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Policing In American Society Describe And Analyze Essay

Policing in American Society Describe and analyze the relationship between the U.S. government and the policing organizations throughout the U.S. And the impact of this relationship on American society as a whole.

Police departments in the United States exist on the federal, state, and local levels of government. "There are 65 federal agencies and 27 offices of inspector general that employ full time personnel authorized to make arrests and carry firearms" (Types of police/law enforcement agencies, 2011, Discover Policing). Examples of such agencies include U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Federal Bureau of Prisons, the FBI, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, all of which have jurisdiction to enforce federal laws within these specifically-designated areas. On the state and local level, there are more than 17,000 state and local law enforcement agencies in the United States and these divisions "range in size from one officer to more than 30,000" (Types of police/law enforcement agencies, 2011, Discover Policing).

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There are, however, many examples of overlapping jurisdictions. For example, in addition to highway patrols, state police can assist the local police agencies within the state when they need additional resources. There are also officers within local and state police departments with special jurisdictions, such as parks, schools, airports, hospitals, housing and government buildings. Sheriff's offices can enforce state laws at the local county level (Types of police/law enforcement agencies, 2011, Discover Policing).
The federal government may 'step in' when a local crime is revealed to take place on an interstate level or involve transgressions of federal laws. Ultimately, the federal government is the law of the land. The U.S. Supreme Court can find state laws to be unconstitutional. A good example of this phenomenon are cases involving civil rights…

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References

Mueller, Robert S. (2002). Partnerships and communication with state, local and national law enforcement. FBI. Retrieved:

http://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/partnerships-and-communication-state-local-and-national-law-enforcement

Types of police/law enforcement agencies. (2011). Discover Policing. Retrieved:

http://discoverpolicing.org/whats_like/?fa=types_jobs
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