Policing Case

There are various types of law enforcement agencies and each agency has various duties. There are three main branches of law enforcement; state, local, and federal. All levels of law enforcement have the same goal; to serve and protect the public. These levels are designed differently in order to effectively meet the public needs. Even though each level provides the same task differently, they also have many things in common. This paper will take a look at the various roles of each and how the roles impact society

Basic functions of policing

The basic function of policing is to enforce the laws, apprehend offenders, deter crime, maintain order, and provide services to the community as needed. Many of these functions go hand in hand. While officers are serving the public, they are making sure that laws are followed, this may lead to them having to apprehend a suspect, and this is done to maintain order and helping to prevent crime.

Federal level of policing

The federal level of law enforcement is made up of many different organizations such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Drug enforcement administration (DEA), and Immigration and custom enforcement (ICE). The nation's top organization is the FBI. Their duties are collecting data and evidence in cases that are within the federal jurisdiction. The main function of the FBI is to: "protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership and criminal justice service to federal, state, municipal, and international agencies and partners"( The Federal Bureau of investigation, n.d. ).

It was not until the bombings of government building in 1993 and 1995, that the FBI became more aware of threats international and domestic terrorist ( The Federal Bureau of investigations, n.d.). When these events happened, the FBI immediately expanded the numbers of offices they have around the nation. These events also lead to the International law enforcement Academy (ILEA) to open in 1994, in Budapest. This academy was an effort to help with the education of foreign law enforcement(Federal Bureau of Investigations,2011).

The FBI's focus changed once again after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This federal investigation "was the largest in FBI history" (Federal Bureau of investigations, 2011). The terrorist attacking 2001, brought the change of how the FBI used the Patriot Act. This act changed the guidelines to investigations, and it supported the proactive effort in counter terrorism (Federal Bureau of investigations, 2011). The FBI has continued to focus on continual improvement of national security and improving efforts for decreasing crime.

State levels of policing

The policing that are done at the state level differs depending on the state that is in question. These agencies are able to conduct investigations within their states borders. While each state agency runs a different type of organization, their main objective is to investigate crimes, their state's security, and traffic laws. They also have the obligation of organizing task forces that can help with the investigating of serious crimes. An interesting state agency in law enforcement is; Maine. They