http://www.realpolice.net/forums/vbjournal.php Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:12:40 -0800 http://www.madebymary.com/ en http://www.realpolice.net/forums/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=3 Sat, 08 Mar 2008 06:27:20 -0800 realpolice http://www.realpolice.net/forums/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=3 Local/Municipal Law Enforcement

Local law enforcement comes to mind when most people hear the word "police." Out of all the types of agencies, local agencies are by far the most prevalent. In 2000, the Bureau of Justice statistics reported that there were 12,666 local police departments employing over 55% of all American law enforcement officers. So, what do local agencies do? They provide police services to an incorporated city, or in some cases, a whole county that has decided to merge its government or form a county police force. For the most part, municipal agencies police more densely populated areas than county agencies. Although many cities have rural areas, rural policing usually doesn't come to mind when one thinks of municipal agencies. Local agencies can run from huge to very tiny.

Because of this, pay, benefits, and equipment differ greatly from agency to agency. There are many local agencies that are wonderful places to work, paying their officers good salaries and providing solid benefits. There are also others that are usually seen as "stepping stone" departments. These agencies are usually very small, pay poorly, and have lackluster benefits. Many officers start their careers at these places before they can move on to different agencies. With a large local agency, there are many opportunities to specialize. Officers start out in patrol, but can move on to investigations, traffic units, tactical units, K-9 units, aviation units, etc. It all depends how large and specialized the department is. Smaller agencies do not have these specialized units. Local officers are usually covered under civil service systems, which means that they cannot be replaced at will. This is not the case for many sheriff's departments.

County Law Enforcement

These are county sheriff's departments. The second most prevalent type of agency, there were 3,070 sheriff's departments in 2000 employing over 20% if the country's LEOs. In most cases, the sheriff's department does the same thing as a municipal police department, only in the unincorporated areas of a county. Some sheriff's departments also contract with cities to provide their municipal police services. So basically, sheriff's departments just have a larger jurisdiction. There are also some other duties of a sheriff's department that are different from municipal police departments. The sheriff's department, in many cases, is charged with operating the county jails. Many of them also have the responsibility to provide courthouse security (bailiff services) and to serve various court papers, such as subpoenas. For this reason, an applicant should carefully examine a sheriff's department before applying with one. It's not uncommon for a sheriff's department to start a new deputy out working in the jail for several years before they can advance to road patrol. In some sheriff's departments, corrections and patrol deputies are separate positions, so you can't move from the jail to the road without going through the hiring process again.

It also should be noted that some sheriff's departments do not do what one would consider "traditional law enforcement" work. These sheriff's departments ONLY work the jails, courthouses, or serve court papers. Usually, these departments are located in the jurisdictions where the county is served by a county police department, or else they are a municipal sheriff's department.

Like municipal agencies, sheriff's departments can run the gamut when it comes to pay and benefits and can range from very large to very small, with or without specialized units. Many sheriff's departments will assist small municipal agencies in investigations that overwhelm their resources. In many jurisdictions, sheriff's departments police the more rural areas of the county, leaving the more densely populated cities to the local police departments. Because of this, sheriff's offices usually have a larger geographic area to serve. This can mean backup can be farther off than it is with local agencies. Some sheriffs offices are also not under the civil service system like the majority of local agencies. This means that deputies work "at the will of the sheriff," and can be replaced at any time (such as when a new sheriff is elected). For this reason, sheriff's offices can be more political than police departments.

State Law Enforcement

For the most part, state law enforcement consists of state police departments and highway patrols. In 2000, there were 49 primary state law enforcement agencies employing over 56,000 sworn officers. These numbers do not include specialized state agencies, such as bureaus of investigation or fish and wildlife agencies. Only Hawaii does not have either a state police department or highway patrol. Usually, state police departments are full-service law enforcement agencies. What this means is that these agencies are tasked with patrolling specific geographic areas, responding to calls, conducting investigations, plus doing traffic enforcement on roadways. Think of a local or county police department, only with a much larger jurisdiction. State police departments usually have many specialized units, such as investigative branches, aviation units, and tactical teams. Highway patrols, on the other hand, usually are tasked with ensuring the safety of the roadways of the state. This is done by conducting traffic and DUI enforcement, drug interdiction, and investigating traffic crashes. Most highway patrols do not respond to other types of calls.

Many states also have additional specialized state agencies. Some states with highway patrols have a separate state investigative agency. For instance, Florida's FDLE conducts statewide investigations and assists local and county agencies with complex investigations of their own. This is kind of like a "state FBI." Lots of states also have an agency separate from the state police or highway patrol that deals with commercial vehicle enforcement. These officers usually operate weigh stations and conduct traffic enforcement, with their main focus being on commercial trucking.

In many cases, working for the state can mean better pay and benefits than working for a city or county department, although this isn't always true. Working for the state also means that you can be assigned anywhere within the state, based upon the needs of the department. While agencies usually try not to uproot employees and transfer them hundreds of miles away, it does happen from time to time. Like county deputies, troopers usually operate in areas where backup can be a distance away. On the positive side, many of them also go through their shifts without direct contact with a supervisor.

Specialized Law Enforcement

In 2000, there were 1,376 agencies of special jurisdiction employing over 43,000 officers. While this includes some of the state agencies I mentioned above, the majority of specialized agencies do not operate on the state level. The most common types of special jurisdiction agencies are airport police departments and campus police departments, although there are many others out there (i.e., transit police departments, state capital police departments). As the name suggests, specialized agencies provide law enforcement services to specific locations or entities. These are usually smaller agencies and do not usually have the same amount of specialization as municipal or county agencies. Depending on the state, an officer who works for a specialized agency may or may not have police authority outside of his agency's boundaries. For example, in the State of Florida, university officers have jurisdiction on the campus of any state university. However, they do not have jurisdiction off of university property.

The working conditions for officers working in these types of agencies is usually pretty good. Officers don't really have to worry about policing the housing projects and the slums of the city. On the other hand, working for an agency of this type (especially on a college campus) can be irritating at times, since officers work under the direction of a university president or chairman of the airport authority. These agencies usually are not known for aggressive policing. Although untrue, many people see these officers as nothing more than security personnel. As with any agency on the local or state level, pay and benefits can vary greatly. In Florida, these specialized agencies have a slightly higher median salary than municipal or county agencies. Sometimes, mainly with airport departments, the agency requires an officer to be certified as a police officer and as a firefighter or EMT.

Federal Law Enforcement

Although the Bureau of Justice Statistics didn't publish the exact number of federal agencies, 88,496 out of 796,518 American law enforcement officers in 2000 were employed at the federal level. There are basically two different types of federal agencies, uniformed agencies and investigative agencies (although some do both). Uniformed federal agencies are mostly like the specialized agencies that I mentioned above. They provide uniformed law enforcement services for a specific location, such as the White House, United States Capital, FBI Building, US Parks, Supreme Court, various federal buildings, etc. I'm trying to keep this brief without going into agency specifics, but certain uniformed federal agencies operate more like security departments than police departments, while others are the opposite.

The other main type of federal agency is the investigative agency. When most people think of federal law enforcement, this type of agency comes to mind. For the most part, these agencies have an assigned section of the United States Code that they enforce. For example, the DEA deals with drug laws, while the Secret Service focuses on crimes involving currency. In addition to the common agencies, all federal departments have an Office of the Inspector General that employs criminal investigators to investigate fraud within the department.

Working for the federal government usually means better salaries and benefits than working at the state or local level, especially if you're employed as a criminal investigator. There really aren't variations between agencies when it comes to pay and benefits, since most agencies are on the same general schedule pay scale. On the negative side, working for the federal government can mean that you're at their beck and call when it comes to relocation. While obviously not a concern with some of the uniformed agencies, relocation can be a concern if you work for one of the more nationalized federal agencies (especially for the new agent).

Tribal Law Enforcement

Tribal law enforcement basically is a mix between local and federal uniformed law enforcement. In 2000, there were 171 tribal agencies employing almost 2,400 LEOs. Tribal agencies are unique in that they have jurisdiction over a sovereign indian nation. For this reason, they enforce tribal law in addition to certain state and federal statutes. Depending on the crime and offender, a tribal agency might work with a state or federal agency when it comes to the investigation. The FBI has the authority to investigate all serious crimes that occur on indian land and the Bureau of Indian Affairs also assists tribal agencies.

Working for a tribal agency can be a mix of different duties. With the prevalence of indian casinos, many tribes use police officers as security for their casinos. Other tribal police officers police indian reservations the same way that a local agency polices a city. Generally, pay and benefits at tribal agencies are not as good as those at other agencies, and there can be a lot of political pressure on officers from members of the tribal council.

Hopefully this will answer the most basic questions about the differences between agencies. I know there are some departments I left out (such as constables and coroners), but I think that I covered the vast majority of agencies. Feel free to add to it!

Written by: DeltaV]]> http://www.realpolice.net/forums/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=2 Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:12:40 -0800 realpolice http://www.realpolice.net/forums/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=2
During the chase, the guy swerves at a police car, loses control and hits a cement wall head on. I immediately call for an ambulance assuming the guy is seriously injured. The front end of the car is gone. The battery is under the motor hanging by the cables. His front left tire is flat and the car is completely leaning forward. We run to the car and he takes off again. Sparks are flying everywhere. While pursuing him, I see him light up a cigarette, very calmly. He later tries to turn down a side street at about 35 mph...nope. Hits a telephone pole head on. As we're running to the car, I hear loud "bangs" like gunshots, but later learn it was the telephone wires that he damaged. He's arrested.

On another incident, my partner and I are driving to a call when I see a guy run a red light. The call is to check drug dealers so I decide to stop the car. As I'm approaching the driver's side of the vehicle, the driver gets out, and starts walking backwards as he's looking at me. I tell him to put his hands on the car and he says "Can't do it man." He then takes off on foot. I give chase. While doing so, I'm running with my gun out as I can see he's holding his right front pants pocket which led me to believe he had a gun. I can see that there's definitely something bulky in their that resembles a gun, and I'm not taking any chances. While running right behind him, I've got my gun in my right hand and my radio in my left, telling dispatch "242, foot-chase, Carpenter and 475, northbound through the yards, m/b, red shirt, black pants, about 6' 0", possibly got a gun, he's holding his waistband." This is all said in about 4 seconds. After about two blocks I lose him through the yards but believe that he's hiding out in the area. We set up a perimeter and he's spotted again a few minutes later. I start chasing him through back yards and over fences (Most people grab the fence with their hands, use their momentum and go over the fence. This guy is jumping over the fences without his hands, like a professional runner). Needles to say, he's apprehended. Whatever was in his pocket is now gone. A search of the area recovers nothing. He's arrested and brought to the station where I learn that he's already been arrested three times for carrying a gun.]]>