Policing Functions

Policing Functions in USA Name: Institution: Course Title: Course Code: Instructor’s Name: Date Due: Introduction The United States Federal Government empowers a variety of security operators in maintaining public order and law within the nation. There are many types of law enforcement agencies from local, state to federal government. More than 17,000 state and local law agencies exist today in USA. Many of these are regulated by the local governments in the states in which they operate (discover policing.org 2012). The police department in the federal state is empowered to perform their duties under various sections in the United States Codes (U.S.C). At the federal level, there are officers designated in enforcing various laws and matters arising within this jurisdiction. There are also other agencies that are empowered in enforcing laws at this level. In most instances, the agencies may be required to enforce these laws in a nationwide perspective but within a given geographical scope. For example, majority of the federal police officers who are uniformed, and who are basically called security police are only required to enforce laws and orders in the properties of the agencies that they work for (Langeluttig, 1997). Basing our statistics on the 2008 census of state and law enforcement agencies, there are about 18, 000 federal law enforcement agencies across United States. The local police constitute around two thirds of this. Apart from the police departments, there are also other agencies which are responsible in enforcing laws in USA, these include: department of sheriffs, investigative departments which are also called bureaus such as FBI, HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement" \o "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement"ICE, USMS, CPB, ATF, DEA, USSS and so on. This paper examines the various functions of the US police from local, state to federal government. Functions of Police in USA The local pol...