CRJ102 (Intro to Law Enforcement) Unit 1 Study Notes
Chapter 2
o The U.S. approach to law enforcement is unique when compared
with the rest of the world.
o Japan and some western European countries- Denmark, Finland,
Greece, and Sweden- have a single national police force.
o The U.S. does not have a national police force, although many
people think of the FBI as one.
o Local control: the formal and informal use of local and
neighborhood forms of government to deter abhorrent behaviors.
o In 2008, state and local governments in the U.S. operated almost
17,985 full time enforcement agencies.
o These included 12,501 local police departments (mostly
municipal and county departments), 3.063 sheriff's offices and
50 primary state police departments.
o When we translate all these statistics into words, we can make
some generalizations and identify trends about the U.S. law
enforcement industry
The size and scope of the U.S. law enforcement industry
are enormous.
The U.S. law enforcement industry is tremendously diverse
and fragmented.
The U.S. law enforcement industry is predominantly local.
There are many employment opportunities in U.S. law
enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels.
o Nationwide, in 2008, there were 251 full-time state and local law
enforcement employees for every 100,000 residents, for a
nationwide sworn law enforcement employee average of 2.51
law enforcement employees per 1,000 citizens.
The states with the highest law enforcement averages:
District of Columbia; 7.22
Louisiana; 4.05
New York; 3.89
The states with the lowest law enforcement averages:
Washington; 1.74
Utah; 1.75
Oregon; 1.77
Chapter 2
o The U.S. approach to law enforcement is unique when compared
with the rest of the world.
o Japan and some western European countries- Denmark, Finland,
Greece, and Sweden- have a single national police force.
o The U.S. does not have a national police force, although many
people think of the FBI as one.
o Local control: the formal and informal use of local and
neighborhood forms of government to deter abhorrent behaviors.
o In 2008, state and local governments in the U.S. operated almost
17,985 full time enforcement agencies.
o These included 12,501 local police departments (mostly
municipal and county departments), 3.063 sheriff's offices and
50 primary state police departments.
o When we translate all these statistics into words, we can make
some generalizations and identify trends about the U.S. law
enforcement industry
The size and scope of the U.S. law enforcement industry
are enormous.
The U.S. law enforcement industry is tremendously diverse
and fragmented.
The U.S. law enforcement industry is predominantly local.
There are many employment opportunities in U.S. law
enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels.
o Nationwide, in 2008, there were 251 full-time state and local law
enforcement employees for every 100,000 residents, for a
nationwide sworn law enforcement employee average of 2.51
law enforcement employees per 1,000 citizens.
The states with the highest law enforcement averages:
District of Columbia; 7.22
Louisiana; 4.05
New York; 3.89
The states with the lowest law enforcement averages:
Washington; 1.74
Utah; 1.75
Oregon; 1.77
