, headquarters of the
Metropolitan Police, the law enforcement agency of
London, England. LEAs that have their power restricted in some way are said to operate within a
jurisdiction. Jurisdictions are traditionally restricted to a geographic area and territory. An LEA might be able to apply its powers within a
state (e.g., the
National Police for the entirety of
France), within an
administrative division (e.g., the
Ontario Provincial Police for
Ontario, Canada), within a division of an administrative division (e.g., the
Miami-Dade Police Department for
Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States), or across a collection of states typically within an
international organization or
political union (e.g.,
Europol for the
European Union). Sometimes, the jurisdiction of an LEA is determined by the type of violation committed, the specific laws the agency enforces, the affected parties, or the severity of the offense. For example, in the United States, the
Postal Inspection Service primarily investigates crimes affecting or misusing the services of the
United States Postal Service, such as
mail and wire fraud. If a Postal Inspection Service investigation uncovered
tobacco smuggling, the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would be involved, but the
Drug Enforcement Administration would not, as even though they investigate
drug smuggling, their jurisdiction does not cover specifically tobacco smuggling. In other cases, an LEA's involvement is determined by whether their involvement is requested. The
Australian Federal Police, for instance, has jurisdiction over all of Australia but usually takes on complex, serious matters referred to it by another agency; that other agency will undertake its own investigations of less serious or complex matters by consensus. LEA jurisdictions for a country and its divisions can be at more than one level. An LEA restricted to a jurisdiction is typically referred to as
local police or
territorial police. The United States has five basic tiers of law enforcement jurisdiction:
federal,
state,
county,
municipality, and
special jurisdiction (
tribal,
airport,
transit,
railroad, etc.). Only the municipal, county, and state levels are involved in direct policing (i.e., uniformed officers with marked cars and regular patrols). In some countries, national or federal police also participate in direct policing, although their focus and responsibilities may vary. In Brazil, there are five federal police forces with national jurisdiction—the
Federal Police of Brazil, the
Federal Highway Police, the
Federal Railroad Police, the Federal Penal Police, and the
National Public Security Force. The Highway Police, Railroad Police, and Penal Police are restricted to specific area jurisdictions (the
Brazilian Highway System,
railways, and
prisons respectively), the Federal Police performs various police duties across the country and
investigates crimes, and the National Public Security Force is a
rapid reaction force deployed to assist
state authorities on request. Some levels of jurisdictions may overlap, resulting in the differentiation of duties. As an example for the US tiers, the
Chicago Police Department has jurisdiction over Chicago but not necessarily the rest of
Cook County. While the
Cook County Sheriff's Office has jurisdiction over Cook County, for the most part they patrol
unincorporated areas and operate
Cook County Jail, leaving municipalities to
municipal police departments. The rest of
Illinois, primarily its
state highways, is under the jurisdiction of the
Illinois State Police. Although they typically avoid each other's responsible areas, overlapping jurisdictions can assist each other if necessary, usually in the form of higher-tier agencies assisting lower-tier agencies.
Operational areas 's
West Valley Area Police Station. The LAPD operates approximately 21 such
stations divided across
Los Angeles; this one covers policing in the
San Fernando Valley. Often, an LEA's jurisdiction will be geographically divided into operational areas for administrative and logistical efficiency reasons. An operational area is often called a
command,
division, or
office. Colloquially, they are known as
beats. While the operational area of a LEA is sometimes referred to as its jurisdiction, the agency typically retains legal authority across all geographic areas in which it operates. However, by policy and mutual agreement, its operations are generally confined to its designated area and do not extend into other operational zones of the agency. For example, since 2019 the
frontline or territorial policing of the
United Kingdom's
Metropolitan Police has been divided into 12 Basic Command Units, each consisting of two, three, or four of the
London boroughs, while the
New York City Police Department is divided into 77 precincts. territorial divisions.Sometimes, one legal jurisdiction is covered by more than one LEA, which may arise due to administrative and logistical efficiency reasons, policy, or historical reasons. In
England and
Wales, LEAs called
constabularies have jurisdiction over their respective areas of legal coverage, but they do not normally operate out of their areas without formal liaison between them. The primary difference between separate agencies and operational areas within the one legal jurisdiction is the degree of flexibility to move resources between versus within agencies. When multiple LEAs cover the one legal jurisdiction, each agency still typically organizes itself into operations areas. In the United States, within a state's legal jurisdiction, county and city LEAs do not have full legal jurisdictional flexibility throughout the state, and this has led in part to mergers of adjacent police agencies.
International and multinational law enforcement agencies .Although international LEAs and multinational LEAs are both often termed "international" in official documents, differences exist between the two. An
international law enforcement agency has jurisdiction and/or operates in multiple countries and across state borders, such as
Interpol. A
multinational law enforcement agency typically operates in only one country, or one division of a country, but is made up of personnel from several countries, such as the
European Union Police Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. International LEAs are typically also multinational, but multinational LEAs are typically not international. Rather than enforcing laws directly, LEAs that operate across a collection of countries tend to facilitate the sharing of information necessary for law enforcement between those countries.
Federal and national law enforcement agencies When an LEA's jurisdiction is for the whole country, it is usually one of two broad types: federal or national.
Federal officers with their
police car. When a country has a
federal constitution, the LEA responsible for the entire country is referred to as a
federal law enforcement agency. The responsibilities of a federal LEA vary from country to country. Federal LEA responsibilities typically include the countering of fraud against the federation, immigration and border control regarding people and goods, the investigation of currency counterfeiting, the policing of airports and protection of designated national infrastructure, national security, and the protection of the country's
head of state and other designated very important persons. A
federal police agency is a federal LEA that also has the typical
police responsibilities of social order and
public safety, as well as federal law enforcement responsibilities. However, a federal police agency will not usually exercise its powers at a divisional level. Such exercising of powers typically involves specific arrangements between the federal and divisional governing bodies. Examples of federal law enforcement agencies include the following: •
Argentine Federal Police (
Argentina) •
Australian Federal Police (
Australia) •
Federal Police of Brazil (
Brazil) •
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (
Canada) •
Bundespolizei (
Germany) •
Mexican Federal Police (
Mexico) •
Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Federal Protective Service,
United States Park Police (
United States) •
Federal Investigation Agency,
National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (
Pakistan) •
Central Bureau of Investigation (
India) A federated approach to a country's organization does not necessarily indicate how law enforcement agencies are organized within the country. Some countries, such as
Austria and
Belgium, have a relatively unified approach to law enforcement but still have operationally separate units for federal law enforcement and divisional policing. The United States has a highly fractured approach to law enforcement agencies generally, and this is reflected in
American federal law enforcement agencies.
Relationship between federal and federated divisions (agent in center) investigates crimes involving
alcohol,
tobacco, and
weaponry. In a federation, there will typically be separate LEAs with jurisdictions for each division within the federation. A federal LEA will have primary responsibility for laws that affect the federation as a whole and that have been enacted by the governing body of the federation. Typically, federal LEAs have relatively narrow police responsibilities; the individual divisions within the federation usually establish their own police agencies to enforce laws within the division. However, in some countries federal agencies have jurisdiction in divisions of the federation. This typically happens when the division does not have its own independent status and is dependent on the federation. The
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is one such federal agency that also acts as the sole police agency for Canada's three
territories: the
Northwest Territories,
Nunavut, and
Yukon. Federal LEA members may also be given jurisdiction within a federation's division for laws enacted by the division's governing bodies either by the relevant division or by the federation's governing body. For example, the Australian Federal Police is a federal agency and has the legal power to enforce the laws enacted by any Australian state, but it will generally only enforce state law if there is a federal aspect to investigate. cars outside a
Federal Bureau of Investigation facility. The FBI Police is responsible for protecting, and has jurisdiction over, facilities owned and operated by the FBI.In federal
polities, actions that violate laws in multiple geographical divisions within the federation or are deemed to be serious are escalated to a federal LEA. In other cases, specific crimes deemed to be serious are escalated; for example, in the United States, the FBI investigates all
kidnapping cases regardless of whether they involve the crossing of state lines. Some countries provide law enforcement on land and in buildings owned or controlled by the
federation by using a federal LEA; for example, the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security is responsible for some aspects of federal property law enforcement.
National Prefectural Police officers with their police cars. Japanese police are managed and coordinated by the
National Police Agency, and divided into agencies for their respective
prefectures. A
national law enforcement agency is an LEA in a country that does not have divisions capable of making their own laws. A national LEA has the combined responsibilities that federal LEAs and divisional LEAs would have in a
federated country. National LEAs are usually divided into operational areas. To help avoid confusion over jurisdictional responsibility, some federal LEAs, such as the US
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), explicitly state that they are not a national law enforcement agency. A
national police agency is a national LEA that also has the typical
police responsibilities of social order and public safety as well as national law enforcement responsibilities. Examples of countries with non-federal national police agencies are
New Zealand,
Italy,
Albania,
Indonesia,
France,
Ireland,
Japan,
Netherlands,
Malaysia, the
Philippines, and
Nicaragua.
State law enforcement agencies State police,
provincial police, or
regional police are a type of subnational
territorial police force found in nations organized as
federations, typically in
North America,
South Asia, and
Oceania, because each of their state police is mostly at the country level. These forces typically have jurisdiction over the relevant sub-national jurisdiction and may cooperate in law enforcement activities with municipal or national police where either exist. ==Types==