American law enforcement organizations - Term Paper Example

American law enforcement organizations Abstract Law enforcement organizations play a vital role in running the affairs of the countries. This study has been conducted to understand the importance of the law enforcement organizations, the procedures that they follow and most importantly how do they meet the challenges. The core of this research is based on the challenges faced by the law enforcement organizations in the 21st century and ways have been recommended on how these organizations can improve on their efficiency. This study revolves around the American law enforcement organizations and their examples have been quoted to form a general perspective about the role of the law enforcement organizations. This study will discuss in detail how the law enforcement organizations can shape their procedures to be more efficient and to what betterment will this improved efficiency lead to. 1. Introduction To begin with, first there needs to be a clear understanding of what the law enforcement organizations are. Law enforcement organizations are the agencies which enforce law and are responsible for the efficient enforcement of law. These organizations usually work under the government. Law enforcement organizations play a vital role in managing the affairs of the state. It helps the government to maintain law and discipline. They help devise laws and on top of that are responsible for their enforcement. Without these law enforcement organizations government cannot enact on its own. Local or state police, federal agencies, national police force, commerce bureaus, trade agencies and criminal justice organizations are some of the law enforcement agencies that form the hub of the state’s disciplinary activities. Law enforcement organizations are like departments and need to be well managed. Poor management of these departments results in poor law enforcement and inefficiency. The world is changing every day and is creating more and more challenges. Law enforcement agencies need to cope with these challenges by remaining up to date with the managerial procedural innovations so that they do not lack on their efficiency. The study focuses on these innovations and how they help in improving the efficiency of the law enforcement organizations. The study will not just discuss about the challenges faced by the law enforcement agencies, but will also ponder over the structural features of these organizations and what causes the law enforcement agencies to fail. The managerial aspect of these agencies will be the main focus. 2. Research Question Are federal law enforcement agencies better than the national law enforcement agencies when it comes to efficiency and meeting the 21st century challenges? 3. Aim and Objectives 2.1Aim The aim of this study is to find out the three most important ways through which the law enforcement organizations can improve on their efficiency. 2.2Objectives 1) The first and foremost objective of this research is to find out the main role of the law enforcement organizations in dealing with the daily affairs of any country. 2) The second objective is to study the challenges faced by these law enforcement organizations in the 21st Century and how do these law enforcement organizations cope with these challenges. 3) The third and the most important objective is to recommend three possible ways through which the law enforcement organizations can work more efficiently and deal with the challenges of this new century in a more competitive way. 4. Research Design Objectives together constitute the main aim of this research. All objectives need to be studied in detail in order to fulfill the aim of this study and to answer the research question. Research design will elaborate on all the methods that have been used during the course of this research. Each objective requires a slightly different research approach and thus for each objective research methods have been used accordingly. There are two main methods of research, primary and secondary. Generally for the research purpose researchers’ start with the secondary data which has been already collected by someone else for some other research purpose. Such data can be used again and again for different research purposes. In this case, research has been conducted mainly using the secondary data. The sources of secondary data that have been used throughout the research include internet articles, reports, books, journals and the official websites of different law enforcement organizations. Secondary data has an advantage over the primary data collection. Primary data is collected for the first time and may contain some loopholes. In the case of secondary data collection, data has already been collected by another entity and has been used for different research purposes. This provides with a satisfaction that the data available is authentic as it is used by various people for the research purpose. Another advantage of the secondary data is the time restraint. The time period for this research was considerably very short and it was impossible to conduct an efficient primary research. Another research method that was used was the information gathered from the government peers and officials. Their opinions were gathered through their books and reports present on the internet. These sources have been quite helpful in providing with the qualitative and quantitative data both. 3.1Data Collection 3.1.1First Objective Internet was the main source that was used to provide with the relevant information regarding the first objective. Internet sources like e-books and different articles were used in order to gather information about different law enforcement organizations. These sources were used to make a conspicuous statement about the role of the law enforcement organizations in dealing with the affairs of the country. 3.1.2Second Objective To provide with the content for the second objective certain books were used that explained about the challenges faced by the law enforcement organizations. Official websites of different law enforcement organizations like NAPO, FBI were also used for the research purpose. Both were quite helpful in providing with relevant information about how the law enforcement organizations manage to cope with new challenges. 3.1.3Third Objective The third objective is in alignment with the aim of this study. Different books, articles and official websites of American law enforcement agencies were used together to recommend different ways to the law enforcement organizations that will help them improve their effectiveness. Third objective can only be fulfilled when the first and second objectives are answered clearly. Literature review was also helpful in providing an insight to all the three objectives collectively. 3.2Validity and Reliability The purpose of research is to provide with valid and reliable information so that it can be later used for discussions and analysis and be a source of secondary data to other entities. It was ensured that unreliable sources of data that may include random information available on the internet were not used. Internet is not a bad source of information but it is difficult to differentiate between the authentic information and the information provided by random unreliable sources. To overcome the validity and reliability concern, library catalogues, e-books, law enforcement organizations’ official websites and other authentic sources like BBC were used. Such sources provide with the authentic and official information which is both valid and reliable. If false and unreliable sources are used, it may lead to wrong conclusion and recommendation and will distort the whole purpose of the research. It will not only lead to invalid and unreliable information but will also result in false-judgments. Inaccuracy will be the biggest threat because the whole analysis can go wrong. It was taken care of that the reliable sources of information are used and that the purpose of this research remains intact. 5. Literature Review In the article “Management and Organizational history: Prospects” (Booth. C & Rowlinson. M 2006) raise a point that there is a historic turn that has taken place in the management and organization theory. The research was mainly done on the corporate basis. Business organizations and corporations were the main parts of this study. They discussed the theories of Universalism and Presentism to explain the present position of the organizations and regarding their management. He argued that contemporary organization theory is more apt and provides with better results when it comes to management. He presented with an argument that the world has changed significantly and historical theories can no more be applied to the present scenarios. He stated that the theories of Universalism and Presentism contradict each other. But first there is a need to understand these two important terms that they have used in their research. Universalism is the theory which says that any society from pre historic era to the present face the same organizational challenges (Booth. C & Rowlinson. M 2006). Universalism leads to a view that contemporary organizational theory applies to the organizations of all the societies at all times. Whereas Presentism leads to the view that theory can only be applied to the present scenario but the loophole here is that this present scenario period is not marked. According to this theory present has been unbounded and extended period that has not faced any significant change. So technically both the theories fail to provide a solid base for the management of the organizations. Another concept that was discussed by the authors was the concept of organizational memory. They stated that the stored information from the organization’s history can be used to make the present decisions. Though this study focused on the business and corporate culture but it does provide with an overall organizational theory that is applied to different organizations. Universalism, Presentism and Organizational Memory are not the terms that are restricted to business organizations alone. They can also be applied to the law enforcement organizations because they face the same challenges and need the same managerial procedures as does the business organizations. Mintzberg. H 1989 gives an important insight to the organizations and discusses about the importance of managerial role in the success of these organizations. He not only explored the function of management, but the organization itself and its meaning for the society. All these exploring were a part of Mintzberg’s book “Mintzberg on Management”. The author discussed about the strategy, structure, power and politics that form the basis of the organizational theory. He stated that in order to achieve the success of any organization there needs to be a successful strategy formulation and outstanding management. He argued that the success of any organization depends on the performance of its employees and managers. He raised the point that management can only be effective when managers can successfully combine interpersonal, informational and decision-making roles. Organizations are performing well when its employees understand and respond to the pressures and dilemmas of the job (Mintzberg. H, 1989). These arguments stand true for the law enforcement organizations as well. 6. Hypothesis The following hypothesis was proposed to answer the research question and to conclude this research. H0: Federal law enforcement agencies are better than national law enforcement agencies when it comes to efficiency and meeting the 21st century challenges. H1: Federal law enforcement agencies are not better than the national law enforcement agencies when it comes to efficiency and meeting the 21st century challenges. H2: Federal law enforcement agencies and national law enforcement agencies rank equally when it comes to efficiency and meeting 21st century challenges. 7. Data Presentation and Analysis The role of Law enforcement agencies is an important one as stated earlier. Law enforcement agencies help in harm reduction in the society. Law enforcement organizations basically work for the welfare of the society. Government cannot enforce law on its own. These organizations are like a helping hand. These organizations work together to reduce crime in the society. They make laws that help the unprivileged to seek justice. They devise laws that help the state to move towards stability and discipline. Law enforcement organizations are important from the nation’s security point of view (Congress Research Service, 2001). Law enforcement organizations are the policy makers. They make laws to avoid potential threats of money laundering, smuggling, terrorism, drugs trafficking etc (Congress Research Service, 2001; Denhardt, R. B, 1984). It is not only that these organizations work to reduce crime in the society but they also work to enhance trade and also work for the education sector. This general approach about the law enforcement organizations can be used to deduce the role of the American law enforcement organizations. The American law enforcement organizations work together with the state and perform the same functions as described above. Law enforcement organizations either work at a federal or national level. The responsibilities of federal law enforcement agencies vary from country to country. Federal law enforcement agencies are responsible for countering fraud against the federation, immigration and border control regarding people and goods, investigating currency counterfeiting, policing of airports and protection of designated national infrastructure, national security, and the protection of the country’s head of state and of other designated very important persons (0’Hara. P, 2005). On the other hand, National law enforcement agencies have no divisional capabilities to make their own laws. National Law enforcement agency has the combined responsibilities of the federal and divisional law enforcement agencies. National law enforcement agencies are usually divided into the operations areas. Federal law enforcement agencies have more jurisdictional powers than the national law enforcement agencies. Law enforcement agencies are responsible for the enforcement of laws affecting the behavior of people or the general community, or the behavior of commercial organizations and corporations, or for the benefit of the country as a whole. There are many general examples of the law enforcement agencies that can be found all across the world, in different countries. These examples include Religious law enforcement agencies, police agencies, and military and internal law enforcement agencies. Intelligence agencies also work parallel to the law enforcement organizations. Law enforcement organizations are established by the governing body of the state. Together these agencies are responsible for policing, social order, public safety, regulation, law compliance, education and awareness, services and facilities, helping the victims of disasters, public logistics and crowd control etc. If these law enforcement organizations do not play their part, any country will be in chaos. A proper system cannot be run without these agencies (O'Hara. P, 2005). Role of the law enforcement agencies in maintaining discipline and dealing with the daily affairs of a country is explained in a candid way It is not the rule that the law enforcement agencies always have success story to offer. They need plenty of hard work and skills to be effective. At times these law enforcement agencies fail. These agencies fail to maintain social order and crowd control. Talking from the perspective of the American law enforcement agencies, which are established on the federal basis, hold a wider perspective of social order. Many of these organizations go beyond the national boundaries and work to maintain this discipline, order and a system of security throughout the world. The American agencies that go beyond these national boundaries include FBI (Federal Investigation Bureau), Diplomatic System Security (DSS), the US Department of State, the Interpol and US Marshalls etc. Not only these wide scoped agencies, but US has established many law enforcement organizations that operate within the national boundaries and have local goals and objectives. These local organizations mainly include the police department, criminal justice department, religious department and the security department. It’s not that the wide scoped agencies only work on an international level, but instead these agencies work to achieve the local goals and to meet the international goals together but mainly operate within the US. New York Police Department (NYPD), National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) and US department of Health and Human services are few examples of the local US law enforcement agencies. They work day and night to provide the nation with social order, peace and security. These departments ensure the safety of the public from any possible threats. NAPO is a is a coalition of police unions and associations from across the United States that serves to meet the interests of America's law enforcement officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education. NAPO is now the strongest unified voice supporting law enforcement officers in the United States. NAPO represents more than 2,000 police units and associations (National Association of Police Organizations, 2011). NAPO helps in the law enforcement by providing legislative bills that either support or oppose the legislative dealings. They make sure that all the information is available to all the officers. The organization makes sure that all the legislative bills are available in print to all the officers. In order to keep the officers informed at each level, in addition to the print media, NAPO has started publishing its Legislative Priorities online. This provides easier access to the officers and with more up to date information. The moment there is some change in the Legislative Priorities of NAPO, the web is updated as soon as possible, making them an excellent resource for officers looking to increase their knowledge of legislative issues affecting them (NAPO Legislative Priorities, 2011). Another very important local police agency is NYPD (New York City Police Department). The mission NYPD is to enhance the quality of life in the city by working in accordance with the constitutional rights to enforce the laws and preserve the peace. The agency deals with crime, terrorism, traffic control, missing persons etc. It also deals with the community affairs. The NYPD has established its own Community Affairs Bureau. The Community Affairs Bureau was established to encourage positive and productive police-community relations. The bureau was able to do this by providing different interactive community participation programs. Its mission is to establish communication with community leaders, to hear their concerns and answer any questions that may arise (NYPD, 2011). NYPD together with its Community Affairs Bureau also gather intelligence, dismiss rumors, disseminate accurate information and establish liaisons with other agencies. By doing this, the department ensures that the information is used in order to improve the quality of life in all neighborhoods (NYPD, 2011) “We strive for a safer tomorrow” (NYPD, 2011) The department provides with different training programs, youth programs and participation programs to keep the general public involved with the law enforcement authorities and hear out their concerns (NYPD, 2011). Another important example that can be quoted here is the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This does not belong to the police department but is an intelligence agency which is responsible for the security of the American nation. The agency states its mission as follows: “As an intelligence-driven and a threat-focused national security and law enforcement organization, the mission 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 services to federal, state, municipal, and international agencies and partners” (FBI, 2011). The agency works in obedience to the constitution of the US. The mission of FBI clearly states its role as a law enforcement body. It is an American agency which operates around the globe. The FBI focuses on threats that challenge the foundations of American society or involve dangers too large or complex that any local or state authority cannot handle on its own. In executing the following priorities, we will produce and use intelligence to protect the nation from threats and to bring to justice those who violate the law (FBI, 2011) Protect the United States from terrorist attack Protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes Combat public corruption at all levels Protect civil rights Combat transnational/national criminal organizations and enterprises Combat major white-collar crime Combat significant violent crime Support federal, state, local and international partners Upgrade technology to successfully perform the FBI's mission (FBI, 2011) The agency has further placed itself in the partnership agreements with different agencies. There is as Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3) established in US. It is result of a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Centre (NW3C) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). They work together to reduce the internet crime by tracking down the illegal internet activities. Victims of the cyber crime can file their complaint to the Internet Crime Complaint Centre and the agency tracks down the criminal and provide the innocent victims with justice. IC3 also provides internet crime prevention tips to the internet users. The centre has established an online complaint centre. It ensures that the website is user friendly and remains up to date (Internet Crime Complaint Centre, 2011) These are just few examples of the US law enforcement agencies. There are hundreds of other US law enforcement agencies but not all of them can be mentioned. The basic reason to quote these few examples was to see the similarity between the missions of the different law enforcement agencies. It was found that the main aim of all these organizations is to protect their nation, whether it’s an intelligence agency like FBI, whether it’s an internet crime reporting agency, whether it’s the police etc. They all work for the public safety and social order. 21st century has seen many ups and downs. It has created many new challenges. This world is a place of uncertainty. Likewise Law enforcement agencies also went through a significant change during the 21st century which is yet to be ended. The challenges that these law enforcement organizations face include terrorism, technological innovations, globalization of networks and the changing environment (Mayer. M & Erickson. S, 2011). Terrorism is the greatest threat that the law enforcement agencies face in this present century. It has raised new security concerns. The agencies have to work on the edge to ensure that their nation is safe and sound. So much technological advancement has taken place since the 19th century. Each day some new technology is born making the older technology obsolete. Law enforcement agencies have to remain up to date with these technological advancements. If they do not infuse these innovations into their managerial procedures, the organization might fail. Internet crime has risen significantly to such an extent that terrorism activities have started taking place through the use of internet. Law enforcement organizations need a close supervision of these global networks all the time. Another challenge that these agencies face is to make the public believe that they are working for their safety. In chaotic situations, usually law enforcement agencies fail in crowd controlling. Employee motivation is another challenge and also hiring the right workers. Law enforcement organizations need the best selection and recruitment procedures to find employees who are dedicated towards serving the nation. The organizations need to keep on providing incentives to its existing employees to keep them motivated, so they work in the interest of the general public. These are just few challenges that the law enforcement organizations need to meet every day (Federal Trade Commission, 1996; Mayer. M & Erickson. S, 2011). To meet these challenges, law enforcement organizations need to change their managerial procedures. They need to make their management more effective. To begin this, first they need to improve the employee morale which could be done by providing incentives like bonuses etc. Secondly, they need to remain up to date with the technological advancements. Every law enforcement organization can have its own IT department or team which can assist the organization in the area of technological innovations. The governing body can make a separate agency, not FBI to just supervise the global networks and to keep a close eye on the global internet activities to trace cyber crime and the terrorist activity. Another thing that the law enforcement agencies can do is to establish community centers just like the one established by New York City Police Department. This will create a bond between the general public and these law enforcement agencies (Mintzberg. H, 1989; Lynn. M, 2005; Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. 2008; US Department of Justice, 1999). Training is the key to success for any organization. Law enforcement organizations can introduce new technologies and new procedures but if the personnel does not possess skills to make the best use of these new technologies and procedures, then the whole effort will go in vain. Training can be used to improve the employee efficiency. As explained earlier, employees are assets of the organization, if they fail, the organization fail, if they succeed, the organization succeed (Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E, 2008; Mintzberg. H, 1989). American law enforcement agencies do not operate on the national basis. They are formed on the federal basis and operate divisionally. There only few countries that enforce law on the national basis like Newzealand, Canada etc. These are small countries and do not require divisional units. They can manage by establishing law enforcement through operational areas. It is true that federal agencies have more power when it comes to making and enforcing law and are more efficient than the national law enforcement agencies. The reason is that they hold more jurisdictional power to enforce laws. Federal agencies operate on divisional basis. Each division has its own agencies that operate within those boundaries. National law enforcement agencies have to perform different operations for the whole country which requires more time and skills and more employees as well. But then again it all depends on the size and population of the country, its literacy rate, corruption rate and crime rate. Countries with small size and population, plus low crime rate can manage through the national law enforcement agencies (Hurd, I 2011) 8. Conclusion All the findings give a deep insight to the American law enforcement system which is based on the federal system of agencies. It is true that the law enforcement organizations need excellent managerial operations to run its errands. It can be concluded from the findings that all the law enforcement agencies work around a similar principle of maintaining social order and to protect its nation from security threats. These organizations meet new challenges every day whether it’s terrorism, technology, globalization, networking, employee motivation etc. American law enforcement organizations are efficient organizations and can further improve their efficiency by three ways. Firstly the efficiency can be improved through the proper training of the employees, secondly through incorporating new technological advancements into the managerial procedures and thirdly by establishing a bond with a general public. The bond with the general public will help the law enforcement agencies to hear out the concerns of the public and make them believe that the agencies are working in the public’s best interest to keep them safe from all the possible threats. The research question was based on the federal nature of the law enforcement agencies. It can be concluded that the hypothesis H0 is true. The hypothesis states that Federal law enforcement agencies are better than national law enforcement agencies when it comes to efficiency and meeting the 21st century challenges. America is a huge state. Law enforcement cannot be done on the national basis. America comprises of many different states which run under the same government. In such a case, divisional agencies can work more efficiently within small divisional boundaries. National law enforcement agencies can work for smaller countries where there is less crime rate, small population and the size of the country is small. America faces a threat of terrorism, has high crime rate, huge geographical area and huge population which cannot be managed under the national head. America sets an example of the federal system. It has the access to the latest technologies, latest managerial procedures and has the most effective intelligence agencies and global networks. The system is better than many of the countries having a system of national law enforcement agencies. 9. Recommendations It was concluded that through training the law enforcement organizations can improve their efficiency. It is recommended that training centers should be established throughout the state so people from all over the state have access to these training campaigns and do not have to travel miles to get training. This will also increase efficiency because training centers will be less crowded and each trainee will get more time and attention by the instructors to polish their skills. These skills might include the leadership skills, technology savvy skills etc. Another recommendation that is to be made is regarding the technology that that is used by these law enforcement agencies to store data and run different errands. There should be an IT team for each department that should handle the data. The whole system should be made fool proof so no hacker gets access to even a bit of any important data that lays with the law enforcement agencies. Whatever technology these law enforcement agencies use should be user friendly to deal with the time restraint. It should not take forever for the employees to get used to the technology. References O'Hara, P. (2005). Why law enforcement organizations fail: Mapping the organizational fault lines in policing. Durham, N.C: Carolina Academic Press. Mintzberg, H. (1989). Mintzberg on management: Inside our strange world of organizations. New York: Free Press. Booth, C., & Rowlinson, M. (January 01, 2006). Management and organizational history: Prospects. Management and Organizational History, 1, 1, 5-30. Lynn, M. (January 01, 2005). Organizational Buffering: Managing Boundaries and Cores. Organization Studies, 26, 1, 37-61. Denhardt, R. B. (1984). Theories of public organization. Monterey, Calif: Brooks/Cole Pub. Co. Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2008). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Federal Trade Commission (1996) Challenges for Law Enforcement Hurd, I. (2011). International organizations: Politics, law, practice. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Mayer. M & Erickson. S (2011) Changing today’s Law Enforcement Culture to Face 21st-Century Threats US Department of Justice (1999) The Clinton Administration’s Law Enforcement Strategy: The 21st Century Law Enforcement and Public Safety Act Congressional Research Service (2001) Intelligence and Law Enforcement: Countering Transnational threats to the U.S. Internet Crime Complaint Centre (2011) Welcome to the IC3 < http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx> Internet Crime Complaint Centre (2011) About Us < http://www.ic3.gov/about/default.aspx> National Association of Police Organizations (2011) Welcome to NAPO National Association of Police Organizations (2011) Legislative Priorities New York City Police Department (2011) Community Affairs Bureau < http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/community_affairs/community_affairs.shtml> New York City Police Department (2011) < http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/home/home.shtml> Federal Investigation Bureau (2011) Quick Facts Read More