Local Police Agencies at the Local, Agencies,

¶ … local police agencies at the local, agencies, local, state, and federal level organized to identify principal roles and functions of the police organization in the application of law.

Various Types of Police Agencies

Various levels and types of policing agencies exist including local, state, and federal policing agencies. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its Occupational Outlook Handbook: Police and Detectives (2010-11 Ed.) individuals who are qualified are those most likely to have favorable job option. Competition for State and Federal agency jobs in State and Federal agencies is great. (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11)

Uniformed police officers are reported to be those with responsibility for enforcement of general law through maintaining regular patrols and providing response to calls and spending a great deal of time completing paperwork and responding to calls for assistance. Urban police are active in what 'community policing' stated to be a practice "in which an officer builds relationships with the citizens of local neighborhoods and mobilizes the public to help fight crime." (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11)

Organization of police agencies is generally through geographic district designations with assignment being made to uniformed officers in patrol specific areas." (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11) In areas that are more populated the officer will have a partner with whom they work. Some police officers are specialized in chemical and microscopic analysis, training and firearms instruction and handwriting analysis as well as fingerprint identification." (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11) Some uniformed officers are employed in special units stated to include (1 horseback; (2) bicycle; (3) motorcycle; (4) harbor patrol; (5) Canine corps; (6) special weapons and tactics (SWAT); or emergency response teams." (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11) According to the Department of Labor the employment levels for police and detectives is determined by "the level of government spending" therefore, job opportunities numbers experience variations from year to year and as well from place to place. (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11, paraphrased) According to reports there are 26 agencies called Highway Patrol and another 23 State Police agencies. The following table lists the occupational title employment levels for 2008 and as projected for 2018 by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Figure 1 Projections data from the National Employment Matrix

Occupational Title

SOC Code

Employment, 2008

Projected

Employment, 2018

Change,

2008-18

Detailed Statistics

Number

Percent

Police and detectives

883,600

968,400

84,700

10

First-line supervisors/managers of police and detectives

33-1012

97,300

105,200

7,800

8

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[XLS]

Detectives and criminal investigators

33-3021

112,200

130,900

18,700

17

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[XLS]

Fish and game wardens

33-3031

8,300

9,000

8

[PDF]

[XLS]

Police officers

33-3050

665,700

723,300

57,500

9

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[XLS]

Police and sheriff's patrol officers

33-3051

661,500

718,800

57,300

9

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[XLS]

Transit and railroad police

33-3052

4,300

4,500

5

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[XLS]

NOTE: Data in this table are rounded. See the discussion of the employment projections table in the Handbook introduct

Source: U.S. Department of Labor (2008)

II. Principal roles and functions of Police Agency in Application of Law

The authority of highway patrols is generally limited to patrolling state and federal highways. The State Police generally function much in the same manner as local agencies but have statewide jurisdiction. A Sheriff's department in most U.S. counties handles county law enforcement however; some counties have County Police Departments. In larger areas, there are both a Sheriff and County Police Department. There are more municipal police departments in the United States than any other type of police agency. Included in the municipal police department numbers are transit, school, and housing police. LaFrance and Lee report that the U.S. Sheriffs in most states are"...elected officials, Sheriff's are directly involved in partisan politics unlike their police chief counterparts. The role of the Sheriff is unique in that they "serve all three components of the criminal justice system" which includes: (1) law enforcement; (2) courts; and (3) corrections. (LaFrance and Lee, 2010)

III. Major Organizational Theories

There are various approaches to management and organization of police departments. Johnson (1994) states that police agencies are traditionally vertical organizational structures. Law enforcement organizational structure in its present form designates "a formal reporting relationship (chain of command) that identifies the group of individuals for task accomplishment, ensures that the grouping of individuals facilitates communication, and guarantees a response to any incident." (Johnson, 1994) The tradition bureaucratic model contains elements including close supervision and strong internal discipline. Police agencies adhere to departmental policies, procedures and rules defined as follows: (1) Policies: "general guidelines to organizational philosophy and mission" which are "written and changed as circumstances dictate"; (2) Procedures: more specific, serve as guides to action but less restrictive than a rule. Method of operation with some flexibility; and (3) Rules and Regulations: specific managerial guidelines-little or no latitude for discretion. (Zimmer, nd)

The Progressive Era (1880-1920) is an era in which there were "a series of innovations designed to make government officials more professional and more accountable than ever before." (LaFrance and Lee, 2010) It is reported that the perception of the need for the reform was "rooted in the gross incompetence, malfeasance, nepotism and instability of the Jacksonian patronage system in which the 'victors' were rewarded with the spoils of war." (LaFrance and Lee, 2010)

The political era of policing gave way to the Reform Era which had as its primary features the following: (1) rejection of politics and the basis of police legitimacy; (2) establishment of law and police professionalism as the bases of police legitimacy and authority; (3) narrowing of police functions to crime control and criminal apprehension; and (4) the use of Taylor's scientific management toward organizational efficiency. (LaFrance and Lee, 2010)