Unit 5 IP introduction to law enforcement - Essay Example

Members, especially, those living in organized societies have the right to be protected by law. Most states have law enforcement agencies at the local, national and international level. Apart from this, there are specialized agencies that focus on specific areas like drugs, terrorism because local agencies do not have the required expertise, reach or resources to effectively tackle them. In general, it is the local police that arrive at the scene of a crime. But taking into consideration the nature, extent and scope, the local police may require or be compelled to work with other law enforcement agencies.

The advantage is that a cooperative effort will be much more effective in solving and controlling such crimes mentioned above. But the disadvantage is the conflict of interests, lack of cooperation or coordination among the agencies involved and to a certain extent, ethical dilemmas. This paper focuses on the concept of ethical dilemmas that may occur during cooperative effort between various law enforcement agencies and the local law enforcing department or agency (police department). In the process, the paper will attempt to identify possible dilemmas and also provide practical solutions in order to solve or prevent such occurrences.

The paper will take the form of a case study with regard to a local enforcement agency in a large city in the United States. The city in question is large and multiracial in nature. Typical of similar places, the main instances of crime are robbery, dealing and use of drugs (illegal substances), homicide and murder. Within the past decade new forms of crime have appeared the two major ones being terrorism and cyber crime. It should be noted that the city has not experienced any form of terrorist attack in the past.

But after the 9/11 attack, security has been strengthened and the local enforcement administration has to work in