The following
outline
Outline or outlining may refer to:
* Outline (list), a document summary, in hierarchical list format
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is provided as an overview of and introduction to law enforcement:
Law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...
– subsystem of society that promotes adherence to the
law by discovering and punishing persons who violate rules and
norm
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envir ...
s governing that society. Although the term may encompass entities such as
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...
s and
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
s, it most frequently applies to those who directly engage in patrols or surveillance to dissuade and discover
criminal
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...
activity, and those who investigate crimes and apprehend offenders.
[Kären M. Hess, Christine Hess Orthmann, ''Introduction to Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice'' (2008), p. 1.]
Essence of law enforcement
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The Thin Blue Line
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Criminal law
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...
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Coming into force
In law, coming into force or entry into force (also called commencement) is the process by which legislation, regulations, treaties and other legal instruments come to have legal force and effect. The term is closely related to the date of this t ...
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Unenforced law
An unenforced law (also symbolic law, dead letter law) is a law which is formally in effect (''de jure''), but is usually (''de facto'') not penalized by a jurisdiction. Such laws are usually ignored by law enforcement, and therefore there are few ...
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Law enforcement agency
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.
Jurisdiction
LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction.
LEAs ...
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Law enforcement jargon
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Law enforcement officer
A law enforcement officer (LEO), or peace officer in North American English, is a Public sector, public-sector employee whose duties primarily involve the Law enforcement, enforcement of laws. The phrase can include campaign disclosure specialist ...
Disciplines
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Criminology
Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...
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Forensic science
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...
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Penology
Basis of law enforcement
The reasons law enforcement exists:
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Crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...
– breaking the law. Without crime, there would be little need for law enforcement.
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Law and order (politics)
In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...
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Criminal law
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...
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Criminal justice
Law enforcement agencies
Law enforcement agency
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.
Jurisdiction
LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction.
LEAs ...
(
list) – government agency responsible for enforcement of laws. Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while some have other names (e.g. sheriff's office/department; investigative police services in the United States are often called bureaus (e.g. FBI, USMS, ICE, CBP, ATF, DEA, USSS etc.).
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Law enforcement agency powers
A law enforcement agency (LEA) has powers, which other government subjects do not, to enable the LEA to undertake its responsibilities. These powers are generally in one of six forms:
*Exemptions from laws
*Intrusive powers, for search, seizur ...
* Types of law enforcement agencies
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Police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
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Federal police
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Military police
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...
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Police department
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...
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Private police
Private police or special police are law enforcement bodies that are owned or controlled (or owned and controlled) by non-governmental entities. Additionally, the term can refer to an off-duty police officer while working for a private entity, ...
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Secret police
Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...
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State police
State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction o ...
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Specialist law enforcement agency
Law enforcement officers
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Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...
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Corrections
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Detective
A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...
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Marshal and Deputy Marshal
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Private investigator
A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...
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Peace officer
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Police officer
A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...
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Park ranger
A ranger, park ranger, park warden, or forest ranger is a law enforcement person entrusted with protecting and preserving parklands – national, state, provincial, or local parks.
Description
"Parks" may be broadly defined by some systems in thi ...
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Sheriff, Undersheriff, and Deputy Sheriff
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Bounty hunter
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Special agent
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Trooper
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Inspector
Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it.
Australia
In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...
Law enforcement by region
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Law enforcement by country
In many countries, particularly those with a federal system of government, there may be several law enforcement agencies, police or police-like organizations, each serving different levels of government and enforcing different subsets of the appli ...
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History of law enforcement
History of law enforcement
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History of criminal justice'
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Police box
Law enforcement equipment
* Armor
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Ballistic vest
** Shield
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Ballistic shield
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Riot shield
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Police dog
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Police duty belt
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Police radio
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Police vehicle
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Policeware
Computer and network surveillance is the monitoring of computer activity and data stored locally on a computer or data being transferred over computer networks such as the Internet. This monitoring is often carried out covertly and may be comple ...
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Police psychology Police psychology, also referred to as "police and public safety psychology," was formally recognized in 2013 by the American Psychological Association as a specialty in professional psychology. The goal of police psychology is to ensure law enforce ...
* Weapons
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Club
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Taser
A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...
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Firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...
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Handgun
A handgun is a short- barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ...
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Riot gun
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Uniform
A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, se ...
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Uniforms and equipment of the British police
Law enforcement techniques and procedures
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Baton charge
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Body cavity search
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Crime analysis
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Crime displacement
Crime displacement is the relocation of crime (or criminals) as a result of police crime-prevention efforts. Crime displacement has been linked to problem-oriented policing, but it may occur at other levels and for other reasons. Community-develop ...
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Crime mapping
Crime mapping is used by analysts in law enforcement agencies to map, visualize, and analyze crime incident patterns. It is a key component of crime analysis and the CompStat policing strategy. Mapping crime, using Geographic Information Systems ...
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Criminal intelligence
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Crowd control
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Deadly force
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Defendo
Defendo is a Canadian martial art and a self defence system created in 1945 for Law enforcement agency, law enforcement structures by Bill Underwood. Underwood had created Combato in 1910, a "non-boxing or wrestling" unarmed combat system which ...
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Dignitary Protection
Dignitary protection services are most often provided by either the United States Secret Service or the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service. Contrary to other VIP close protection full-time jobs, dignitary protection most often ...
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Door breaching
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Double tap
A double tap is a shooting technique where two shots are fired in rapid succession at the same target with the same sight picture (as opposed to the controlled pair, whereby a second sighting is acquired for the second shot). Instruction and pr ...
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Dragnet
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Forcible entry
Forcible entry is "the unlawful taking of possession of real property by force or threats of force or unlawful entry into or onto another's property, especially when accompanied by force". The term is also sometimes used for entry by military, pol ...
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Immediate Action Rapid Deployment
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Lawful interception Lawful interception (LI) refers to the facilities in telecommunications and telephone networks that allow law enforcement agencies with court orders or other legal authorization to selectively wiretap individual subscribers. Most countries require ...
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Mail cover
Mail cover is a law enforcement investigative technique in which the United States Postal Service, acting at the request of a law enforcement agency, records information from the outside of letters and parcels before they are delivered and then se ...
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Mozambique Drill
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Pain compliance
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Police psychology Police psychology, also referred to as "police and public safety psychology," was formally recognized in 2013 by the American Psychological Association as a specialty in professional psychology. The goal of police psychology is to ensure law enforce ...
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Riot control
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Rough ride
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Search of persons
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Sobriety checkpoints
A random checkpoint is a military and police tactic. In a military context, checkpoints involve the setup of a hasty roadblock by mobile truck- or armored vehicle-mounted infantry to disrupt unauthorized or unwanted movement or military activit ...
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Speed trap
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Traffic break
A traffic break is any separation in the flow of traffic—naturally occurring or otherwise—along a road or highway. In heavily congested traffic, natural breaks occur rarely, thus the term ''traffic break'' most commonly refers to the manual s ...
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Tueller Drill
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Whisper stop
Whispering is an unvoiced mode of phonation in which the vocal cords are abducted so that they do not vibrate; air passes between the arytenoid cartilages to create audible turbulence during speech. Supralaryngeal articulation remains the ...
Criminal investigation
Criminal Investigation – applied science involving the study of facts, used to identify, locate and prove the
guilt of a criminal.
[Fundamentals of Criminal Investigation (Sixth Edition). Charles E. O'Hara and Gregory L. O'Hara; 1994; ] Modern-day criminal investigations commonly employ many scientific techniques known collectively as
forensic science
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...
.
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Bait car
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Computer forensics
Computer forensics (also known as computer forensic science) is a branch of digital forensic science pertaining to evidence found in computers and digital storage media. The goal of computer forensics is to examine digital media in a forensical ...
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Dawn raid
A police raid is an unexpected visit by police or other law-enforcement officers with the aim of using the element of surprise in order to seize evidence or arrest suspects believed to be likely to hide evidence, resist arrest, be politicall ...
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Facial composite
A facial composite is a graphical representation of one or more eyewitnesses' memories of a face, as recorded by a composite artist. Facial composites are used mainly by police in their investigation of (usually serious) crimes. These images a ...
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FBI method of profiling
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Hunting strategy
A hunting strategy, or hunting method, is a tactic that is used to target, pursue, and hunt an animal. The hunting strategy that a hunter uses depends mainly on the type of terrain, as well as game being hunted. Climate, local hunting techniques, ...
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Indictment
An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a legal person, person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felony, felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concep ...
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Interrogation
Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful informa ...
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Manhunt
Manhunt may refer to:
Search processes
* Manhunt (law enforcement), a search for a dangerous fugitive
* Manhunt (military), a search for a high-value target by special operations forces or intelligence agencies
Social organisations
* Manhun ...
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Mug shot
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Offender profiling
Offender profiling, also known as criminal profiling, is an investigative strategy used by law enforcement agencies to identify likely suspects and has been used by investigators to link cases that may have been committed by the same perpetrator. ...
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Police diving
Police diving is a branch of professional diving carried out by police services. Police divers are usually sworn police officers, and may either be employed full-time as divers or as general water police officers, or be volunteers who usually ser ...
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Police lineup
A police lineup (in American English) or identity parade (in British English) is a process by which a crime victim or witness's putative identification of a suspect is confirmed to a level that can count as evidence (law), evidence at trial.
T ...
* Re-creation
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Search and seizure
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Stakeout
Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...
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Sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a role a ...
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Strip search
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Surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...
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Telephone tapping
Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...
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Vehicular accident reconstruction
Traffic collision reconstruction is the process of investigating, analyzing, and drawing conclusions about the causes and events during a vehicle collision. Reconstructionists conduct collision analysis and reconstruction to identify the cause ...
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Warrant
Components of a crime
* Criminal – person who committed a crime
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Evidence
Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field.
In epistemology, evidenc ...
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Forensic science
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...
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Suspect
In law enforcement jargon, a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime. Police and reporters in the United States often use the word suspect as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator of the offense (perp in dated U ...
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Victim
Victim(s) or The Victim may refer to:
People
* Crime victim
* Victim, in psychotherapy, a posited role in the Karpman drama triangle model of transactional analysis
Films and television
* ''The Victim'' (1916 film), an American silent film by t ...
Law enforcement training
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Police academy
A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or othe ...
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Police training officer
The Police Training Officer program (PTO) is a post-academy training program created from the educational approach known as problem-based learning. Program development was funded by the United States Department of Justice Office of Community Orient ...
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Tactical Mindset
Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to:
* Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks
** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield
** Chess tactics
** Political tacti ...
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Identifying threat
Identification or identify may refer to:
*Identity document, any document used to verify a person's identity
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Identify'' (album) by Got7, 2014
* "Identify" (song), by Natalie Imbruglia, 1999
*Identification (a ...
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Threat prevention
A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation for co ...
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Critical Thinking for the Police Officer
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Decision Making Process
Law enforcement issues
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Law enforcement and society The first modern police force, commonly said to be the London Metropolitan Police, established in 1829, promoted the preventive role of police as a deterrent to urban crime and disorder.
Law enforcement, however, has only ever constituted a small ...
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Police accountability
Police accountability involves holding both individual police officers, as well as law enforcement agencies responsible for effectively delivering basic services of crime control and maintaining order, while treating individuals fairly and withi ...
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Police brutality
Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
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Police corruption
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Public security
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Vigilantism
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority.
A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...
Law enforcement organizations
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Law enforcement organization
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.
Jurisdiction
LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction.
LEAs ...
Law enforcement leaders and scholars
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Julian Fantino
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J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation ...
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Robert Peel
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...
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Garda Síochána
(; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...
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August Vollmer
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Buford Pusser
Buford Hayse Pusser (December 12, 1937 – August 21, 1974) was the sheriff of McNairy County, Tennessee, from 1964 to 1970, and constable of Adamsville from 1970 to 1972. Pusser is known for his virtual one-man war on moonshining, prostituti ...
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Pahal Singh Lama
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Khadgajeet Baral
Khadgajeet Baral ( ne, खड्गजीत बराल) OGDB, OTSP (April 17, 1928 – May 19, 2021) was a Nepalese politician and social worker. After serving as the Inspector General of Nepal Police he also served as Ambassador of ...
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Dil Bahadur Lama
See also
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Outline of law
:'' The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to law:''
Law ('' article link'') is the set of rules and principles (laws) by which a society is governed, through enforcement by governmental authorities. Law is also t ...
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Code enforcement
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List of intelligence agencies
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List of protective service agencies
References
External links
FBI page of law enforcement resources
{{Outline footer
Law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...
Law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...