The System of American Policing Organizations

Introduction

The country of the United States is famous all over the world for its abundant and rather complicated principles of organization of policing and law enforcement establishments. The relationship between the United States government and the policing organizations throughout the United States and the impact of this relationship on American society as a whole will be addressed in the following paper. In general, it appears that the relationship between the law enforcement organizations and the government is firmly established by a row of important regulations which makes it possible for the policing organizations to have a strong impact on American society.

Body

Speaking about the relationship between the United States government and the policing organizations throughout the United States, it should be stated that there exist three levels of policymaking in the country: Local, State, and Federal (Goldman 2000). These levels are regulated by a row of legislative acts and policies which are regularly updated by the situation within American society and the situation in the world, in general. This strategy appears to be rather successful as governmental control is exercised consistently and systematically which results in its being efficient and successful. The state, local and federal levels of policing organizations, their impact on American society, and the regulating acts controlling their work will be discussed further.

With regards to the state level, there exist three subdivisions of it including State Police, State Patrol, and Highway patrol (Grant & Terry 2012, Walker & Katz 2011).

Concerning State Troopers which are also titled Highway Patrol or State Police, it is noteworthy that this subdivision of policing organizations has its jurisdiction within the entire state. However, their objects are usually limited within the area of jurisdiction of the State Level agencies including the State Government Buildings and the highways (Fleissner 1997).

Discussing the Federal level, the following organizations are to be mentioned: the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, etc. Such policing organizations have their legislative basis on Article 1 section 8 of the Constitution of the United States which assumes that the above-mentioned organizations are to be financed by the government based on interstate commerce and taxes regulation (Goldman 2000).

Regarding the roles which are exercised by these agencies, it should be said that they are very important, and are also rather diversified. For example, the Federal Bureau of Investigations is organized to pursue the most dangerous criminals who may also be in the international tracing; and the Drug Enforcement Administration has its objective to enforce the bans on forbidden substances which are listed among the harmful drugs (Goldman 2000).

Finally, the local level of law enforcement is represented by County police and County Sheriffs. They have their area of jurisdiction within their designated cities, towns, or settlements (Kennedy 1993). County police serve as a patrolling arrangement aimed to guarantee safety and peace within the assigned territory. The most important legislative regulation for this part of policing organization within the country is the Penal Code (Fleissner 1997). County Sheriffs also occupy their important place in the chain of police organizations and guarantee the fulfillment of the government’s decrees concerning safety and law enforcement measures (Goldstein 1990).

County Sheriffs’ obligations are connected to maintaining and operating local prisons and jails, controlling the unincorporated territories, and also controlling such parts of city limits and the other territories which are subjected to the county sheriff’s office. In addition, County Sheriffs have an obligation in enforcing county mandates. It is also notable that local police are subjected to the city ordinances along with county mandates. Besides, as every particular state has its own self-governing for their territory local policing organizations are governed by different Penal Codes developed in their territory (Goldman 2000). It is noteworthy that some certain departments of policing organizations may provide not only usual policing services but even exercise rescue and search functions (Kennedy 1993).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the system of American policing organizations is rather complicated. As a result, there exists a strict structure of legislative regulating acts and controlling policies which are applied to provide a healthy ground for the governmental control within the areas of jurisdiction of these organizations.

There exist three levels of policing organizations in the United States: State, Local, and Federal ones; these levels are regulated by a row of legislative acts and policies which are regularly updated by the situation within American society. Such important legislative acts and policies as the Constitution of the United States, the state Penal Code, local penal codes of each state, the government’s decrees concerning safety and law enforcement measures, etc. are used to establish effective mechanisms of governmental operation on every level of policing and law enforcement organizations.

References

Fleissner, D. (1997). Community Policing Stage Assessment Model for Implementation Planning and Organizational Measurement. National Institute of Justice Research Project Final Report. Seattle, Washington: Seattle Police Department.

Goldman, D. (2000). Leadership That Gets Results. Harvard Business Review: 78-90.

Goldstein, H. (1990). Problem-Oriented Policing. New York: McGraw Hill.

Grant, H.B. & Terry, K.J. (2012). Law Enforcement in the 21st Century, 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Kennedy, D. (1993). The Strategic Management of Police Resources. Perspectives on Policing. Washington, DC: U. S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

Walker, S. & Katz, C.M. (2011). The Police in America: An Introduction, 7th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.