Law Enforcement Agencies

Law Enforcement Agencies

Law Enforcement Agencies
Tracie Magee
CJS/200
February 19, 2010
Jeni Clark

Law Enforcement Agencies
Law enforcement agencies are organizations set to enforce the law. Five of these agencies are considered the main types under which most if not all other law enforcement falls under. Let’s begin with Municipal Police Departments that fall under the control of their local government and have the authority to apprehend criminal suspects, maintain order throughout the population, and provide special services to the local community. (Gaines & Miller 2010 Pg. 106) Then there are the County Sheriffs’ Departments in which forty nine states in America have an elected sheriff, and it is said that in modern times to be more of a politician then the older more law enforcing types that have been viewed in the old days where the sheriff was the actual law. Now, there is an agency there is categorized as the Special Police Agencies, which mainly is set to protect schools or provide airport security. Then there is the State Police Department Agencies, which are in all states except Hawaii, and are to be considered the most visible of all agencies. State Police Agencies have statewide jurisdiction and provide the same services city and county police provide and are limited to their specific state. The fifth agency to look at is the Federal Law Enforcement Agencies which are usually authorized by congress to uphold specific laws. (Gaines & Miller, Pp 106-108)
A local level law enforcement agency that could be viewed very important would be the Department of the State Police. In Maryland the Department of State Police is broken into three main bureaus: Field Operations; Homeland Security and Investigation; and Support Services. The department is additionally responsible for the operations of the State Fire Marshal. The Maryland Department of State Police and its bureaus work to enforce state motor vehicle and criminal laws and safeguard the lives and safety of...

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