Police Roles and Functions

Kenetta Hampton

Due: May 19. 2013

CJS/210

Police Roles and Functions Paper

What are the various functions of a police agency?

Compare how the functions of a police agency differ at the federal, state, and local levels.

What would happen if the various functions and roles of policing agencies were limited in a community?

Police agencies have a lot of different functions which include but aren't limited too: making sure a community is secure, gaining control of unlawful situations, enforcing the law and violating those that break the law, as well as solving issues and conflicts that cannot be handled without a law official. A lot of people get a peace of mind knowing that a police station or an assigned officer is close to their place of residence or children's school. When a police is in clear sight or a definite call away most feel as if dangerous life threatening situations can be handled and prevented quickly since the police are there to resolve issues and conflicts that may occur at any given time that seem impossible to solve without a law official. More citizens will abide by the law (traffic and etcetera) if there is a police station or officer in clear view which will make the surrounding area more safe as well. Communities put trust in police agencies for security reasonings.

The functions of police agencies differ due to their division such as: federal, state, and local. Each division have a different focus. Federal police agencies focus on matters that involves a whole country like organized crime. For example the federal police were in charge of the terrorist attack in New York on September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center, because it was an organized crime done by Osama Bin Laden's team that affected and posed threat to the entire country.

State agencies focus on situations that deal with the communities safety, public relations, and criminal investigations. For example the state police were in charge of the recent robbery that was by my house about 5 months ago. The victim was beat and robbed by a few local teens. The state and local police were both assigned to this case, because it jeopardized the public's safety as well as the communities safety.

The local agencies focus on situations that deal with storing records, community safety, emergency calls, corrections and detention for citizens, and providing public information. For example when I called 9-1-1 for an ambulance after a car accident the local police arrived alongside the ambulance to take a report. When I made the 9-1-1 call the dispatched officer was through the local police department and sent an ambulance out. Also, when someone is arrested the local police is in charge of detaining the individual and making sure he or she goes to the proper