Short Answer No more than 150- 200 words for each question

Week 2 questions

1. What are the various policing agencies? How do policing agencies differ at the federal, state, and local levels? 

The system of policing in America is unique by world standards. There are approximately 20,000 state and local police agencies in the United States. They are inclusive of the Federal Law Enforcement Agencies where the major entities include; the Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI), the cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other individual agencies more commonly knowns as law enforcement which includes; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Marshal Service, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Secret service, the U.S. Coast Guard, the criminal investigation division of the international revenue service (IRS), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the federal air marshal services. There are also the state policing agencies which include; the Sheriffs and State Police. There are also the county and municipal policing and the police in the private sector. These policing agencies do not defer so much as they are loosely connected to each other where many have overlapping jurisdictions at various levels of government. Some of their main differences are the services which they provide (Ostrom et al, 1978).

2. Please describe the police agencies that are not federal agencies and explain what are the differences between the two.

The police agencies who are not federal includes the private security industry including the in-house security, private investigators, alarm services, guard and patrol service, armored car services and others. The difference between this police and those who are federal is that they have minimum requirements where in many cases training is non-existent. The private police include the bodies that may be owned or controlled by the non-governmental entities. They are mostly utilized in places where public law enforcement is seen to be under-provided. Many argue that the private law enforcement may also serve superior alternatives to the law enforcement agencies which are government owned. Despite that most seems to be untrained, there are also other private police who are well-trained and also equipped to carry out some of the functions that the public police either no personnel to carry out those functions or they do not have financial resources to undertake intensive investigations. These include searching for runaway children, surveillance for unfaithful spouses and others (Ostrom et al, 1978).

3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of leaving the primary responsibility for police protection to local governments versus the federal or state government

Leaving the primary responsibility for police protection to the local government has some advantages and disadvantages. Which is also similar to the federal or the state government? When the police protection is left to the local government, it formulates an essence of consumer policing in that each and every person has the proximity of getting the services and from different agencies. But the problem with this is that the local governments may not have enough funds to finance the department hence the departments lacks the resources to carry out their task. The essence of community service is well seen in this attribute in that the police are well conversant with the area they are policing due to its size and they tend to be in good terms with the dwellers. When left to the federal government, there may be a problem where the police and the people from the community are not in good terms for they do not know each other. Though, it is advantageous in that the federal government has the capability of integrating the police agencies and also fully funding them.

4. What is the civil service system? How does the civil service system fit into the overall outlook of the policing system and the criminal justice system? 

The civil service system is described as a major feature in the police organizations in the United States. It is meant to represent a set of formal and legally binding procedures which governs personnel decisions. The civil service and the police department tend to share responsibility when it comes to personnel decisions. The civil service system plays an important role when it comes to combating crime. This is because it comprises of individuals who are employed due to their professional advantage in the government institutions where they are selected by their competitive examinations. Under this system, the public is encouraged to keep on monitoring the conduct of each in the society. When compared to the police, the civil servants make use of the peaceful means when combating crime. The civil service system helps in checking the way the police are deliberating their duties, and they act like the eye checker on the police department. They are the one who also sees to it that proper measures on the offenders are taken like making judgments in courts.

5. Compare the criteria between the civil service system and police officers.

The difference between the criteria used in the civil service system and the police officers is on how they recruit their staffs and how they deliberate their duties. You will find that in the civil services there are tight guidelines on the way they recruit their applicants, the testing programs for screening the applicants are also rigorous and they are required, and they are required to have a professional advantage in the market. This is unlike the police who are recruited without any experience and then trained. Also, the way the two groups are required to perform their duties is quite different. The civil servants are required to use peaceful means when combating crime whereas the police can use any means necessary to ensure that peace is contained and crime is reduced. The people working in the civil service system tend to have their powers only when in the office or on duty though the police can act at any time and there is no time that they cannot contain peace and order.

6. What are the roles of police? How does the law dictate their roles and functions? 

Every policing department or agency has the various set of organizational goals and values providing their employees with a sense of direction. Despite that there various types of departments in the police agencies which may have different functions, they all seems to have similar roles. The police officers tend to play a central role in the law enforcement systems. They help in monitoring criminal activities, take part in the community patrols, issue tickets, make an arrest, respond to emergency calls, and investigate crimes and testify in courts if needed. Their main facet is to serve and protect where they are supposed to help the communities by helping the citizens during the times of crisis and emergency including when there are natural disaster hits. They also get themselves involved in the community in that they are supposed to educate people on how to avoid dangerous situations and how to handle emergency situations. Other forms of community involvement may include the driver safety programs and the drug prevention and education. The police are given authority by the constitutions to operate and enforce the law, and their roles are well defined.

7. Research the Kansas City Preventative Patrol Experiment. In what way did the experiment change patrol in Kansas City? Do you agree with the patrol methods used? Why or why not?

The Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment was set between 1972 and 1973, where it took a span of one year. It was set to test the assumptions of the deterrence theory about the marked police patrol. The main aim was to see whether the increase in police patrol would reduce the crimes and also decrease the fear of the public when it comes to crime. The experiment had police divided into 15 patrol beats where five were designated reactive beats and five designated proactive beats. There was also the control beat where the patrol was maintained at one marked car per shift. From the research, the results were that the statistics did not change. The researchers found that the citizens did perceive a difference in the patrols of the police and the level of police patrol never had crime or fear among citizens. The patrol methods that were used in Kansas were very appropriate only that the problem could have been on the data used to formulate the conclusion. Some people interviewed as not enough to represent all the individuals in the city (Greisinger et al, 1979).

8. What are the various policing agencies? How do policing agencies differ at the federal, state, and local levels?