Law Enforcement Personnel

Individuals who maintain order, enforce laws and ordinances and protect life and property within their jurisdictions which may be at municipal, county, state or federal levels. Included are uniformed officers with general law enforcement duties who patrol a specific area on foot or in a vehicle, direct traffic, issue traffic summonses, investigate accidents, apprehend and arrest suspects and respond to requests for assistance; plainclothes detectives who gather facts and collect evidence for criminal cases; officers who work for specific institutions (e.g., school districts or universities); and special agents (e.g., FBI agents, border patrol agents) who deal with specific types of crimes (e.g., narcotics, firearms) or have specialized assignments (e.g., protection of prisoners, witnesses or designated government officials). Some police officers specialize in such diverse fields as chemical and microscopic analysis, training and firearms instruction, or handwriting and fingerprint identification. Others work with special units such as horseback, bicycle, motorcycle or harbor patrol, canine corps or special weapons and tactics (SWAT), or emergency response teams. Regardless of job duties or location, police officers and detectives at all levels must write reports and maintain meticulous records that will be needed if they testify in court.