Law Enforcement Today

Enforcement Today Name CJS/200 October 28, 2012 Instructor Name Law Enforcement Today Police departments in today’s society face a variety of issues such as working in a multicultural society, corruption within the department, the dangers involved in their work, such as violence on duty, and their use of force when subduing a suspect, just to name a few. (Schmalleger, 2011). With so many issues to consider, the job of policing our streets continues to become increasing challenging. As society in the United States continues to evolve, this country has become home to people of various ethnic backgrounds and cultures.

This creates more issues for police departments when the police department is not diverse enough, and this could lead to racial profiling and language issues. When a police officer is unaware with the dialect or the language of the community, this can make it harder to investigate cases because it makes it tough to find out whether the crime has happen, when it happen and where it happened. If a police officer considers a person’s race to determine if a crime has happened, or more likely to happen, this is what is considered as racial profiling (Schmalleger, 2011).

One solution to this problem would be to hire and train more officers that speak more than one language. Along with racial profiling, officers face another issue within their police departments, which is corruption. While most officers take their vow to protect and to serve seriously, and honor the commitment they took, there are others who do not. Some officers fall prey to temptations such as bribery. The lower salary of a police officer is one reason for officers to accept bribes (Schmalleger, 2011)..

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Some police officers will take money as payment from an offender for making a speeding ticket disappear, or for walking away from a drug transaction in progress. Another form of corruption would be when an officer denies the suspect their constitutional right to due process by planting evidence at a crime scene. Other officers may commit offenses such as drinking while driving, and by using illegal drugs. Their idea that they are above prosecution, because they are a law enforcement officer, is another form of police corruption (Schmalleger, 2011). Corrupt behavior can also lead to violence when something goes wrong.

Police officers also face the dangers of violence in the line of duty, as well as the risk of coming into contact with dangerous, or infected evidence (Schmalleger, 2011). For example, when an officer has to respond to a domestic violence incident, there is a real possibility of the perpetrator becoming violent with the officer as well. Officers also need to be cautious of how they handle infected evidence, such as the needles which are used by a known drug user, If a drug suspect has disease such as Aids, an officer can become infected with Aids if he does not handle the needle properly, and inadvertently sticks himself with the needle.

They also face the possibility of coming into contact with dangerous evidence, such as explosive devices. Issues such as these make the officer’s job extremely dangerous. Fortunately, local law enforcement officers have the benefit of a close working relationship with state and federal law enforcement agencies to assist their efforts in combatting crime. Law enforcement at every level share information with the United States Department of Homeland Security, to safeguard the land of the United States from criminal activity which may occur domestically or at the hands of another country.

These agencies include The United States of Citizenship – The Immigration Services, The United States Border of Protection, The United States Immigration – The Customs Enforcement, The Federal Emergency Management Agency, The United States Secret Service, and The Transportation Security Administration. The United States of Citizenship and the Immigration Services handle the progression of citizenship, residency, and housing for foreigners.

The United States of Custom and the Border Protection is a law enforcement method that puts in force United States borders including land, sea or even air. The United States Custom and the Border Protection watches and enforced the customs, agriculture regulations and immigrants. The United States Immigration and the Customs Enforcement were put into 2 areas. One was to have an investigation of international and national crimes which was called Homeland Security Investigation.

The other one was to enforce the removals of immigrants that violate, which was called the Enforcement and Removal Operations. The Transportation Security Administration was known for taking care of the air travel security international and domestic. Also they were responsible for the territory and the water transport security (Department of Homeland Security, n. d. ). The United States Coast Guard was the services for safeguarding our natural resources, defending national, and security of maritime.

The United States Secret Service is known as an law enforcement that gives safeguard services for vital government officers. The United States Service also protects the United States exchange. Some suggestions on to how to develop the relationship between the DHS the police department is by educating more law enforcement and home land officials about using security and the process about how to use it too. More suggestions will be improving communication by learning different ways to communicate by adding language programs or just hiring a more diverse officer.

Another suggestion will be improving is on how well the private security and the law enforcement get along. This matter because this takes an important role in Department of Homeland Security. References Department of Homeland Security. (n. d. ). Homeland Security Information Network - Law Enforcement Mission. Retrieved from http://www. dhs. gov Schmalleger, F. (2011). Criminal justice today: An introductory text for the twenty- first century(11th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall

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