Law enforcement in the United States
The police of the United States is organized at many different levels of the federal system. At the federal level, the FBI for the elucidation of the majority of the crimes that were committed against federal laws, responsible. These mainly relate to areas of international trade and organized crime, but also such offenses such as kidnapping. On a state level, there are the State Police ( State Police ), which is often responsible for the supervision of the highways and the protection of state institution. At the level of counties or districts sheriffs are responsible for everything that happens outside of the cities and incorporated towns. However, there are cities and towns with sheriffs, who are in districts and counties for which a separate sheriff or police forces are in charge again and vice versa.
In addition to the fact that every community, every town (sometimes even each district ), every county and every state in the U.S. has its own police force, there is in the business areas of most ministries at state and federal level more authorities, the police powers have. Furthermore, municipal authorities have additional investigative authorities for certain areas. Thus, the fire investigation is carried out in many cities of partially armed firefighter (eg in Chicago, New York City). Investigators are referred to, for example, in New York City as "Fire Marshall " and belong to the " Bureau of Fire Investigation". At the federal level, there are, for example, investigators at the Federal postal, financial and customs authorities, the Armed forces Navy, Army, Air Force, Marineinfantrie, port authorities, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Commerce, etc.
Overall, in the United States approximately 840,000 police officers on duty.
The term police is being applied in most of the employed by local police officers. Occasionally, universities or other government agencies have received from the competent Parliament the authority to maintain their own police forces. Both the local police of the cities as well as the sheriff and the special police of a particular facility only have a strongly bound local authority (such as a university police etc only on the campus of the University appropriate, the municipal police only within the city limits ). By special arrangement, these bonds can be relaxed (for example, a city and a university of the other contracting party has granted the right to act in justified cases in each others' territory ).
Police at the federal level
Police violence have their own military police of the U.S. armed services. However, there are also military authorities whose employees the status as a federal agent ( federal agents) have, these are police officers in the U.S. Army ( Criminal Investigation Division - CID ) and the U.S. Navy or the U.S. Marine Corps ( Naval Criminal Investigative Service - NCIS ). Furthermore Kriminalpolizeien the Federal Treasury ( Department of the Treasury ), the Federal Mail ( U.S. Postal Police), customs ( U.S. Customs ), the immigration authorities (ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( new) ), the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Transport and the tax investigation of exist Ministry of Finance. In addition, there are combat drugs in addition to the tariff nor the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Border surveillance is still perceived in addition to the immigration authority of the U.S. Border Patrol. In the National Recreation Areas Golden Gate Bridge and Liberty Iceland, the U.S. Park Police is responsible.
The most important criminal investigation at the federal level is the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). For certain offenses, which are directed against the President and the Vice President for cash and credit card counterfeiting, the Secret Service is responsible.
In addition, the Coast Guard (U.S. Coast Guard ) has police powers in their area. For the security of federal courts and for specific tasks, the special U.S. Marshals are responsible.
Police forces of the states and the Federal District
The only USA - wide standardization in the police is the police emergency number 911, which can be called toll- free from almost any public phone and from almost any mobile phone network.
Washington ( D. C. )
In Washington are currently about 30 different police agencies operate.
The District of Columbia (DC) has its own police force, which is the entire area of the district, not only within the government buildings, works. The officers of the Metropolitan Police Department Columbia ( MPDC ) wearing a dark blue, almost black uniform with a white shirt, the police cars are white. The city is divided into seven so-called Police Service Areas, which in turn are subdivided into districts.
A special feature is the additional toll-free number 311, which lies next to the emergency number 911. The number 311 is for less urgent messages ( property damage, theft, if the offender is no longer on site, parking disabilities) and provided information.
The Criminal Investigation Department is a department within the MPDC. She is responsible for all offenses except the fire investigation. Fire investigations, as in almost all major cities common in the USA, perceived by firefighters with police powers and a police additional training and not by the police. These firefighters are also usually armed. So also with the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department ( FEMS ), which is struggling with the same financial problems as the police. The fire investigators the fire wear civilian clothes or the dress uniform of the fire department.
In addition to these offices with police duties, there is the Police and Firefighters ' Retirement and Relief Board for tasks that are related to retirement or incapacity and the Office of Police Complaints, which is responsible for investigations of misconduct by police officers.
For the area of the Capitol to the Congress under -standing United States Capitol Police is in charge of about 1,700 policemen.
In the federal buildings either officials of the Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Building Management or the military police are responsible.
Navajo Nation
A special feature is the reserve police of the Navajo Nation in Arizona, which also operates its own judicial prisons.