Trends in Law Enforcement in the United States of America

Running Head: CRIMINAL LAW
Law Enforcement
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Criminal Law 2
Law Enforcement in the United States of America
Introduction
In the United States of America, Law enforcement forms one of the major three
components that make up the criminal justice system. The other two components are the
corrections and the courts. These entities are interlinked despite their different nature of
operations. The main role of these bodies is to administer criminal punishment after the
investigation of criminal activities. For law enforcement to operate, it depends on
government police agencies. There is a huge number of agencies in America comprising of
sheriff departments, college campus police, federal agencies, and local police. It is the
mandate of law enforcers to investigate criminal activities, refer the investigation results to
courts of law as well as the task of detailing suspects temporarily when the judicial process
is ongoing, (Crisanti et al., 2019, 105). The law enforcement sector has undergone many
changes over the past. Its perception from the public is also changing, as the society
changes too. Presently, technology is mainly depended on. This has also made the law
enforcement sector to also adapt to new changes. An in-depth study of the past present and
future trends in the law enforcement sector is presented below.
The past trends of Law Enforcement
In the past- the Old West, law enforcement was mainly represented by sheriffs who
were only equipped with a badge and a gun. Military personnel, on the other hand, were
only equipped with guns. This made the period one of the hardest thus making the
profession one of the hardest, (Fleishmann et al., 2018, 150). During this period especially in

Criminal Law 3
the 1900s, horses were the main mode of transportation as well as crowd control. The roads
were not paved hence the use of footpaths during patrols as well as uneven sidewalks. This
also characterized the Political Era mainly that ran from 1840 until 1920. It was a norm for
law enforcers to have close ties with politicians and vice versa. This made the period to be
named the “Political Era”.
This era was characterized by the use of police call boxes, the telephone, telegraph
and the Bertillon system for criminal identification. By the year 1920, more police officers
were equipped with nightsticks and guns thus marking the start of the Professional Model
Era. Reformists also advocated for the separation of police activities from political activities.
This was aimed at cleaning up the police force. Polygraphs were also introduced as well as
fingerprinting methods that were effective. In addition, more automobiles were introduced
as well as the use of handwriting classification systems. Subsequently, radar technologies
were introduced as well as two-way radio communications. Most importantly, local
governments and the states were given money by the Federal Government so that they
could control crime with ease. It was also during this era that the 911 emergency calling
services were introduced.
After the Political Era, the Professional Model Era bore community policing which
has been passed on to the current law enforcement regime. Technological advancement
also boosted law enforcement. Community policing was also computerized with the use of
Computer Aided Dispatch followed by the formation of the National Crime Information
Center, (Fortune, Rooney & Kirwan, 2018, 139). In addition, the Automated Fingerprint
Identification System was introduced. The most important forms of communications during
this period were invented by Samuel Morse and William Cooke who invented the Morse