Trooper/Sheriff/Deputy/Police Officer

[cjcrew022000]

Can someone explain to me the difference between these terms? I am not from the US and I get somewhat confused reading some posts.

[ngcsubutterbar]

the definitions/(duties) will be different even from place to place within the US.

'basic' terms

trooper - a name for a state wide officer usually highway patrol type.

sheriff- head LEO in a county

deputy- LEO's that work for the sheriff

Police officer- term used when talking about actual cities/towns/etc and not counties.


again that's the very basic breakdown. because some cities have sheriff deputies, some counties have police officers, deputy sheriffs aren't charged with the same duties in other places as they are here down in the 'south'. Some places they're nothing but warrant delivery, jailors, court protection. Other places they're the same as police officers but deal with counties, wherein 'police officers' deal with cities/towns. It gets very complicated from place to place even within the US.


The important thing to remember, for me anyhow :D. Is that they're all cops and can kill you if justified.

[mcsap]

I'll throw this in for PA ...

A Law Enforcement Officer is only limited to enforcing certain laws such as Game Commission, Fish Commission, Truant Officer, County Park Rangers, Dog Officer, etc.

A Police Officer can enforce pretty much ANY state law including the laws that the Law Enforcement officers cover.

[acreature]

I'll throw this in for PA ...

A Law Enforcement Officer is only limited to enforcing certain laws such as Game Commission, Fish Commission, Truant Officer, County Park Rangers, Dog Officer, etc.

A Police Officer can enforce pretty much ANY state law including the laws that the Law Enforcement officers cover.

Sheriffs have no enforcement authority in PA, PDs can't use Radar in PA, and Law Enforcement is different from Police in PA?

OMG, they say us rednecks are wierd. :D

[mcsap]

Well , some Sheriff's Dept's do traffic enforcement but it has to be approved by the DA in that county. They do NOT do accidents, handle calls etc. 95% of what they do is prisoner transports, courthouse security and they go serve PFA's ( protection orders) .

And you rednecks ARE weird

[acreature]

.........95% of what they do is prisoner transports, courthouse security and they go serve PFA's ( protection orders)

I'd slit my wrists........................vertically :D

And you rednecks ARE weird

Yeehaw! ;)

[hwpd]

mcsap arent you a deputy? Since you work/live in the york county?

[148]

just to add a little more confusion to the mix. indianpolis (marion county) has state troopers, county deputys, city police, enviormental police, housing police, and park rangers. ALL of which have the same basic powers, all can make traffic stops, all can enforce city ord., all can enforce protecive orders, all can enforce misd and felony laws/charges. for the most part they all have the same powers,,, which a lot of people find out the hard way when they pass a park ranger our a housing officer doing 80 in the interstate thinking they cant stop them .. OOOPPSS,, you mean its going to cost me a 150 dollars to find out? but i didnt know, i didnt know you could stop me.. here is a clue to any non leo reading thins.. if the guy or girl, is in a marked law enforcment vehicle. be it city,state,county,park ranger, DNR, or what ever.. better be safe then sorry.. some places like here they are all leo who can enforce all city,state,ord.,and traffic laws

[FloridaLEO]

Tony, its about the same in the County where I am in. The deputys and each PD all work together and have full authority. Troopers and State LE float around but are not afraid to do traffic. The big thing is that we know when to hand the incident over to the right authority, so the perp is going to be stopped. I am on the S. County line and we even work with the next County's deputys on a regular basis.

[CTDL92]

To add even more confusion to the PA situation, Troopers are empowered to enforce any state statute i.e. vehicle codes, crimes codes, liquor laws, game laws and fish laws to name a few. We can not enforce local or municipal ordnances and we are not limited to strictly highway patrol.

[darrell]

No mscap is a County Police Officer which is different from a Sheriff's Deptuy.

I don't know the specific difference but I know there is one. We don't have county Police in my state just Sheriff's Deputies.

[CTDL92]

Just a history note, The Pennsylvania State Police was created as an executive department of state government by legislation, Senate Bill 278, signed into law by Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker on May 2, 1905. The department became the first uniformed police organization of its kind in the United States and a model for other state police agencies throughout the nation. We were the first State Police Department in the US.

[ngcsubutterbar]

No mscap is a County Police Officer which is different from a Sheriff's Deptuy.

I don't know the specific difference but I know there is one. We don't have county Police in my state just Sheriff's Deputies.

hehe exactly, some places with the distinction of county police and county sheriff deputies are different from each other like Darrel mentioned. Other places it is essentially the same thing. American LE is very eclectic, because remember 'modern day LE agencies' are actually a relatively new thing in the history span of CJ, so the individual 'policing/agencies/history' that existed before Peel still have a weight in what cops are today.

[LidaRose]

I just wanna drive around in the Crime Scene SUV & scare ppl. LOL That's why I'm going into Latent Evidence... Just so I can be cool. *grin*

LR

[CTDL92]

I just wanna drive around in the Crime Scene SUV & scare ppl. LOL That's why I'm going into Latent Evidence... Just so I can be cool. *grin*LR

It may be cool for a while, but trust me it gets tedious real fast. I've been doing it for the past five years and I am burned out. PSP's forensic services units are actually troopers unlike a lot of bigger departments that use civilians. I am getting really tired of hearing from everyone in the how much they watch CSI and then they proceed to tell me where I am going to find evidence at the scene. So be prepared, I'm going to the crime unit to get away.