Local Law Enforcement
Local law enforcement derives its authority from its governing body in the district where it is located. It maintains the responsibility of enforcing laws of their jurisdiction, investigating criminal violations, and providing protection or patrol in the area (“Types of law enforcement agencies,” n.d.). A sheriff’s office is an independent constitutional public office which is responsible for enforcing the law in a specific county. These are small-sized and locally integrated agencies which provide common law enforcement but focus on minor crimes, prevention, and patrolling.
Sheriff’s offices also include court and traffic duties (Petrick, n.d.). Small town enforcement usually has a county sheriff’s office which is responsible for the county’s jurisdiction that can include rural areas. Slightly larger towns may have a municipal police chief, whose power is limited to the urban area. The NYPD is a metropolitan police force which provides general services for the whole New York City area. A commissioner leads it. However, a single sheriff’s office exists which enforces civil law, having field offices in each county. Brooklyn, as one of the five boroughs, is under the jurisdiction of NYPD and the New York Sheriff’s Office.
All local law enforcement agencies usually combine their roles of focusing on crime prevention within their jurisdiction. Patrolling, enforcement, investigations, and security are all part of their duties. Metropolitan police departments are usually more complex and have a variety of specializations, including counter-terrorism and anti-drug units. However, in serious matters, they are forced to cooperate with national law enforcement. Some challenges faced by local law enforcement include the lack of funding and the growing amount of duties which overwhelms the police force. These departments are usually under a lot of scrutiny and pressure from local communities.
State Law Enforcement
All U.S. states but Hawaii maintain a primary state-level police agency. They are sometimes referred to as the highway patrol. They maintain jurisdiction within the boundaries of the state. State police seek to supplement local law enforcement in any duties where circumstances or resources require an extension beyond just one jurisdiction. However, state police have the same abilities to enforce the law anywhere in the state (“Types of law enforcement agencies,” n.d.). Their duties include enforcing traffic laws on highways and state level investigative procedures. Furthermore, state law enforcement may be responsible for the security of state government entities.
Two different structures that are usually utilized at the state level of law enforcement are the centralized and decentralized models. The centralized model merges responsibilities of the highway patrol and criminal investigation into one entity. These agencies commonly assist local state police with resources. The decentralized model creates a task force focused on traffic enforcement and separate state bureau of investigation (Dempsey, Forst, & Carter, 2018).
The New York State Police follows several priorities in its mission to serve the citizens of the state. The force attempts to improve safety on state highways through the enforcement of traffic laws and education. It attempts to execute professional police duties by providing law enforcement to communities and assisting any victims of criminal acts through participation in investigations in accordance with the law. Furthermore, the state police have secondary duties of terrorism prevention and emergency response (including natural disasters). These duties are supported by the values of safety, service, and integrity (New York State Police, n.d.).
Federal Law Enforcement
The Department of Justice is the primary legal mechanism of the U.S. government. The Attorney General, who leads it, has the responsibility of prosecuting and enforcing federal laws in court. The Federal Bureau of Investigation specializes in conducting criminal investigations and the enforcement of severe violations of national law. It specializes in gathering evidence, analysis, forensic investigation, and administrative processing. The bureau commonly cooperates with state and local police forces to conduct operations. Meanwhile, the Drug Enforcement Administration is a national agency which specializes in preventing the distribution of illegal substances in the country. It tracks the production, transportation, sale, and distribution of drugs and prosecutes any criminal entities which may be involved (Dempsey et al., 2018).
The Department of Homeland Security is a public protection agency dealing with any threats which may have foreign origins. It is often involved with issues of counter-terrorism, immigration, and border security. The Secret Service is part of this department and engages in the critical mission of protecting key political leaders of the country. This fact gives it authority to engage in any investigations including threats. The task force also has additional responsibilities of investigating financial crimes and cyber security in cooperation with other agencies. Meanwhile, Interpol is an intergovernmental law enforcement organization which attempts to combat international crime. Commonly, it closely cooperates with various national level law enforcement. Although it is a neutral organization without official jurisdiction, most countries in the world allow its investigative activities on mainly every international criminal issue.
Operation Fast and Furious
Operation Fast and Furious was developed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) at the end of 2009, attempting to find a solution to gun trafficking occurring at the U.S.-Mexico border. A conventional technique utilized by criminal groups was to use illegal immigrants to walk guns across the border. The operation was meant to track the guns through the criminal networks and lead law enforcement to criminal organizations. The operation was poorly planned, incorporating adverse risks by allowing free transportation of guns across the border without the possibility of making arrests. Also, proper parties were not notified, including the U.S. embassy in Mexico. Every time someone became interested in the high volume of guns transported, the DOJ silenced them under the pretense of an ongoing investigation (Dempsey et al., 2018).
On December 15, 2010, a border patrol agent by the name of Brian Terry was shot during a shoot-out with armed illegal immigrants. The guns involved were traced back to the operation. Soon after, agents approached the Senate Committee on the Judiciary with the attempt to halt the operation. In the following years, a scandal erupted as Congress began an investigation. Initially, the DOJ and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives which was involved in the process denied any accusations. Later, U.S. Attorney General Burke resigned. It was determined that the operation had used gunwalking which was an illegal practice, even in law enforcement. Proper authorities were not notified, and there was insufficient control over the weapons, a tactic many of the involved agents criticized. There was the controversy of an attempted cover-up as the executive privilege was enacted on some of the documents in response to the subpoena issued by Congress. (Malcom, 2012). The controversy that ensued politically challenged the extent of law enforcement powers that the DOJ and other federal agencies could practice.
References
Dempsey, J. S., Forst, L. S., & Carter, S. B. (2018). An introduction to policing. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Malcom, J. (2012). Operation Fast and Furious: How a botched justice department operation led to a standoff over executive privilege. Web.
New York State Police. (n.d.) Vision, mission, and values. Web.
Petrick, J. (n.d.). Role of the sheriff’s department. Web.
Types of law enforcement agencies. (n.d.). WEb.