of the federal police has been expanded. In the past the sharing of information or crossing of jurisdictions was unheard of but in the age of terrorism and evolving technology it has become far more common.

     Federal law enforcement have jurisdiction over the nation but there are different agencies that have different jurisdictions over different areas of crime. For example the F.B.I is responsible for investigating crimes such as terrorism and kidnapping, the DEA is responsible for illicit drug activity, and the Secret Service has jurisdiction over counterfeit money and products crimes. Just because a police officer belongs to a federal law enforcement agency does not means they have jurisdiction over every federal crime they just have broad authority. This is different from the local police department.

     Since 9/11 federal police have become more powerful or have been provided with broader authority when it comes to investigating terrorism and transnational organized crime. Homeland Security and the USA Patriot Act had broadened the investigatory powers of federal police in conducting investigations into the private electronic communications of the citizen as well s conducting wireless surveillance investigation without alerting the citizen. This broaden authority means that will local and state police are responsible for identifying potential terrorist threats any information must be disseminated to the appropriate federal agency. The intelligence gathering that is done by the federal government must pertain to terrorism.