POLS 3600 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Difficult People, White-Collar Crime, Homeland Security
27 Feb 2017
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Types of law enforcement agencies: federal agencies. Investigate a specific set of crimes defined by congress: state agencies. Responsible for: highway safety, statewide investigations, emergency management, Assistance to local agencies, state crime labs: county agencies (sheriff) Typically serve a police function in rural areas, small towns, and unincorporated areas. Decentralized and fragmented: tribal police, special jurisdiction. The american reluctance to centralize police power has generally kept state police forces from replacing local ones. Each state has a police agency that patrols state highways; provides complete law enforcement services in rural areas. Sheriffs are responsible for policing rural areas, but over time, especially in the ne, many of their criminal justice functions have been assumed by the state or local police. In addition to performing law enforcement tasks, the sheriff often serves as an officer of the court; sheriff may operate jails, serve court orders, and provide the bailiffs who maintain order in courtrooms.
