Organizational Management of Policing Functions - Essay Example

Introduction

The organization of the police in the United States operates on three primary levels, and these include the state, federal, and local organizational levels. The local law enforcement primarily works in the counties, cities, and towns. A police commissioner is responsible for the management of these policing units, and the locality executive appoints such an official. On the other hand, the federal agencies are headed by senior managers who are appointed by the president. Most of the differences in the local, federal, and state organizational levels can be observed in the policing functions. The operational functions at the various organizational levels of policing are quite different, but some of the administrative functions are similar.

Local Law Enforcement

The local law enforcement accounts for the majority of police departments and employees in the nation (Dempsey & Forst, 2015). This organizational level of policing operates locally, especially in the counties, cities, and towns. Since there are many police departments in this level, the number of officers at this level is the highest compared to the other levels such as the state and federal enforcement. One of the primary responsibilities of the agencies under this organizational level is the provision of police protection (Dempsey and Forst, 2015).

The metropolitan police have a high presence in the nation, and they are part of the local law enforcement. The operational functions of the metropolitan police departments are conducted within the larger counties, towns, and cities (Dempsey and Forst, 2015). A chief or police commissioner is responsible for the management of these policing units, and the locality executive appoints such an official (Dempsey and Forst, 2015). On the other hand, an elected sheriff would be in charge of the sheriff’s offices which are local police. The other policing agencies under the local organizational level include the city and town police whose purpose is serving the urban communities (Kania and Davis, 2014).

The sheriff’s departments have the responsibility of patrolling counties through the elected sheriff’s leadership (Gaines and Kappeler, 2014). A sheriff is responsible for the security functions in a county and to this extent the geographical size of the region should determine the responsibilities of a sheriff’s office. The majority of sheriff’s departments are autonomous from the county police, and the formulation of policies is independent (Gaines and Kappeler, 2014). Law enforcement in small towns and rural areas is served by a significant percentage of the local police departments, despite having less than 25 officers in each unit (Dempsey and Forst, 2015). The small size of these units, therefore, makes it difficult for the officers to be in control of the security in vast geographical areas.

Different responsibilities are assigned to the local police, as seen by their involvement in a variety of criminal issues. Although this policing organizational level has a range of functions, there is no significant government planning in the management of these departments. The problem with the administration of the local police agencies arises since most of them are small. Even though officers may belong to a smaller agency, they would be employed by those which are larger (Dempsey and Forst, 2015).

The local police agencies require a manager to devise the departments’ programs and procure resources. In many areas, the city governments appoint the top managers in the agencies, and these are the police chiefs (Kania and Davis, 2014). Since the metropolitan police departments have different jurisdictions from the sheriff’s offices, their managers have different functions. Elected sheriffs are in charge of the sheriff’s offices (Dempsey and Forst, 2015). The organizational structures of these agencies have a chain of command. The chiefs and their deputies have a relationship with their superiors which promotes accountability and discipline (Cole and Smith, 2007).

Federal Law Enforcement

The formulation of laws and their enforcement is traditionally the preserve of the states, and the federal agencies would only deal with some specific criminal activities. Law enforcement employees at the federal level have, however, increased due to the inclusion of more crimes in the nation’s Criminal Code (Dempsey and Forst, 2015). Under this organizational level, there are various law enforcement agencies. These departments include the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Secret Service, the Marshal’s Service, and the Internal Revenue Service (Kania and Davis, 2014). The organization of the agencies in the federal law enforcement is in the form of a hierarchy, where the higher offices supervise those which are lower (Gaines and Kappeler, 2014).

Since there is a large number of subdivisions in the federal agencies, the departments are administered differently from the rest. Senior managers are in charge of these policing departments, and the president appoints them (Kania and Davis, 2014). The officers with the administrative positions in the federal agencies have different responsibilities depending upon the mission of a particular department. On the other hand, lieutenants and captains in the federal agencies are the people considered for middle management positions (Gaines and Kappeler, 2014). The high number of responsibilities in the federal police agencies implies that the work division should facilitate the efficient execution of duties. This indication illustrates why there are more specialized units in the federal agencies (Gaines and Kappeler, 2014).

The responsibilities of the departments in the federal law enforcement are only limited to the activities which are under the federal government’s jurisdiction. At this level of organization, the federal laws would be enforced by the Department of Justice under the guidance of the Attorney General (Dempsey and Forst, 2015). There are several divisions within the Justice Department, and they serve various functions with the primary goal of law enforcement. For example, individuals who violate tax laws are prosecuted by the Tax Division, while those who violate laws against discrimination are prosecuted by the Civil Rights Division (Gaines and Kappeler, 2014).

There are different federal agencies whose purpose is to enforce specific laws at the national level. For instance, the Drug Enforcement Agency has the responsibility of investigating cases where controlled drugs would be smuggled and sold (Gaines and Kappeler, 2014). Some of the organization and operational functions at the federal level are in harmony with those in the state and local levels, illustrating their similarity. For example, analysis and investigative services are provided by the FBI Crime Laboratory, and the fingerprint file that is maintained by the same department can be used by any agency (Dempsey and Fosrt, 2015).

State Law Enforcement

The state police have the primary purpose of ensuring that the law is upheld at the state level (Gaines and Kappeler, 2014). Agencies under the state police may investigate criminal activities within their localities, and they uphold order whenever there is a labor movement or any form of a strike (Gaines and Kappeler, 2014). The officers in the state law enforcement have many responsibilities considering that they work together with the local law enforcement. Even though the local police have the policing powers in rural areas, the state law enforcement can provide their services where the local agencies are absent (Dempsey and Forst, 2015).

Most of the departments in the state law enforcement agencies are headed by managers who are appointed, even though they have to be experienced professionals (Kania and Davis, 2014). Such managers would oversee the operations at the lower offices and make decisions such as the need for bridging jurisdictions when investigating crimes. The state police agencies, however, have different responsibilities and organizational structures. Since the state policing agencies do not have jurisdiction over large geographical areas, the superiors’ span of control is small (Dempsey and Forst, 2015).

The state police departments are headed by the chiefs who are the first individuals in the organizational structure. These managers in the top positions are often appointed although they should have the necessary experience to manage their units (Kania and Davis, 2014). Similar to the responsibilities of anyone in a management position, the state police chiefs have to delegate tasks to the officers in the lower ranks. On the other hand, most of the managers in the mid-level positions use paramilitary titles and ranks, and a merit selection is used to select them from the departments (Kania and Davis, 2014). The managers in the state police agencies are often inspectors, reflecting the managerial function of inspecting the subordinate officers (Kania and Davis, 2014).

Even though the policing functions at the local, state and federal organizational levels are different, there are some similarities in the principles of organization. The majority of police agencies have an individual in the top management, and such a person could be referred to as the chief (Gaines and Kappeler, 2014). The top administrators have similar responsibilities to any individual in a managerial position, but they have to make the most appropriate decisions in line with the missions of a department. After the Chiefs, the middle managers command specific units (Cole and Smith, 2007).

Conclusion

The local policing agencies have the responsibility of providing police protection. The majority of the departments in the state law enforcement agencies are headed by managers who are appointed, even though they have to be professionals. Officers in administrative positions in the federal agencies have different responsibilities depending upon the mission of a particular department. In spite of the different policing functions in the three organizational levels, their principles of organization are almost similar.