United States Policing System

Law enforcement operates primarily through governmental police agencies. There are 17,985
U.S. police agencies in the United States which include college campus police, sheriff
departments, local police, and federal agencies. The law-enforcement purposes of these agencies
are the investigation of suspected criminal activity, referral of the results of investigations to the
courts, and the temporary detention of suspected criminals pending judicial action. Law
enforcement agencies, to varying degrees at different levels of government and in different
agencies, are also commonly charged with the responsibilities of deterring criminal activity and
preventing the successful commission of crimes in progress. Other duties may include the service
and enforcement of warrants, writs, and other orders of the courts.

Law enforcement agencies are also involved in providing first response to emergencies and other
threats to public safety; the protection of certain public facilities and infrastructure; the
maintenance of public order; the protection of public officials; and the operation of some
correctional facilities (usually at the local level).

Styles of policing

Watchman-
Emphasizes maintaining order, usually found in communities with a declining industrial base,
and a blue-collar, mixed ethnic/racial population. This form of policing is implicitly less pro-
active than other styles, and certain offenses may be "overlooked" on a variety of social, legal,
and cultural grounds, as long as the public order is maintained.

Legalistic-
Emphasizes law enforcement and professionalism. This is usually found in reform-minded cities,
with mixed socioeconomic composition. Officers are expected to generate a large number of
arrests and citations and act as if there were a single community standard for conduct, rather than
different standards for different groups. However, the fact that certain groups are more likely to
have law enforcement contact means this strict enforcement of laws may seem overly harsh on
certain groups;

Service-
Emphasizes the service functions of police work, usually found in suburban, middle-class
communities where residents demand individual treatment. Police in homogeneous communities
can view their work as protecting their citizens against "outsiders", with frequent but often-
informal interventions against community members.
 Entry qualifications

Be a United States citizen (waived in certain agencies if the applicant is a lawful resident).

Must have a high school diploma or a GED and if necessary a college degree or served in the
United States military without a dishonorable discharge;

Be in good medical, physical, and psychological condition;

Maintain a clean criminal record without either serious or repeated misdemeanor or any felony
convictions;

Must have a valid driver's license with a clean driving record and that is not currently or has a
history of being suspended or revoked;

Be of high moral character;

Not have a history of prior narcotic or repeated marijuana use or alcoholism;

Not have a history of ethical, professional, prior employment, motor vehicle, educational, or
financial improprieties;

Not have a history of domestic violence or mental illness;

Not to pose a safety and security risk;

Repeated interviews, written tests, medical examinations, physical fitness tests, comprehensive
background investigations, fingerprinting, drug testing, a police oral board interview, a
polygraph examination and consultation with a psychologist are common practices used to
review the suitability of candidates. Recruiting in most departments is competitive, with more
suitable and desirable candidates accepted over lesser ones, and failure to meet some minimum
standards disqualifying a candidate entirely. Police oral boards are the most subjective part of the
process and often disqualifies the biggest portion of qualified candidates. [44] Departments
maintain records of past applicants under review, and refer to them in the case of either
reapplication or requests between other agencies.

Be legally eligible to own and carry a firearm.

 Police equipment
Firearms
Police in the United States usually carry a handgun on duty. Many are required to be armed on-
duty and often required to have a concealable off-duty handgun.

Less lethal weapons

Police also often carry an impact weapon – a baton, also known as a nightstick. The common
nightstick and the side handle baton have been replaced in many locations by expandable batons
such as the Monadnock Auto-Lock Expandable Baton or ASP baton . One advantage of the
collapsible baton is that the wearer can comfortably sit in a patrol vehicle while still wearing the
baton on their duty belt. The side handle nightstick usually has to be removed before entering the
vehicle.

Specialized weapons
Most large police departments have elite SWAT units which are called in to handle situations,
such as barricaded suspects, hostage situations and high-risk warrant service, that require greater
force, specialized equipment, and special tactics. These units usually have submachine guns ,
automatic carbines or rifles , semiautomatic combat shotguns, sniper rifles , gas, smoke and
flashbang grenades , and other specialized weapons and equipment at their disposal. Some
departments are equipped with armored vehicles .

Another less lethal weapon that police officers often carry is an electroshock gun, also known as
a Taser. The handheld electroshock weapon was designed to incapacitate a single person from a
distance by using electric current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. Someone struck by a
Taser experiences stimulation of his or her sensory nerves and motor nerves, resulting in strong
involuntary muscle contractions.

Body armor
Uniformed police officers are often issued body armor, typically in the form of a lightweight
Level IIA, II or IIIA vest that can be worn under service shirts. SWAT teams typically wear
heavier Level III or IV tactical armored vests, often with steel or ceramic trauma plates,
comparable to those worn by U.S. military personnel engaged in ground operations.

Body-worn camera
There are different body-worn camera models, but a standard body-worn camera includes an on
and off switch that enables the image capturing technology to record and store data in the cloud.

Body-worn cameras have become standard due to the rise of civilian complaints about police
brutality across the nation. [55] Supporters argue that the use of a body-worn camera allows
evidence to be viewed from an unbiased perspective. Corporations are currently working on
body-worn camera models that will resolve the technology's limitations such as better audio
capturing technology and battery life, to name a few.
Drones
In recent years police have recruited unmanned surveillance devices, such as small throwable
robotics and flying drones, to do recon in dangerous locations. These devices can be used to
identify the presence of a hostage, locate and/or identify subjects and reveal the layout of a room,
the device does all this by transmitting real-time audio and video to the pilot. [56] This device
gives police an advantage when they cannot directly see a suspect or enter a location where
they're needed. [57] Some other uses for this device may be bomb detection, as well as searching
suspicious vehicles.

Powers of officers
General powers
Law enforcement officers are granted certain powers to enable them to carry out their duties.
When there exists probable cause to believe that a person has committed a serious crime, a law
enforcement officer can handcuff and arrest a person, who will be held in a police station or jail
pending a judicial bail determination or an arraignment .

A law enforcement officer may briefly detain a person upon reasonable suspicion of involvement
in a crime but short of probable cause to arrest. Contrary to popular belief and Hollywood-style
depictions in TV and movies, merely lawfully detaining a person—in and of itself—does not
deprive a person of their Fourth Amendment right against unlawful searches.

Civil asset forfeiture

Rules on civil asset forfeiture allow law enforcement officers to seize anything which they can
plausibly claim was the proceeds of a crime. The property-owner need not be convicted of that
crime; if officers find drugs in a house, they can take cash from the house and possibly the house
itself. Commentators have said these rules provide an incentive for law enforcement officers to
focus on drug-related crimes rather than crimes against persons, such as rape and homicide. They
also provide an incentive to arrest suspected drug-dealers inside their houses, which can be
seized, and to raid stash houses after most of their drugs have been sold, when officers can seize
the cash.

Police Functions
Order maintenance-
This is the broad mandate to keep the peace or otherwise prevent behaviors which might disturb
others.

Law enforcement-
Those powers are typically used only in cases where the law has been violated and a suspect
must be identified and apprehended. Most obvious instances include robbery, murder, or
burglary .

Service-
Services may include renderingfirst aid , providing tourist information, guiding the disoriented,
or acting as educators (on topics such as preventing drug use).
 Types of police

Federal-
Federal law enforcement agencies, who are authorized to enforce various laws at the federal
level. Both police and law enforcement agencies operate at the highest level and are endowed
with police roles; each may maintain a small component of the other (for example, the FBI
Police ). Most federal agencies are limited by the U.S. Code to investigating only matters that are
explicitly within the power of the federal government.

State-
Most states operate statewide government agencies that provide law enforcement duties,
including investigations and state patrols. They may be called state police or highway patrol, and
are normally part of the state Department of Public Safety .

County police-
County police tend to exist only in metropolitan counties and have countywide jurisdiction. For
places that have both county police and county sheriff, responsibilities are given to each. The
county police are in charge of typical police duties such as patrol and investigations.

Sheriffs' offices-
Sheriffs are not police and have many different responsibilities. Sheriffs are elected officials
where the head of police is appointed or hired in. Sheriffs are responsible for all three parts of the
criminal justice system. They uphold the county jail, ensure safety within the courts, and have
jurisdiction to enforce laws in the entire county. They have more responsibilities such as
transporting prisoners, running crime labs, and collecting taxes.

Other-
There are other types of specialist police departments with varying jurisdictions. Most of these
serve special-purpose districts and are known as special district police. In some states, they serve
as little more than security police, but in states such as California, special district forces are
composed of fully sworn peace officers with statewide authority.

These agencies can be transit police, school district police, campus police, airport police, railroad
police, park police or police departments responsible for protecting government property, such as
the former Los Angeles General Services Police.