Police Roles and Function

Police Roles and Functions

Alan Barros

CJS/210

July 5, 2014

Michael Stauffer

Police Roles and Functions

In order to prevent crime and keep communities safe, the roles, functions, and job duties of police has changed numerous times since policing first began. Several agencies have also been created throughout the nation to distribute police work evenly instead of depending on one agency with full jurisdiction and power. However, each agency maintains and enforces the basic idea of policing: to protect and serve.

According to Schmalleger (2011), the role of police in society is to solve problems. They solve problems by enforcing laws, maintaining peace within society, and protecting citizens and communities from harm. Robert Peel described the function of the police as three basic functions: deter crime, enhance feeling of public safety, and make officers available for service (Walker and Katz, 2008). However, their job duties are not limited to these few things. In fact, police officers may be involved in a number of other duties such as investigating serious crimes, serving the court, and maintaining correctional facilities in some police agencies.

Each police agency has different rules, regulations, and jurisdictions. Police duties and functions are distributed across police agencies, which include local, state, and federal. Instead of overwhelming one police agency covering the entire nation and handling every type of police work, there are various types of agencies that have different roles and functions. Law enforcement agency in the United States may serve a different purpose, but all share a common goal of safeguarding and protecting the citizens, communities, and the nation.

Amongst the many responsibilities of local police officers, they are responsible for community patrol, investigating serious crimes, and emergency assistance. Local police agencies also handle all types of calls within...