Law Enforcement Policies
Introduction
Law enforcement may refer to professionals whose dedication is to uphold and enforce statutes and laws that are currently in force in a certain jurisdiction. The key objectives of enforcement professionals is to ensure suspected criminals are tried according to the local laws and to prevent the occurrence of a crime that may damage another individual or the society in general. There are several types of policies in law enforcement. Two policies that will be compared and contrasted are employee drug policy and the use of force policy.
Discussion
The role of law enforcement in employee drug policy is to protect the health, safety and well-being of all employees and other people in a given workplace. It is evident that drug use and alcohol abuse pose a major problem and threat to the goals of law enforcement agencies. Law enforcement agencies should are known to establishing drug-free workplace programs whose aim is to balance there respect for individuals with the need to achieve or maintain a drug and alcohol free environment.
On the other hand, the use of force policy grants the authority the role of making sure that every sworn law enforcement officer complies with the laws of a state with regard to the use of force. The role of law enforcement is to prepare individual officers in the best way it can in order to exercise that authority. The principle that guides law enforcement officers in determining the use of force is that the extent of force employed in any given situation should be that which reasonable necessary is. The law enforcement officers have a responsibility of take the necessary steps in order to stop the inappropriate use of force by other officers (Ferguson, 2008).
The role of the prosecutor with regard to employee drug policy is to take an immediate action upon getting violation cases reports. Given state or county has a right to report any violations of criminal drug statutes that occur in the work place to the courts and prosecutors. Under use of force policy, the municipal law and county agencies have the responsibility of notifying the prosecutor when the use of mechanical, physical or deadly force results in serious bodily injury or death. The prosecutor’s offices are then required to notify the criminal justice division when an agency member resorts to using mechanical, physical or deadly force resulting in serious bodily injury or death (Ferguson, 2008).
The role of corrections in employee drug policy is to discipline the policy violators. The discipline my include referral for assistance or termination of employment. The consequences of violation have to conform to the existing personnel policies and procedures and other applicable state laws. The corrections department also orders specific treatment and examination procedures for sentenced drug offenders. The role of any given correction department is to ensure that there is balance between the interest of the general public with equitable sanctions. Therefore, a law enforcement officer accused of violating the use of force policy is subject to punishment for instance charged in a court of law for criminal offence or terminated from work.
Federal application of policies differs from state application of policies and local application of policies. Federal policies cover or govern a large number of states while a state policy governs a specific state. It is therefore easier to implement a state policy compared to federal policy. Implementation of a federal policy requires approval and involvement of several subjects and institutions. A local policy may be designed to govern a limited number of individuals within a population. Local polices may be designed for a particular society or community.
Policies are an integral part of each and every society or community. It is therefore evident that the various policies put in place provide a framework and a safe environment for a given society or community to function. For instance, the use of force policy guides and informs the law enforcement officers on how they can appropriately use force. Hence, this policy provides a safe environment for the law enforcement community to function and it protects the general public too. The employment drug policy creates a safe workplace environment. It also enhances safety of all employees by prohibiting drug and alcohol use.
To measure the effectiveness of these policies, it is essential to count the number of employee drug-related arrests and use of force arrests in a given period of time. The number of arrests is then divided into the weight or extent of the offences committed. For instance if there are many arrests for large drug quantities, it means that the drug policy is effective and law enforcement is catching people involved in drug dealing and abuse. It is also essential to measure intra-criminal offences. If at all, leaders ate captured and pursued due to violation of different policies, then the organizations involved in implementing the policies will be pressed operationally and financially.In conclusion, employee drug policy and use of force policy are among the key policies that have proved to be effective in law enforcement.
Reference
Ferguson (2008) Law Enforcement (2nd Ed). Infobase Publishing.
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