CHAPTER 1
Understanding the Role of the Police Officer
There is always a need for highly trained and highly skilled law enforcement agents. Today too, all policing agencies are finding that rapidly changing technology not only provides law enforcement with new ways to investigate crime, but also provides criminals with new tools to commit crimes. As a result, law enforcement agencies are constantly seeking to hire and train new policing candidates who are able to work well with the public, maintain high ethical standards, work independently, use common sense, and act as a positive role model for the community. Today’s police officer also needs to have well-developed communication skills. Communication skills are important because police officers are expected to communicate in one-on-one situations with citizens from all walks of life, especially in conflict resolution and mediation situations.
To evaluate each candidate’s potential for civilian law enforcement, agencies have developed an assortment of written, psychological, and physical tests. It is very possible, even encouraged, to prepare for the written portion of these tests. Once candidates are aware of the ability areas that the tests attempt to evaluate and the testing methods agencies typically use, they can begin to sharpen and improve the necessary skills.
If you are interested in a law enforcement career, you should begin by educating yourself on the various law enforcement agencies with which you may wish to seek employment. Factors such as the size of the agency, the area of the country, and the population density may all be important issues when you are determining what agency or agencies to apply to.
After choosing an agency or agencies, the second step is to prepare for the compulsory tests that every law enforcement agency uses to evaluate candidates. Candidates for police positions are expected to communicate well both verbally and in writing. These candidates are also expected to demonstrate an ability to perform basic mathematical processes, read and understand legal information, and reason through large amounts of seemingly unrelated information to find clues or connections. While the process of preparing for written law enforcement exams is not easy, it will seem well worth the effort when you are notified that you have been selected for an important and exciting career as a police officer.
OVERVIEW OF POLICE DEPARTMENTS
Policing in the United States (U.S.) is divided into four broad categories: federal, state, county, and municipal agencies. There is no real hierarchy between these categories. Each branch of law enforcement has been created to enforce a specific set of laws within a specific geographical area. This means that the key to understanding which law enforcement agency has the authority to respond to a crime is two-fold. First, one must determine which governmental unit prohibited the act. For example, homicide is an act that is prohibited at the state level. So, as a general rule, only law enforcement agencies with authority (jurisdiction) to enforce state laws may investigate the crime of murder. Second, one must look at the place (venue) where the criminal act occurred. If the murder occurred in Alabama, the Alabama authorities would be responsible for investigating the crime. Thus, if you are primarily interested in becoming a homicide detective, you would most likely be interested in applying to a state or local policing agency rather than to federal law enforcement agencies.
The following overview of law enforcement agencies is intended to provide a brief understanding of the various categories of police departments in the United States. Use this list as a starting place for determining which type of law enforcement agency seems the most interesting to you. Then, contact that agency directly to seek information concerning the application process. Much of this information may also be available on the Internet. A list of many state agency Web site addresses is included in the materials of this book. In addition, federal and local agencies are also likely to have information available on the Internet. To find a local agency, look up the city’s Web site and you will usually find a link to the police department.
Public expectations for police officers often seem immense. The public expects the police to prevent crime and make arrests. In addition, the police are expected to perform numerous other duties: including operating detention facilities, search and rescue operations, business licensing, supervising elections, staffing courts, and chauffeuring officials. Since the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington D.C., the police have also been given the responsibility of monitoring for signs of possible terrorism at the municipal level.
Still, most police departments, regardless of their size, provide the same types of services to their communities. Although modern television dramas have created the impression that police officers race from one murder scene and arrest, to the next, police officers do much more. They investigate crime, enforce traffic regulation, maintain social order, provide emergency services, rescue animals and vulnerable people, patrol to deter crime, and work to keep the peace. They may also report potholes in the roads, malfunctioning streetlights, or children that appear in need of social service intervention. In short, police do whatever is necessary to allow people to continue living and working together in a safe and healthy environment.
A brief review of the specific responsibilities of the different levels of police agencies follows.
Federal Law Enforcement Agencies
Police officers that work for the national government are generally called federal police officers. These police officers enforce criminal federal laws that are passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by the President. They have the authority to arrest anyone who commits a violation of federal criminal laws within the specific area they are hired to protect.
Police agencies that hire federal police officers include the White House Police, Capital Police, Supreme Court Police, and Park Police. Each of these police agencies has specific responsibilities. For example, the Park Police enforce federal criminal laws in the nation’s parks. Those individuals who would like a position as a federal police officer are required to take a federal police examination for that position.
In addition, there are federal law enforcement agencies designed to protect the rights and privileges of all U.S. citizens. While these agencies have not been created with a particular hierarchy of power, each has been created to enforce specific laws or address certain specific situations.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is probably the best known of the federal law enforcement agencies. The FBI is a branch of the United States Department of Justice (DoJ). This agency is not a police agency; instead it investigates matters involving violations of federal law including civil rights violations, espionage, treason, bank robbery of federally insured institutions, serious crimes that cross state lines, and terrorism. The FBI is estimated to have more than 13,000 agents employed primarily in the United States.
The United States Marshals Service is the nation’s oldest federal law enforcement agency. Marshals serve to protect federal judicial officials, maintain security in federal courthouses, and protect the safety of those witnesses in federal trials who are endangered by testifying. U.S. Marshals also track down fugitives from justice from across the world, transport federal prisoners who need to be moved across jurisdictions, and maintain detention facilities for unsentenced prisoners.
Other federal agencies are designed to enforce specific federal laws. The Secret Service has two primary missions: protecting all living current and former U.S. Presidents and their families and controlling counterfeiting. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives assists in controlling the sale of untaxed liquor and cigarettes, illegal firearms, and explosives. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is the federal agency that enforces federal drug laws. Agents of the DEA primarily carry out their responsibilities by assisting local and state authorities in investigating illegal drug use and drug trafficking. They also work with foreign governments to reduce the amount of illegal drugs entering the United States, as well as operate independent investigations into drug crime.
State Law Enforcement Agencies
All 50 states have state police agencies. Generally, there are two models of state police agencies. Some states like New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan have a single State Police Department that is responsible for both traffic and criminal investigative responsibilities. These state level policing agencies are divided into two primary units. One unit is responsible for patrolling state turnpikes and highways. The second unit is responsible for investigating criminal offenses.
The second model of policing used by state agencies has been adopted by states such as California, Florida, Georgia, and Kansas. These states have two separate state police agencies. One agency is called the Highway Patrol. The Highway Patrol monitors state turnpikes and highways. The second state level policing agency is assigned the responsibility for state level criminal investigations. The names of these agencies are varied and include the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
In addition, state law enforcement may be responsible for running state law enforcement training academies, providing emergency medical services, maintaining a crime lab, and providing other services that are needed to support local level law enforcement efforts.
County Law Enforcement Agencies
The third level of policing occurs at the county level and typically involves an elected sheriff and appointed deputies. A few states may forego the title of sheriff and maintain a county police department.
The duties of a sheriff’s department vary according to the size and population of the county. Nearly all sheriffs’ offices provide basic law enforcement services to areas outside incorporated municipalities. These duties include routine patrol, responding to citizen calls for service, and investigating crimes. They are authorized to enforce state law within their county as well as enforcing county-level laws including traffic enforcement and, in many counties, animal control.
In addition, sheriffs’ departments are usually responsible for the county jail or detention facility. Although some states still maintain separate local detention facilities in every city and town, most have consolidated this function into a single county area facility utilized by all municipalities within the county. Detention duties may be rotated among all appointed deputies, or deputies may be hired for the single purpose of staffing and monitoring the detention facility.
Finally, the sheriff’s department is typically assigned duties associated with court services. These duties include serving civil court summons, providing court security, providing courthouse security, and dealing with criminal warrants.
Municipal Law Enforcement Agencies
Municipal law enforcement agencies are those police departments created to serve an incorporated city, town, village, or borough. The greatest opportunity for those interested in policing is at the municipal level because most policing occurs at the municipal level. There are about 17,000 municipal police departments in the country; more than 70 of those police departments employ in excess of 1,000 police officers, and 83 police departments employ 500 to 999 police officers. The majority of municipal police departments, however, employ 10 or fewer officers. In the United States 75 percent of police officers are employed by departments that serve communities with a population of fewer than 10,000 residents. This means that although there are large police departments like New York City, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles, the vast majority of police departments and the vast majority of police officers are found in smaller communities.
The primary reason municipalities establish a police department is to maintain order. For example, it is important that all drivers follow traffic regulations to reduce the likelihood of accidents or injuries. Most drivers occasionally ignore traffic regulations without concern for the danger they are causing to others. Police officers enforce the traffic regulations to remind drivers of their responsibility to drive in a manner that is safe for the entire community. This may not seem like a critical policing task, but protecting the communities’ health and safety by preventing vehicle accidents is a primary goal of all municipal law enforcement agencies.
The American Bar Association (ABA) outlines the functions of the municipal police officer to include a broad range of activities. Municipal police officers are expected to:1
• Identify criminal offenders and criminal activity and where appropriate, to apprehend offenders and participate in subsequent court proceedings.
• Reduce the opportunities for the commission of some crimes through preventive patrol and other measures.
• Aid individuals who are in danger of physical harm.
• Protect constitutional guarantees.
• Facilitate the movement of people and vehicles.
• Assist those who cannot care for themselves.
• Resolve conflict.
• Identify problems that are potentially serious law enforcement or governmental problems.
• Create and maintain a feeling of security in the community.
• Promote and preserve civil order.
• Provide other services on an emergency basis.1
POLICE ACTIVITIES
So what do police actually do? Studies of police activities indicate that most police work involves activity that is non-criminal in nature. Many non-criminal calls are considered service-related. Primarily police activities involve:
• Handling domestic issues
• Working traffic accidents
• Finding missing persons
• Directing traffic
• Filling out paperwork
However, one of the key tasks assigned the police is to respond to calls regarding criminal conduct. When a citizen telephones the police to report a crime or disturbance, the police dispatcher assigns a patrol unit to handle the call for service. After a police officer arrives at the scene and begins an appropriate investigation, the officer may determine that a violation of law has occurred. Then, depending on the seriousness of the offense and departmental rules and regulations, the officer can either make an arrest or handle the incident less formally.
It is important to remember that while state and local police are concerned with predatory crime, including murder, rape, burglary, and theft, they do not have authority over every type of crime. They may not have the authority to investigate economic crimes, violations of civil rights laws, or labor law disputes. Those types of crimes usually involve a violation of a specific federal law that must be handled by a specific federal agency. State and local police officers are limited to responding to those criminal acts and behaviors prohibited by either state or local laws.
STRUCTURE OF POLICE DEPARTMENTS
American police departments are organized as a bureaucracy along semi-military lines and structured into ranks based either on the army or navy rank structures. The rank structure of police departments varies between police departments, depending upon the size of the department and the needs of the community. Generally, big city departments have a much more complex rank structure than smaller city departments and rural police departments. For example, the rank structure of the New York City Police Department with approximately 36,000 police officers is much more complex that of than Scarsdale, New York, a department of about 45 police officer in suburban New York.
The rank structure of a police department forms a hierarchy with patrol officers at the bottom of the rank structure, sergeants at the second level, lieutenants at the third level, captains at the fourth level, and the police chief at the top of the hierarchy. The rank structure allows for the patrol officers to report to one supervisor, generally a sergeant. This concept is known as a unity of command. It is recommended that in a police department each individual report to one boss. This method eliminates problems within the organization when more than one person supervises a patrol officer.
The police hierarchy generally holds that a sergeant should supervise about five police officers. This concept is known as the span of control. The idea behind maintaining a span of control is that a supervisor can only effectively serve a specific number of employees. Similar to the unity of command principle, the span of control principle seeks to reinforce the chain of command inherent in a structure based upon rank.
As a semi-military organization, police departments require that officers wear uniforms, carry firearms, wear badges, and display nameplates. Police officers are expected to maintain the chain of command by obeying the orders and following the directions of their immediate supervisors. Police officers who do not follow orders or directions can be suspended or dismissed, depending upon the seriousness of their violation and the amount of disruption their behavior imposed upon the department as a whole.
It should be noted that any individual hired as a police officer serves a probationary period from several months to one year. During this period, officers are often termed probationary officers or probies for short. The exact length of the probationary period depends on the requirements of each individual police department. It is important that police officer candidates understand that the goal of the probationary period is to evaluate their ability to perform on the job and to fit into the department. Probies may be dismissed during the probationary period without cause and no reason needs to be provided. Damaging a police vehicle, a single incident of excessive use of force, violating the chain of command, or making negative comments about superior officers may all demonstrate that a probie is not the right fit for a department’s needs.
Once a police recruit successfully completes the probationary period, more workplace protections are acquired. Generally, following the probationary period, law enforcement officers are given civil service status. The actual rights and protections associated with this status differ from municipality to municipality and from state to state, but they will always provide at least a few rights that are missing during the probationary period.
Big City Police Departments
The entertainment and news media have created the impression that policing primarily occurs in very large municipalities, such as Los Angeles and New York City. While it is true that every state has one or more cities large enough to employ more than a hundred police officers, the vast majority of cities are small enough to require 25 or fewer officers. So, the majority of policing positions will be available in smaller police departments. However, it should be recognized that big city police departments provide opportunities not usually available in smaller departments, such as the ability to specialize in a certain area of law enforcement.
The number of crimes that arise in larger police jurisdictions allow police departments in such cities to create areas of specialization, such as crime prevention, crimes involving children, community policing, crime scene investigation, and drug education. Very large departments like New York City, Kansas City, Denver, and Seattle are also able to have a few units specifically assigned to a single crime, such as their homicide units. Additionally, many of those knowledgeable about policing believe that the opportunities for promotion are greater in a big city department like New York as compared to a smaller department like Scarsdale, New York.
Small Community Police Departments
The majority of police agencies are categorized as small city or rural police departments, although the concept of small may be based on perception. For example, those individuals living in medium-sized cities such as Wichita, Kansas, may think their 700 member police department is big. However, that number of officers would seem small to residents of Los Angeles, California. Clearly, individual departments often define themselves as large or small depending upon the needs of their community, their proximity to other communities, and the size of the actual urban area in which they are located.
Generally, small police agencies do not have personnel to investigate homicides or other serious crimes. These agencies have to obtain assistance from the state police. Officers in small agencies often are not as well educated or trained as officers in bigger cities due to being exposed to less crime on a less regular basis.
However, the best reason for joining a smaller police department is that police officers in small departments know the citizens in their communities. They know most of the history and issues, both community-related and family-related, which evolve over time to require police intervention. They can settle complaints in an informal manner rather than through a more time consuming and costly criminal justice process.
The duties in smaller departments are often more varied and interesting that the limited areas assigned in larger departments. Often, small police departments encourage their officers to spend the majority of their time on patrol and interacting with the public. A typical day for an officer in a small police department may involve: controlling animals running at large, visiting with the kindergartners about the role of police in their community, issuing a few traffic citations, taking a report of a theft from the local convenience store, and arresting an individual for domestic violence. While murder may be a rare event in small cities, protecting the health, safety, and welfare of citizens remains an important service to the community.
1American Bar Association, The Urban Police Function, (New York: American Bar Association, 1, 1973).