Law enforcement is the activity of some members of thegovernment or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society.[1] The term encompassespolice,courts andcorrections. These three components of the criminal justice system may operate independently of each other or collectively through the use of record sharing and cooperation. Throughout the world, law enforcement are also associated with protecting the public, life, property, and keeping the peace in society.[2]
The concept of law enforcement dates back to ancient times, and forms of law enforcement and police have existed in various forms across many human societies. Modern state legal codes use the term law enforcement officer or peace officer to include every person vested by the legislating state with police power or authority; traditionally, anyone sworn or badged who can arrest any person for a violation of criminal law is included under the umbrella term of law enforcement.
Although law enforcement may be most concerned with thecrime prevention and punishment of crimes, organizations exist to discourage a wide variety of non-criminal violations of rules and norms, effected through the imposition of less severe consequences such as probation.
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Law enforcement organizations existed in ancient times, such as prefects inancient China,paqūdus inBabylonia,curaca in theInca Empire,vigiles in theRoman Empire, andMedjay inancient Egypt. Who law enforcers were and reported to depended on the civilization and often changed over time, but they were typically slaves,soldiers, officers of ajudge, or hired by settlements and households. Aside from their duties to enforce laws, many ancient law enforcers also served asslave catchers,firefighters,watchmen,city guards, andbodyguards.
By thepost-classical period and theMiddle Ages, forces such as theSanta Hermandades, theshurta, and theMaréchaussée provided services ranging from law enforcement and personal protection to customs enforcement and waste collection. InEngland, a complex law enforcement system emerged, wheretithings, groups of ten families, were responsible for ensuring good behavior and apprehending criminals; groups of ten tithings ("hundreds") were overseen by areeve; hundreds were governed by administrative divisions known asshires; and shires were overseen byshire-reeves. Infeudal Japan,samurai were responsible for enforcing laws.
The concept of police as the primary law enforcement organization originated in Europe in theearly modern period; the first statutory police force was theHigh Constables of Edinburgh in 1611, while the first organized police force was theParislieutenant général de police in 1667. Until the 18th century, law enforcement in England was mostly the responsibility of private citizens andthief-takers, albeit also including constables and watchmen. This system gradually shifted to government control following the 1749 establishment of theLondonBow Street Runners, the first formal police force in Britain. In 1800,Napoleon reorganized French law enforcement to form theParis Police Prefecture; the British government passed theGlasgow Police Act, establishing theCity of Glasgow Police; and theThames River Police was formed in England to combat theft on theRiver Thames. In September 1829,Robert Peel merged the Bow Street Runners and the Thames River Police to form theMetropolitan Police. The title of the "first modern police force" has still been claimed by the modern successors to these organizations.[3][4]
FollowingEuropean colonization of the Americas, the first law enforcement agencies in theThirteen Colonies were theNew York Sheriff's Office and theedit County Sheriff's Department, both formed in the 1660s in theProvince of New York. TheProvince of Carolina established slave-catcher patrols in the 1700s, and by 1785, theCharleston Guard and Watch was reported to have the duties and organization of a modern police force. The firstmunicipal police department in theUnited States was thePhiladelphia Police Department, while the first Americanstate police,federal law enforcement agency was theUnited States Marshals Service, both formed in 1789. In theAmerican frontier, law enforcement was the responsibility ofcounty sheriffs,rangers,constables, andmarshals. The first law enforcement agency inCanada was theRoyal Newfoundland Constabulary, established in 1729, while the first Canadian national law enforcement agency was theDominion Police, established in 1868.
By the 19th century, improvements in technology, greater global connections, and changes in the sociopolitical order led to the establishment of police forces worldwide. National, regional, and municipal civilian law enforcement agencies exist in practically all countries; to promote their international cooperation, theInternational Criminal Police Organization, also known as Interpol, was formed in September 1923. Technology has made an immense impact on law enforcement, leading to the development and regular use ofpolice cars,police radio systems,police aviation,police tactical units, andpolice body cameras.
Most law enforcement is conducted by somelaw enforcement agency, typically apolice force. Civilians generally staff police agencies, which are typically not amilitary branch. However, some militaries do have branches that enforce laws among the civilian populace, often calledgendarmerie,security forces, orinternal troops. Social investment in enforcement through such organizations can be massive in terms of the resources invested in the activity and the number of people professionally engaged to perform those functions.[5]
Law enforcement agencies are limited to operating within a specifiedjurisdiction. These are typically organized into three basic levels: national, regional, and municipal. However, depending on certain factors, there may be more or less levels, or they may be merged: in the United States, there arefederal,state, andlocal police andsheriff agencies; in Canada, some territories may only have national-level law enforcement, while some provinces have national, provincial, and municipal; inJapan, there is a national police agency, which supervises the police agencies for each individualprefecture; and inNiger, there is a national police for urban areas and a gendarmerie for rural areas, both technically national-level. In some cases, there may be multiple agencies at the same level but with different focuses: for example, in the United States, theDrug Enforcement Administration and theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are both national-level federal law enforcement agencies, but the DEA focuses onnarcotics crimes, while the ATF focuses onweapon regulation violations.
Various segments of society may have their ownspecialist law enforcement agency, such as themilitary havingmilitary police,schools havingschool police orcampus police, orairports havingairport police.Private police may exist in some jurisdictions, often to provide dedicated law enforcement for privately owned property or infrastructure, such asrailroad police forprivate railways or hospital police for privately ownedhospital campuses.
Depending on various factors, such as whether an agency is autonomous or dependent on other organizations for its operations, the governing body that funds and oversees the agency may decide to dissolve or consolidate its operations. Dissolution of an agency may occur when the governing body or the agent itself decides to end operations. This can occur due to multiple reasons, includingcriminal justice reform,[6] a lack of population in the jurisdiction, massresignations,[7] efforts to detercorruption, or the governing body contracting with a different agency that renders the original agency redundant or obsolete. According to theInternational Association of Chiefs of Police, agency consolidation can occur to improve efficiency, consolidate resources, or when forming a new type of government.[8]
