Various organizational police functions (local, state, federal) - Essay Example

Various Organizational Police Functions Number The Various Organizational Police Functions (Local, State, Federal) The organizational functions of the police are distributed in three levels of power: the local, state and federal levels. Federal police officers: patrol the borders; provide necessary security and profiling aircraft; combat illegal drug trafficking and enforce national drug laws; combat illegal possession of firearms. State police officers: facilitate local law enforcement; maintain law and order [by being present] in areas derelict of county or local presence; investigate cross-county criminal activity; and break strikes and manage or control labor movements.

Local police officers: apprehend violators; preserve peace; prevent crime; enforce the law; protect human life and property; and serve the public (Johnson and Cox III, 2004). How the Various Functional Levels of Policing Differ From One Another According to Shane (2010), the functions above differ from one another hierarchically [roles and powers are assigned to these levels hierarchically]. Federal police agencies enforce particular types of federal laws, state officers enforce state laws, and local police officers operate at the county level.

Distinctions That Can Be Made About Each In respect to the foregoing, a federal agent has jurisdiction over the entire country, while a local police agent has his jurisdiction limited to his town, city or county. A state police agent has jurisdiction over an entire state. Whether There Is A Better Solution to the Way the Current System(S) Operate At Each Level, or Not There is no better solution to the way the present law enforcement system operates at each level because the hierarchical arrangement of the security systems allows for systematic distribution of roles and duties, and thereby helping extirpate confusion and superimposition of roles.

Likewise, with this current system, law and order can be effectively and efficiently discharged, since there is flow of hierarchy. For instance, federal agencies such as the FBI can easily apprehend a criminal by acting on reports from state police. ReferencesJohnson, T. A. and Cox, III, R. W. (2004). Police Ethics: Organizational Implications. Public Integrity, 7 (1), 67 – 79. Shane, J. M. (2010). Organizational Stressors and Police Performance. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38 (4), 807 – 818.