Issues In Law Enforcement

Improved Essays
With the growing amount of issues within the United States, our society would be different if it was not for the hand of the law. Apart of the hand of the law is law enforcement or police officers, which are officers sworn to protect and severe the citizens of the United States great society. (Ortmeier, 7/2005, p. 14) Having laws without people to enforce them or allow people to take the law into their own hands, has had significant issues in the past. (Ortmeier, 7/2005, p. 7) Within the United States law enforcement is divided into three major divisions, who are all responsible for protect the well-being of society, however the structure of each varies drastically. Law enforcement officers ensure that federal, state and municipality …show more content…
(South Carolina, 2/2012) Many states also have state transport police, highway patrol, wildlife and game management officers, and alcohol beverage control (ABC) receiving their authority of the governor of a state (Ortmeier, 7/2005, p. 16) All state law enforcement agencies In addition to the agencies described above, South Carolina also has the Public Safety Officers within the Department of Mental Health. The public safety officers within department of mental health have full authority as other state police officers, but their main objective is to safeguard the mental staff members and clients (patients) at psychiatric hospitals, sexually violent predators (SVP) program, alcohol & drug addiction treatment center and mental health centers who provide out-patient care for clients. (Centers and …show more content…
Federal law enforcement officer have nationwide and some international however it is not a generalized authority for policing. Federal authorities under the scope of espionage, sabotage, and internal security laws as well as subversive activities, interstate flight to avoid prosecution, counterterrorism, and other federal laws not specific to another federal agency fall under the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (Ortmeier, 7/2005, p. 15) Illegal activities such as drugs and controlled substances are under the jurisdiction of Drug Enforcement Administration, while U.S. Marshals Service guards and transports federal prisoners, serves federal arrest warrants, and serves papers associated with lawsuits in federal courts. (Ortmeier, 7/2005, p. 15) In addition other duties of the U.S. Marshals, from a court perspective U.S. Deputy Marshals provide security in federal courts, which is a secured by sheriffs’ deputies in county courts. (Ortmeier, 7/2005, p. 14) While the FBI, DEA, and U.S. Marshals are the most noticeable federal law enforcement agencies, other federal agencies have law enforcement embedded within them such as the U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of Transportation to just name a few. (Ortmeier, 7/2005, p.

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    They also feed all the local agencies. However this works in reverse as well. The state agencies also pull data and Intel and send it to the federal agencies to be processed and analyzed further. Same for the local agencies.…

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    They make up the federal court’s physical enforcement and because of this, they are involved in practically every kind of American law service. Gladys…

    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Department of Homeland Security and the US Patriot Act where created and passed as a direct result of the terrorist attacks orchestrated on September 11, 2001. As a package, both work to preserve life and liberty to citizens of the United States, whether in the homeland or abroad. Therefore, the Department of Homeland Security, while utilizing the US Patriot Act, has partnered with local law enforcement in order to be on the front lines of detecting and preventing homeland terrorism. The Department of Homeland Security, through the use of the US Patriot Act, has affected the local criminal justice process through the militarization of law enforcement and the deployment of cutting edge surveillance techniques and equipment.…

    • 1384 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The world we live in today is one to be disappointed about in the aspect of America’s law enforcement. Early law enforcement was introduced in the 1800’s in Great Britain. Originally established with the same traits as its military, their purpose was one of great value which involved serving and protecting the people at any cost with a civilized and humane approach. America had since then adopted the law enforcement structure from Great Britain, but ultimately warped the structure into that of their own. The war on drugs in the late 70’s was a huge influence in the decision to push for a more militarized law enforcement; and now we are where we are, America’s policing is structured in a way that was thought to be even more beneficial for the…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I believe all applicants that have used any illegal narcotics, or sold any illegal drugs should be automatically disqualified from gaining employment as law enforcement. No one that wants to be superior to others or authority should do anything illegal. If they have committed any type of crime they shouldn’t be granted the privilege of arresting or restraining other criminals, who could have potentially been their parent in crime and/or drug use. They shouldn’t be trusted, they could easily take drugs or money into their possession and use it for unlawful reasons. Anyone in the law enforcement career field should lead by example, and be someone with self-control.…

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    DOJ law enforcement entities assisting in border control and enforcement include the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is DHS’s primary law enforcement agency, made up of the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP), Office of Field Operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Air and Marine Operations, which are responsible for securing America’s borders (DHS Budget, 2016). The mission of all agencies is varied in many ways, but all work to maintain control of U.S. boundaries and ports-of-entry by detecting and preventing criminal acts in and against the United States (Office of Public Affairs,…

    • 2018 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Border Patrol (USBP), Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Custom Service, and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). The lead agencies tasked with patrolling the 8,000 miles of land borders and coastal waterways are the USBP and USCG. Between them, there are 21,000 agents in the USBP and 49,000 personnel in the USCG, which together equal a little more than the entire New York City police and security personnel. In the early days of our nation, American leaders felt it important to establish limits on how the nation’s military forces could be involved in the enforcement of civil laws.…

    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    As Said in Wikipedia, “Policing in the United States is conducted by close to 18,000 federal, state, local and city departments. Every state has its own nomenclature for agencies, and their powers, responsibilities and funding vary from state to state.” (Wiki) An example of Federal police in the United States would be the FBI. Another example of State policing would be Capital police.…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I agree the Border Patrol is placed properly within the Department of Homeland Security. When I lived and worked in Southern California, there were many times that the Border Patrol would take suspected people into custody and detain them. From my own personal knowledge of living out west, the Border Security between Arizona and Mexico has been heightened in recent years due to the Coyotes’ smuggling of illegal immigrants and Drugs. There have been several underground tunnels located and many people apprehended. The work the Border Patrol does is an incredible asset for our nation.…

    • 95 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Police Brutality Analysis

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In chapter 3 we learned about the different roles law enforcement plays. Law enforcement officers are not only in charge of apprehending criminals, but they do so much for our communities to keep us safe and prevent future crimes. The agency I have elected is local law enforcement agency. More specifically the municipal police departments. This is the smallest administrative subdivision in law enforcement.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Policing In America

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Policing in America today has grown to become a one-of-a-kind economic, social and political force. In order to recognize how policing in the United States of America relates to the existing relationship between the police and the distinct social classes and ethnic groups, one needs to understand how the history of policing has developed in order to emerge as what it is currently. This paper will discuss the background history of the United States of America police as it relates to the current relationship between police and different ethnic groups and social class. This will help to have a better perception of how the different social classes and ethnic groups relates with the police.…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When society thinks about police, they often imagine strong crime fighting heroes, who protect citizens and throw the bad guys in jail. However, what citizens often fail to see are the internal struggles police face every day. Mental health care and awareness in policing is extremely crucial to the field of police work. Mental health issues such as, fatigue, burnout, stress, drug and alcohol use, emotional disorders, and the increased risks of suicide can be detrimental to the way police conduct themselves and serve the public. The nature of police work requires excellent mental health, and when officer’s mental health is compromised they can lose touch with their professional and personal life (Kelley, 2005).…

    • 2255 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    American Policing Roles

    • 1565 Words
    • 7 Pages

    American Policing Roles (Dempsey & Forst, 2016) The role of American policing is extremely complicated in today’s society. Throughout the years the role of police have changed immensely and will continue to change to fit the society. “Anyone attempting to construct a workable definition of the police role will typically come away with old images shattered and a new found appreciation for the intricacies of police work” advised by Herman Goldstein (Dempsey & Forst, 2016).…

    • 1565 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Dirty Harry: Film Analysis

    • 1588 Words
    • 7 Pages

    INTRODUCTION The act of crime is brought about by breaking the law enforced by the government thus, there is violation of rights entitled to individuals and disruptions of well-being (Brown et al. 2013: 20). The duty of a law enforcement officer is to eradicate crime in a society, it’s to promote peace and ensure safety within a society. Additionally, law enforcement officers are normally seen as law abiding citizens who are tasked with implementing the laws at all jurisdictional levels (Otu 2006: 18). At the same time, some law enforcement officers see themselves as crime fighters, while others consider themselves helpers of those who cannot help themselves.…

    • 1588 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1.Ethical Problems in law enforcement Us versus Them Let’s understand what are ethics, ethical problem could be a circumstance in which the police officer is unsure of the proper or right action to take, or the action is right however the police officer found it difficult to do. A circumstance where you have taken the wrong action because in was enticing. There are several ethical problems the police officer faces in the community, here we will be discussing ’us verse them”. It appears that through the media many police officers have that “Us versus them” attitude while the communities are more and more fearful their actions, and thus this us versus them attitude is currently widespread in most African American neighborhoods. When law enforcement…

    • 1430 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays