CRM 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: United States Marshals Service, United States Secret Service, Drug Enforcement Administration
9 Dec 2016
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No single agency has oversight responsibility for all of the different police agencies in the country. There is no central authority, person, or agency to coordinate law enforcement activities, professionalism, or administrative oversight of law enforcement agencies nationwide. Law enforcement are decentralized because the country is founded on a strong distrust of government. Decentralized model further shows that law enforcement are civilian agencies, not military. Posse comitatus act of 1878: an act that limits the powers of local governments and law enforcement agencies in using federal military personnel to enforce the laws of the land. Each law enforcement agency"s powers, responsibilities, and accountability are determined by its jurisdiction. Jurisdiction refers to the geographic limits, such as the municipality, county, or state, in which officers of the agency are empowered to perform their duties. There are three major divisions of jurisdiction.
