United States: Difference between revisions

 

=== Law enforcement and crime ===

[[File:Washington DC, FBI - panoramio.jpg|thumb|[[J. Edgar Hoover Building]], the headquarters of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI), in [[Washington, D.C.]]]]

There are about 18,000 U.S. police agencies from local to national level in the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Banks |first1=Duren |last2=Hendrix |first2=Joshua |last3=Hickman |first3=Mathhew |date=October 4, 2016 |title=National Sources of Law Enforcement Employment Data |url=https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/nsleed.pdf |journal=[[U.S. Department of Justice]] |pages=1}}</ref> Law in the United States is mainly [[Law enforcement in the United States|enforced]] by local police departments and [[Sheriffs in the United States|sheriff departments]] in their municipal or county jurisdictions. The [[State police (United States)|state police]] departments [[Police power (United States constitutional law)|have authority in their respective state]], and [[Federal law enforcement in the United States|federal agencies]] such as the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) and the [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals Service]] have national jurisdiction and specialized duties, such as protecting [[civil rights]], [[National security of the United States|national security]] and enforcing [[U.S. federal courts]]' rulings and federal laws.<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S. Federal Law Enforcement Agencies, Who Governs & What They Do|publisher=Chiff.com|url=https://www.chiff.com/police/federal-police-agencies.htm|access-date=November 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140210040432/https://www.chiff.com/police/federal-police-agencies.htm|archive-date=February 10, 2014|url-status= }}</ref> [[State court (United States)|State courts]] conduct most civil and criminal trials,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Manweller|first1=Mathew|editor1-last=Hogan|editor1-first=Sean O.|title=The Judicial Branch of State Government: People, Process, and Politics|date=2006|publisher=[[ABC-Clio]]|location=[[Santa Barbara, California]]|isbn=978-1-85109-751-7|pages=37–96|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ong5k8n97P4C&pg=PA55|access-date=October 5, 2020|chapter=Chapter 2, The Roles, Functions, and Powers of State Courts}}</ref> and federal courts handle designated crimes and [[United States courts of appeals|appeals of state court decisions]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao/justice-101/federal-courts|title=Introduction To The Federal Court System|work=[[United States Attorney]]|date=November 7, 2014 |publisher=[[United States Department of Justice]]|access-date=July 14, 2022|location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref>