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The U.S. Legal System Law Enforcement Multilayered network of local state and federal law-enforcement bodies that helps to ensure compliance with governmental directives and laws throughout the United States Laws in the United States are developed by representative legislative bodies such as the U.S. Congress, state assemblies, and city councils. Since these legislative bodies are assumed to operate with the consent of the people they govern, their laws are considered to be legitimate. In principle this legitimacy ensures that the citizens voluntarily comply with the laws. However, for a variety of reasons certain individuals at particular times might be motivated to ignore or deliberately violate laws. For this reason, law-enforcement bodies have been established by various jurisdictions of government to ensure compliance with applicable laws. Police Power Unlike many countries, which utilize national police forces, most law-enforcement activities in the United States are carried out by local and state police organizations. This decentralized approach to law enforcement reflects Americans' deep-rooted suspicion of centralized authority. It also has a constitutional basis: The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that powers not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution nor explicitly denied to the states by the Constitution are reserved by the states. Police powers--that is, authority for protecting the safety, welfare, morals, and health of the citizenry--have therefore been construed to belong to the states (and, by extension, their municipalities). State laws and local ordinances account for most of the government regulations a person encounters on a daily basis. It therefore makes sense that state and local authorities should enforce those regulations. However, law-enforcement jurisdictions are neither clear-cut nor fixed. Instead, there is a range of overlapping municipal, state, and federal agencies that conduct a wide variety of law-enforcement functions. Most of these agencies have established their own primary areas of functional and territorial authority. Frequently, different law-enforcement agencies establish cooperative relationships over shared jurisdictions; at times they come into conflict. Aspects of Law Enforcement Law-enforcement functions often are divided into four categories: crime deterrence, criminal arrest, crime detection, and the maintainance of public order. The first of these is potentially the most efficient and critical of law enforcement's obligations to society. It would be virtually impossible for authorities to rely entirely on force to coercively stop all crimes that might be perpetrated in a free society. By instead working to deter the contemplation of crimes in the first place (by creating a societal expectation that the commission of a crime will result in certain arrest and unacceptably high penalties), a criminal justice system can avoid the need for excessive arrests, prosecution, and incarceration. As some criminals will not be deterred, arrest becomes a necessary task of law enforcement. Arrest serves two main functions: First, it can halt the completion of a criminal act and thus place suspects in the hands of the criminal justice system for further action. Second, arrest can serve, by force of example, as a deterrent to other would-be criminals. The first two categories of law enforcement thus reinforce each other. Deterrence reduces the need for arrests and arrests increase the strength of deterrence. The third category of law enforcement--crime detection--includes the detection of crimes, the identificiation of their perpetrators, and the discovery of other facts. Detection can lead to ex post facto arrest and can thus bolster deterrence. Detection is usually carried out by a distinct group of specialists within law-enforcement agencies, such as police detectives. The fourth category of law enforcement, the maintainance of public order, does not concern criminal activity per se. Rather, it seeks to maintain orderly conditions within society. Activities in this category include enforcing crowd control, directing traffic, supervising licensed activities, and effecting rescues. Although maintaining public order, by its very nature, is not a dramatic or high-profile activity, municipal police departments devote a significant share of their resources to this task. Overall, law enforcement is one of the main bulwarks of a democratic society. Its necessity derives from the recognition that even the citizens of a free and democratic society are subject to base motivations and temptations. Law enforcement makes effective government and civil society possible. In many ways the successful exercise of other police powers presumes effective law enforcement. Local Police Local police forces are the most common type of law-enforcement bodies. They maintain a highly visible presence in the community, with uniformed police officers performing such duties as walking beats, patrolling city streets, questioning persons engaged in suspicious activities, and providing directions to motorists. Municipal police departments are the modern incarnation of earlier constabularies. They are thus firmly grounded in American and English tradition and enjoy widespread public acceptance. Police departments are the most accessible and prominent form of governmental power encountered by U.S. citizens. Police departments represent a blend of military and bureaucratic elements. They demonstrate solidarity and discipline in carrying out their work and frequently employ sophisticated communications equipment and overwhelming firepower. Police departments are usually organized with clear, hierarchical chains of command. Larger police forces are often divided into a number of precincts, with groups of officers and detectives under the control of their own precinct captains. Larger police departments also employ specialists who address certain types of crimes, such as vice and homicide. Nevertheless, most police work is carried out by patrol officers. Most police departments are overseen by a police chief, who is appointed by a city commission, mayor, or other governmental entity. Owing to the enormous power placed in the hands of the police, some jurisdictions have found it necessary to create citizen review boards to serve a watchdog function over police departments. Municipal police departments are responsible for enforcing most of the laws that govern public activity in their communities, from parking and smoking ordinances to felonious criminal behavior. Local police perform such disparate functions as patrolling neighborhoods, maintaining the peace at community parades and demonstrations, enforcing curfews, and providing assistance in emergencies. Because police officers generally have broad discretion in assessing and responding to specific incidents, considerable emphasis is placed on the need for honesty, integrity, judgment, and accountability in law enforcement. Urban areas also may employ a variety of specialized law-enforcement bodies to protect certain public facilities. For example, some metropolitan areas use transit police for patrolling bus and subway lines. Often these authorities transcend city boundaries and require coordination between different jurisdictions. Other institutions, such as city housing authorities, use law-enforcement powers for ensuring compliance with local ordinances. Not all communities have formal police departments. In many areas county sheriff's departments perform most of the functions of city police departments. Their primary jurisdictions usually include only unincorporated areas. County sheriff's departments therefore tend to be active in less urbanized communities and rural regions. The emphasis of their work is tailored accordingly. Thus, they are more likely to protect public lands than to stem gang activity. In highly developed counties (with little or no unincorporated land), county sheriff's departments may be responsible for little more than transporting prisoners between jail and court. State Law-Enforcement Agencies State lawenforcement agencies are much more specialized than local police departments, which tend to have broad and only vaguely circumscribed authority. Although some state law-enforcement agencies are called state "police," they do not usually make use of the range of discretionary powers assumed by local police. Instead, state police (state troopers or state highway patrols) tend to exercise most of their powers on the state's highways, freeways, interstates, and other limited venues. Although the U.S. Constitution is interpreted as assigning police powers to the states, America's traditional suspicion of centralized authority has caused the majority of states to delegate most law-enforcement functions to their local governments. It was long feared that state police forces would represent a large step toward the creation of a national police force. With the introduction of the automobile and the construction of paved highways in the early twentieth century, however, new law-enforcement problems arose that could not easily be addressed by local jurisdictions. Travel across jurisdictions became easier and more common, thus allowing some criminal activity to become multijurisdictional and facilitating the easier flight of criminals from the jurisdictions in which they committed crimes. Furthermore, the mounting number of traffic accidents and moving violations created the need for a multijurisdictional force to enforce laws on the highways. By World War II all states had established their own state police forces. Although the bulk of state police work is focused on the highways, state police organizations have carried out important work in conjunction with local authorities, particularly when extra manpower or special facilities are required. State police forces are especially necessary for bolstering authority in rural areas, since county sheriff's offices are frequently spread thin across large areas. For the most part, however, state police forces are not heavily involved in enforcing criminal law. Other specialized state law-enforcement agencies enforce hunting and fishing laws, fire and housing codes, and other regulations. State employees whose duties bring them into relatively remote areas, such as state park rangers, often are granted considerable discretionary lawenforcement powers. Federal Law-Enforcement Bodies The federal government is much less involved in general and criminal law enforcement than the states and their municipalities. This is partly because only a relatively small number of the country's criminal statutes are included in federal law. The U.S. Constitution specifically assigns to the federal government jurisdiction over only a small number of crimes, such as counterfeiting and treason. However, the Constitution also grants to the Congress the power to make laws that are "necessary and proper" for implementing the federal government's enumerated powers. Over time the necessary-and-proper clause has been used to expand considerably the federal government's involvement in enforcing criminal laws. For example, in the mid-nineteenth century the U.S. Congress passed legislation defining crimes relating to the use of the U.S. mails, such as mail fraud and transmitting obscene materials. The U.S. Post Office Department (later the Postal Service) was soon involved in enforcing these laws. Other federal agencies, such as the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), were established in part to enforce laws and regulations affecting the movement of goods between states. The first federal law-enforcement body to be established was the office of the attorney general. As the chief law-enforcement officer of the federal government, the attorney general advises the president and other executive officials on legal affairs and represents the United States in legal matters generally. As head of the Justice Department, which was created in the mid-nineteenth century, the attorney general oversees what amounts to an enormous law office, the sole client of which is the U.S. government. In general, the Justice Department is responsible for prosecuting violations of federal law. The Justice Department has several bureaus and agencies with more specific law-enforcement duties. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the Justice Department's primary investigative arm. The U.S. Marshals Service provides security for the federal courts, executes court orders and arrest warrants, transports federal prisoners, and otherwise serves as a link between the executive and judicial branches of the federal government. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) provides for the entry and resettlement of noncitizens into the United States, prevents illegal entry, and administers employment and citizenship laws. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) enforces laws regulating drugs and other controlled substances. The National Central Bureau represents the United States in the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), an association of police agencies from 169 countries. Further, the Treasury Department has a number of specialized law-enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Customs Service, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). Other federal agencies carry out specialized law-enforcement duties as part of their more general responsibilities. Most of these federal agencies and bureaus were established in the twentieth century, as a growing population, increased mobility, and advancing technology raised certain law-enforcement issues to national prominence. Organized crime has been one area of law enforcement for which federal action is considered especially appropriate. Large crime syndicates can be national or even international in scope and are thus difficult to deal with at the local level. The federal government has therefore established a growing, although still relatively modest, matrix of law-enforcement structures for contending with organized crime. The largest single expansion of federal lawenforcement activity took place in the 1920's and 1930's. Most of this new activity was directed at illegal alcohol sales and the criminal organizations that thrived on them. National crime again became a major public issue in the 1960's and early 1970's. In 1970 Congress passed the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statute, which included a range of provisions aimed at attacking organized crime with federal power. In general, the act strengthened the ability of law-enforcement authorities to gather evidence against organized crime, provided for the protection of government witnesses, revised explosives regulations, and increased penalties for "dangerous special offenders." Title IX of the act addressed "racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations," identifying illegal activities and specifying penalties. The RICO statute considerably expanded federal law-enforcement powers by making the investment of certain illegal funds in interstate businesses a federal offense. Federal-State Cooperation Federal law-enforcement activities presumably aim to protect federal property and other national interests of immediate relevance to the U.S. government. However, federal law-enforcement activity has also been directed at interstate crime and corrupt law-enforcement agencies at the local level. Although it is unlikely that the federal government will ever adopt full-fledged police powers, it has shown a willingness to take on law-enforcement duties when local governments appear to be poorly suited for particular tasks. The federal government created a Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) in 1969 to help channel federal assistance to state and local law-enforcement agencies. Although the LEAA was dismantled a decade later, its general mission and purpose has been continued through other agencies and departments. For example, the federal government helps provide technical assistance and training to law-enforcement personnel and departments through the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. In the 1990's the presidential administration of Bill Clinton made a particularly high-profile effort to bolster local law enforcement by augmenting the number of local police officers nationwide. Clinton promised to put 100,000 new police officers on the streets within several years. Although this effort achieved mixed results, it does illustrate the preference for local control of law enforcement, albeit with the financial and moral support of the federal government. Steve D. Boilard Suggested ReadingsA good general reference on the subject is Mitchel P. Roth's Historical Dictionary of Law Enforcement (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2001). On the general concept of law enforcement see William G. Doerner's Introduction to Law Enforcement: An Insider's View (Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1998). Legal issues surrounding the practice and structure of law enforcement are examined in Rolando V. Del Carmen's Briefs of Leading Cases in Law Enforcement (Cincinnati: Anderson, 1997). A collection of articles on various law-enforcement topics is presented in Law Enforcement Operations and Management (New York: Garland, 1997), edited by Marilyn McShane and Frank P. Williams. A more focused treatise is offered by Jim McGee and Biran Duffy in Main Justice: The Men and Women Who Enforce the Nation's Criminal Laws and Guard Its Liberties (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996). A national citizens' commission headed by Steven Donziger has issued a detailed critique of America's law-enforcement and criminal justice efforts and policy recommendations in a published report edited by Donziger called The Real War on Crime: The Report of the National Criminal Justice Commission (New York: HarperPerennial, 1996). Chapter 7, "Toward a New Model of Policing," is especially relevant. Charles Phillips and Alan Axelrod have compiled an encyclopedic dictionary of over six hundred important persons who have significantly affected the history of law enforcement: Cops, Crooks, and Criminologists: An International Biographical Dictionary of Law Enforcement (New York: Facts on File, 1996). Works focused on policing include Policing Urban America, by Geoffrey P. Alperts (Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press, 1997), Critical Issues in Policing: Contemporary Readings, edited by Roger G. Dunham and Geoffrey P. Alperts (3d ed. Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press, 1997), and Policing, by Michael Palmiotto (Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 1997). Pamela H. Bucy has written an article examining the privatization issue entitled "Privatizing Law Enforcement," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 543 (January, 1996). For an international perspective, see Government Ethics and Law Enforcement, by William Schwabe and others (Santa Monica, Calif.: Rand, 2001); Crime Mapping: New Tools for Law Enforcement, by Irvin B. Vann and G. David Garson (New York: Peter Lang, 2003); Policing Hatred: Law Enforcement, Civil Rights, and Hate Crime, by Jeannine Bell (New York: New York University Press, 2002). See Also: Arrest; Attorney general of the United States; Attorneys general, state; Citizen's arrest; Constitution, U.S.; Criminal justice system; Criminal procedure; Detectives, police; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Informants; Marshals Service, U.S.; Multiple jurisdiction offenses; Police; Prosecutors; Search warrant requirement; Sheriffs; State police. |
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