Law_Enforcement_Today

Law Enforcement Today CSJ/200 Law Enforcement Today Since I am a member of the Nevada Highway Patrol I have seen the collaborate efforts between State, Local and federal agencies, so I will write about what I know to be true. We work together with local municipalities with funds from the federal government for target enforcement actions. These include but are not limited to speed enforcement action and DUI check points. We will work side by side with other agencies to target an area either on the highways or in and around city streets; since the Highway Patrol has jurisdictional authority throughout the state we can work anywhere. The Highway patrol also works with others throughout the state; there are special units in the area of drug interdiction, stolen vehicles and fugitive apprehension. Drug interdiction teams again work with local municipalities, Drug Enforcement Agency and the State District Attorney’s Office. These agencies work hand in hand to target the drug trafficking throughout the state by again working side by side on the highways of Nevada. Funding is typically through the High Density Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has a special detail within its Property Crimes Section called VIPER (Vehicle Investigations Project for Enforcement and Recovery). VIPER is an undercover, multi-jurisdictional auto theft task force focusing on auto theft for profit cases. VIPER is comprised of LVMPD and other local law enforcement agencies. The focus of the task force is mainly organized theft operations, chop shops and vehicle dealerships (or repair shop) inspections. The Fugitive apprehension team works in conjunction with the United States Marshal Service who oversees the nation's regional fugitive task forces. These task forces were established under the Presidential Threat Protection Act of 2000. The purpose of regional fugitive task forces is to combine the efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to locate and apprehend the most dangerous fugitives and assist in high profile investigations. Another tool that has been developed were the development of State and Local Fusion Centers (SLFCs) being created by the States and Major Urban Areas as a way to address the unique information needs of State, local, tribal, and territorial authorities, along with their stakeholders, including the private sector. After 9/11 it was determined that the flow of information in both directions between Local, State and Federal agencies could be better. Fusion centers were designed to improve the flow of information. According to Department of Justice (2008), " A fusion center is defined as; A collaborative effort of two or more agencies that provide resources, expertise, and information to the center with the 48 Baseline Capabilities for State and Major Urban Area Fusion Centers goal of maximizing the ability to detect, prevent, investigate, and respond to criminal and terrorism activity. (Fusion Center Guidelines, August 2006); recognized as a valuable information sharing resource, state and major urban area fusion centers are the focus, but not exclusive points, within the state and local environment for the receipt and sharing of terrorism information, homeland security information, and law enforcement information related to terrorism. Federal agencies will provide terrorism-related information to state, local, and tribal authorities primarily through these fusion centers, which may further customize such information for dissemination to satisfy intra- or interstate needs. Likewise, fusion centers enable the effective communication of locally generated terrorism-related information to the federal government and other fusion centers through the ISE”. (Appendix C—Glossary of Terms). I have seen how the Fusion Center works, the information that is now released to local and State agencies is steadily increasing. The fusion center is a multiagency group of civilians and officers who are sending information to their agencies and also gathering it from their agencies personnel, its information sharing and looking to identify trends. The fusion center is constantly keeping all agencies informed with wanted persons, missing persons and any and all terrorism information that is either confirmed or not. The ultimate goal is to maximize the ability of such agencies to detect, prevent, investigate, apprehend, and respond to criminal and terrorist activity. As a result of 9/11 As a result of 9/11 State and local law enforcement agencies have a greater role in detecting suspicious activities than ever before, placing an increased burden on patrol duties. Officers also must also be prepared to respond to potential biological, chemical, and radiological attacks. State and local police agencies have found increased demands on their training facilities. Local agencies are now requiring training and specialized equipment to respond to emergency situations. This puts a greater financial burden on state and local police departments who must now train their officers and equip them with adequate personal protection. The officers also need to be fully trained on any specialty equipment that may be needed in the detection of chemical, biological and radioactive substances. The way the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can help in this area is to fund the equipment for agencies in major metropolitan areas that cannot afford it. DHS can also use their own personnel to train agencies in the set-up, use and of the specialty equipment and in turn certify the user. References Department of Justice. (2008). Fusion Centers-Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/pdf/government/grant/2012/fy12_hsgp_fusion_center_guidance.pdf