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or for a traffic violation often results in an arrest for a nontraffic-related reason such as weapons or drug
possession, a stolen vehicle, or flight to avoid prosecution in another jurisdiction. As in the case of other
police assignments, traffic officers give court testimony and are often involved in civil cases because of
traffic accident investigations.
Most municipal police agencies have specific policy guidelines for dealing with juveniles. However,
there may be differences in approach or philosophy among various departments depending on the needs
of individual communities. In some cases, police officers are given special training and are assigned to
juvenile activities on a full-time basis. In other police departments, the training in this area is minimal,
and officers rely on traditional police methods in dealing with juveniles. A juvenile becomes a delinquent
by committing an act that, if he or she were an adult, would be a crime. The police, however, have greater
responsibilities in juvenile matters than merely enforcing laws by taking youthful offenders into custody.
Police juvenile efforts are aimed at identifying neglected and dependent children, detecting and
preventing predelinquent behavior, finding and investigating delinquency breeding grounds within the
community, and properly disposing of juvenile cases.
The last of the basic line functions of the municipal police agency involves crime prevention. When
citizens are hostile to the police agency in their community, it is as real a threat to peace and order as police
indifference to the needs of the citizens. Police serve all segments of the community, but they cannot
preserve law and order and control crime unless the public cooperates and participates in the law
enforcement process. Hostility between citizens and police not only creates explosive situations; more
importantly, it can promote crime in the community. Crime is both a police problem and a social problem
that will continue to grow unless the public becomes more involved. Community relations programs, for
example, can help close the gap between citizens and police by making each aware of the other's problems
and by providing the impetus to settle their differences. In some municipalities, police agencies have
introduced crime-prevention techniques such as neighborhood security and watch programs. These
encourage citizens to take security measures in their homes and businesses and to report any suspicious
persons or activities in the neighborhood.
STAFF FUNCTIONS
Staff functions are activities performed by police officers to help administrators organize and manage the
police agency. Personnel recruitment, selection, and training; planning; finance; employee services;
public relations; and use of civilian personnel are examples of staff work.
Staff is the costliest and most important of all the resources committed to the law enforcement process,
and a police agency is only as able and effective as its personnel. To varying degrees, every police
department engages in recruitment, selection, and training of personnel. It sets qualifications, recruits
candidates, tests and screens applicants, and places them in training facilities. The police department also
reviews performance during probation and develops salary schedules and lines of promotion for police
officers. In addition, staff units are responsible for providing ongoing training to police officers at all
levels in the department as a means of keeping them up-to-date on the latest developments in law
enforcement. All of these factors are important because the quality of personnel and training determines
the character of police performance, and in the final analysis, the quality of police leadership.
To be effective, police departments must plan and organize numerous activities that characterize
around-the-clock operations. The unpredictable nature of police work, however, and the problems that
arise from emergency situations sometimes make planning difficult. Work schedules, paydays, patrol
assignments, uniforms, and equipment all require planning; this, in turn, involves administrative staff and
line operations, extradepartmental plans, and research and development. Good planning by the police
agency produces effective police service in the community.
