Law enforcement levels and organizational structure

¶ … branches within the law enforcement field. All these branches have a range of jurisdictions but have a common purpose of enforcing laws that have been passed by legislatures and the protection of the American citizens and those who live within the American borders. There are different law enforcement agents everywhere and they are interested in what one does, the particular agents present depend on ones location and what they are doing. This paper will look at three law enforcement branches; local, state and federal law enforcement. It will look at what thee three entail and how they differ in terms of jurisdiction and authority.

At the local enforcement agencies, the commonplace and frequently experienced law enforcement agency are municipal police officers. These police officers represent villages, towns and cities. A striking difference between these local officers and those found within state and federal level is that they offer the first enforcement front to all the criminal laws. They have chiefs who might be appointed by mayors and some instances they are elected into office. Their effort is boosted by several support staffers such as dispatchers, detectives and jailers. Their work is to ensure that citizens are protected as well as enforcing laws that have been passed at all the levels of the government. Unlike officers at state or federal level, their activities are only limited to jurisdiction that is assigned to them (Harkins, 2009).

At the state level, sheriffs and their deputies are the ones who patrol of the areas that are found within a particular state and federal routes. They also monitor the unincorporated and unpoliced municipalities that are found within a state. These officers normally enforce the local, state and federal laws. In most states you find highway patrol or state officers commonly found along the highways. Their work is to enforce traffic, criminal and civil laws within these highways. Within states there are also some specialized law enforcement agents such as state drug officers, executive departments like the attorney general, state parks agencies that employ law enforcement agents, all who are engaged in enforcement efforts. Other officers considered as part of the state's law enforcement efforts are the officers within prisons. However, their law enforcement efforts are viewed as being different from other officers since they enforce state laws within confined state institutions.

Within the federal government we find different types of law enforcement agents but all of them have a duty to enforce laws and policies that have been established at the highest level of the government. These agents include the special agents and their support staff for agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Agencies and Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol, Firearms, and Explosives and the FBI. These agents do not enforce local or state laws t any point. However, they can give information to local or state authorities in case they come across a suspect. There are federal prosecutors who work in collaboration with agents from different agencies so as to build cases and prosecute federal crimes (Harkins 2009).