Law Enforcement Organization and Administration

1
Law Enforcement Organization and Administration

• Chapter 11

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Auxiliary Functions

• Auxiliary services provide the behind the
  scenes support for the police organization.
• Major auxiliary functions
• Communications
• Records
• Property management
• Building maintenance
• Licensing
• Crime lab
• Ancillary public safety functions

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COMMUNICATIONS

• The efficiency and effectiveness of daily police
  operations depend on the nature of communications
  unit maintained by the department. This unit
  must be able to provide
• Emergency and non emergency telephone answering
• Base to field communications by radio
• Retrieval of information related to wanted
  individuals

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• Retrieval of information related to lost
  property, vehicle ownership, and motorist (DMV)
  information.
• Interface with or scanning of area and statewide
  police agencies
• Interface with or scanning of area fire and
  ambulance services

5
Consolidation

• In an effort to solve communications inferiority,
  some police agencies have pooled resources and
  formed a centralized communications center known
  as a mobile radio district

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Northern Virginia

• In Northern Virginia all major government
  localities have consolidate police and fire
  dispatch into one office.
• In Prince William County the Public Safety
  Communications Center is under the joint
  supervisors on the Police Chief and Chief of Fire
  and Rescue
• Fairfax County and the City of Alexandria are
  moving their centers to stand alone agencies
  answering directly to the chief administrative
  officer of the jurisdiction.

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• After 9/11 the federal government mandated
  changes in the way in which jurisdictions work
  with each other on mutual aid. One of those
  mandates was to no longer use ten codes when
  communicating. Today all area jurisdictions no
  longer use ten codes, but talk in plain language.

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Communications Personnel

• Should be familiar with all aspects of police
  (and if a combined center fire) operations
• Must have ability to screen calls and resolve
  minor issues over the phone
• Must be a ambassador of the department
• Well trained civilians are an asset
• Need to have personal qualities of tact,
  politeness, coolness, rational decision making
  and the ability to multi task

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• Departments should never assign someone to
  communications as a result of disciplinary action
• It has become the norm for police departments to
  no longer use sworn police officers in
  communications.
• In Virginia, communications personnel must past
  state certification test in a variety of job
  related areas.
• Because of computer aided dispatch systems,
  typing ability is a must

10
RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

• Police Departments are bureaucracies and complex
  organizations. The efficient recording and flow
  of paperwork are essential to the successful
  operation of the department.

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RECORDS CATEGORIES

• People arrestees, complaints, victims,
  fingerprints
• Motor Vehicles accidents, moving violations,
  parking tickets, etc
• Administration Personnel, payroll, budget,
  purchasing, inventories, fleet maintenance
• Crime Statistics Arrest and crime reports by
  legal stature, area, race, etc.
• Property - Lost, found, stolen
• Other Jail, court dispositions, bail monies,
  and referral services.

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• In Virginia, jails are run by the Sheriffs
  Department or by a regional authority
• In Prince William County, the City of Manassas
  and Prince William County have regional jail run
  by a jail board. City of Manassas Park contracts
  with the detention center for services
• Fairfax, Arlington, Arlington, Loudoun and the
  City of Alexandria have jails run by the
  Sheriffs Department

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• In Virginia, court dispositions are handled by
  the state court system
• Bail bonding process is handled by private
  entrepreneurs

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Computerization

• Positive attributes of computerization
• Lower routine operating cost
• Faster availability of information
• Auditing function
• Generation of new information
• Greater consistency of reporting data
• Development of giant data inventory
• Greater freedom from mundane, routine record
  keeping

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Record Storage

• There is an increasing need to find means and
  methods of storing volumes of data and records in
  a safe environment and available for immediate
  retrieval
• Paper storage must go
• Confidentiality and integrity of records needs to
  be maintained
• Security of personal information is critical
• Privacy Act restricted collection, maintenance
  and distribution of personal information in
  public and private agencies
• Freedom of Information Act allows citizens access
  to some records

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Property Control

• Inventory control of physical property
• Evidence control of court cases
• Found property

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Vehicle Maintenance

• Vehicle cost take major portion of the agency
  budget
• Average cost of complete police package may
  average well over 40,000.00.
• Preventive maintenance programs as must

18
Temporary Detention Facilities

• Temporary detention facilities are often called
  lockups. Most are located in sub stations and
  used to process prisoners awaiting bail or
  transfer to main jail. Temporary facilities can
  cause a variety of problems.
• Commission on Accreditation (CALEA) and the
  Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards
  Commission have mandatory standards regarding
  temporary facilities.

19
Licensing

• Many police departments serve as the licensing
  bureau for various public related activities
• Examples for Prince William County are licensing
  of taxi drives and tow truck drivers.

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CRIME LAB

• Crime Laboratory management has become a
  specialized function based on advances in
  forensic science and crime technology.

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• Typical functional subdivisions of a normal
  laboratory
• Arson
• Chemistry
• Documents
• Firearms
• Hairs and fibers
• Serology
• Criminalistics
• Field Teams

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Virginia Labs

• The Commonwealth of Virginia operates four
  forensic science labs throughout the state.
• All major police departments in Virginia have
  forensic science units. Crime scene analyst
  collect evidence and so some evaluation,
  depending on expertise, but all evidence is sent
  to the state lab for analysis.

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Virginia Labs

• In Virginia, all major police departments have
  forensic science units. Evidence Technicians
  (Crime Scene Analyst) collect evidence and so
  some evaluation, depending on expertise. Once
  the evidence is collected it is sent .
• The state lab for Northern Virginia is located
  in Prince William County, near George Mason
  University

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Evidence Technicians Role

• Determine items of evidentiary value
• Proficient in photography
• Collect trace evidence
• Recover firearm evidence
• Packaging evidence
• Recover latent fingerprints
• Examine bodies for foreign material
• Prepare crime scene sketch
• Prepare reports and maintain chain of custody for
  evidence
• Give expert testimony in court

25
Computerized Fingerprints

• Integrated Automatic Fingerprint Identification
  Systems (IAFIS)
• Has made it possible to match suspect and
  fingerprints in a matter of minutes

26
Computer Crime Investigation Unit

• Computer crime is becoming a major problem in the
  United States. There are several computer crime
  categories.
• Theft of money, services, goods and identity
• Destruction of data
• Child pornography
• Sale of illegal goods
• Invasion of privacy

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• All major police departments in Northern Virginia
  now have stand alone Computer Crimes Units
• Detectives must be certified in computer forensic
  analysis