Special Problems and Challenges and the Future of Policing In America (URC, NCIC)
Modern law enforcement operations and strategies are driven by best practices in the areas of data collection and manipulation, addressing special populations, and preventing organized criminal activities. A tremendous amount of specialization has evolved in today's sphere of policing, especially among federal, state, and local agencies. Perhaps, what is most evident is how the law enforcement agencies of the federal government have retooled to meet today's challenge of terrorism. Use your textbook, the Internet, and / or Strayer library to research credible sources on the aforementioned issues as they relate to law enforcement operations and management.
Write a five to seven (5-7) page paper in which you:
Identify and describe the major functions of the four (4) agencies of the Department of Justice. Of the four agencies, provide a rationale for which agency you feel has the greatest responsibility as it relates to federal law enforcement.
Explain the purposes of the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). Identify and discuss the various weaknesses related to the accuracy of the Uniform Crime Report (UCR).
Describe the major roles of police executives using the Mintzberg model of chief executive officers. Of the executive roles described in the model, provide a rationale for which role you feel is the most important for a chief executive officer’s success.
Examine two (2) legislative enactments that are in place to help combat terrorism. Provide your opinion on the effectiveness of these enactments in regards to combatting terrorism.
Analyze the problems related to determining the actual numbers of hate crimes and what makes hate crimes different from other crimes.
Use at least four (4) quality references including the textbooks. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
SPECIAL PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES AND THE FUTURE OF POLICING IN AMERICA
Name:
Instructor:
Institution:
Date:
Law enforcement in the present day has come to incorporate quite a lot of things that have made it as dynamic as the ever-changing characteristic of this generation. Whereas the old way of doing things simply involved the use of basic, hands-on applications, the current system of law enforcement incorporates the use of data collection, population prioritization and employment of technological anticipation processes to deal with crime, especially organized crime. Additionally, the current law enforcement agencies have chosen to specialize in specific fields so as to master and deal with cases in those respective fields in a much better way that it used to be. The United States has taken this specialization issue with a lot of seriousness and attention it deserves, ensuring that all its levels of administration, be it state or federal, have specialized units and respective departments in place. The sense of urgency in such strategic alignment and specialization has been fueled even further by the growth of global terrorism, especially with radical groups such as Al Qaeda and The Islamic State posing a security threat now more than ever. This paper will discuss the roles of the security agencies, their categorization and the explanation of various policing roles using the Mintzberg model.
Department of Justice
This is the executive branch of the government that is in charge of law enforcement as well as justice administration within the United States. The head of the department is the attorney general, who is usually selected by the nation’s president but has to go through the congress for vetting. The department is in place to ensure that all the policies and Acts passed by the congress and other federal acts are observed throughout the nation. There are four main agencies under the department of justice that would be of much importance in the discussion of law enforcement in this paper. These are the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and the U.S Marshals Service (U.S.M.S) (Dempsey & Forst, 2015).
Functions of the agencies of the Department of Justice
* Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI)
The FBI has got a wide range of duties. First of all, it usually scrutinizes all the activities done under the legal banner, against more than two hundred references so as to pinpoint any violations that might arise out of them. The agency is also mandated with searching for, finding out, and nullifying any potential infiltration of the country and its various systems, by external influences. The FBI manages to do this by also performing a parallel anti-terrorism and counterintelligence procedure almost similar but with the opposite goals to what the external entity had. FBI also offers assistance to other law enforcement agencies within the different jurisdictions (Dempsey & Forst, 2015).
* Drug Enforcement Agency(DEA)
As its name suggests, the DEA is mandated with investigating both local and international chains of drug syndicates, and coming up with measures to curb the vice by apprehending any culprit it lays its hands on.DEA works in collaboration with not only the local law enforcement agencies towards the same, but also other international agencies of similar duties, so as to break the chains of these drug syndicates. It manages the country’s narcotics intelligence system.
* Immigration and Naturalization Service(INS)
This agency is mandated to controlling the entry or subsequent exist of people in and out of the United States. It gives entry to all the individuals who have been deemed to legally enter the country, including allowing them all the constitutional rights they deserve. Similarly, it restricts the entry of people who are not authorized under any system or legal statute, to be in the country.
* U.S Marshals Service (U.S.M.S).
The U.S.M.S deals mainly with the legal court processes within the country. It is also in charge of the court personnel. To this end, the agency is in charge of offering security to all the judges in the nation’s courts. Additionally, it performs all the orders as laid down by the courts, as well as handling all the processes of the prisoners, from the court to the cells or jails.
Upon looking at the functions of these agencies under the Department of Justice and analyzing them critically, it is very evident that the FBI is more attached to federal law enforcement than all the others. Its roles are very much in relation to all the processes of the law, especially the stipulation that it should assist the other federal, state as well as local agencies in enforcement of the law. It is very clear that the FBI plays a vital role therefore, in law enforcement in the country.
Purposes of the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
...