Law Enforcement Agency

The enforcing of laws and maintenance of public order, as well as their safety, is provided by individuals and organizations that are described by the term Law enforcement. The enforcement of law entails crime prevention, investigation, and detection as well as apprehension and detention of criminals (Statutory Extension of Injunctive Law Enforcement, 1932). Texas as a state among several states has a provision for constables as required by the constitution. The law states that a state with more than 50,000 people requires division into precincts between four and eight. A constable is a peace officer empowered to execute his duties with the jurisdiction of respective county hence can legally exercise their authority in any of the precincts that are within their county. Constables belong to the Agency that enforces the law as well as dealing with documents issued by courts like the citations (summons for the appearance of a defendant in court) or subpoena that courts issue. County constableship is an elected officer in the docket of justice, and they serve criminal and civil matters in peace court or any other authority of relevance. The conduction of an election is by voters of the Justice region usually after four years. Constables regularly interact with people of their region as they deal one on one with them compared to most of other elected officials in the county. Harris County is the primary focus of the study as it is one of the counties in the state of Texas.

The core aim of the department of police in collaboration with the constable agency of Houston City is enhancing the quality of life. They achieve it as they cooperatively involve the public in preventing crime, preserving the peace, enforcing the law and creating a conducive environment. The duties of constables in Harris are to enforce the law in Houston city as well as the Houston police department. The department which the constables serve has unique functions like conducting the civil processes whereby there is no other agency that serves the process. They make sure that the citations and the subpoenas filled before delivery. The constables serve the criminal process as well as the justice of peace courts. They are also part of the executive officer of the justice docket. 

Constables work towards having integrity, professionalism, accountability, and innovation programs in the department. Through the several activities that they deal with, public safety is promoted, for example, the precinct seven sex offenders unit as well as the street gang unit. The sex offenders unit assists in investigating all the sex crimes, as well as interviews all female victims (Mitchell, 1993). The street gang unit is primarily set to tackle the cases of crime hence stopping crime within the city of Houston. The Department of constables also provides the community with additional services through the issuing of ordinance citations. With the help of the community, the agency of the constables will continue serving the citizens of the city of Houston and the county at large with diligence. The organization considers establishing safety in the community using different strategies varies the degree of success, and it is vital to be tough on crime.

There are challenges that come along when the constables are executing their duties. One of the primary challenge constables’ faces is jurisdictional issues. Jurisdiction concept concerns the agency that has the authority to take action in matters of justice administration. There are several different agencies in the state of Texas that enforce laws. There are various agencies in the criminal system like the constables and the marshals who enforce the laws passed by the governing bodies in different corresponding levels (Häkkinen, 2004). Due to the different levels of governance, the constables are only limited to conduct their legal exercises in particular jurisdictions. The limitation has an adverse effect in that certain geographical areas with a lesser number of constables may have higher crime rates.

The agency faces the challenge of having constables who run off contract base. Some of the constables run off duty to deliver services to other districts in enforcing the law, and community works with an aim of increasing their income. The run-off contract base affects the professionalism of the personnel involved hence implications are negative towards the overall performance of the agency (Maxwell, Crain & Santos, 2014). The duties of a constable are also hazardous hence is a challenge to the department. The nature of their duties is often confronting and this itself exposes them to a dangerous ordeal. In a situation like that of confrontation, experience, and training matters a lot. Specific training standards of constables are an important issue.

Constables together with the city work to get money from individuals paying the courts through getting the subpoenas and citations. All these money goes to the city, and if the city could be unable to get any funds then it would go bankrupt. It is a challenge to the agency as well as the governance of the city. Another major problem is that the budget cut by a certain percentage implicated on the county law enforcer agencies. It has an adverse impact on the body of constables will be unable to carry out its duties efficiently without enough funds. The constable agencies’ cut of the budget leads to contract reduction of the Deputy programs as well as the cuts in staffing.

In conclusion, the constable office is a vital department in the law enforcement docket as it is seen to have a significant impact to the community of Houston city and the county at large. It is the one, and the only department of law enforcement that deals with the citizens’ one on one hence can be helpful in dealing with the interest of public safety. There are departmental goals set in order for it to excel as achieving them is a vital thing. The goals include acting with effectiveness in enforcing the law, employment of innovative crime prevention techniques in protecting the community from criminal activities, preserving the communities’ dignity and peace. Lastly to provide educative and awareness programs to the community. The recommendations are that exercising the progressive techniques and planning strategically is important in maintaining a proactive posture so that the goals can be achievable. The county of Harris needs to consider deploying more personnel of the constable agency in areas suffering in under-staffed law enforcers. The constable office staff should every time work to reach and even exceed the expectations of the department, as well as the public’s expectations. The office of the county constable’s office should strive to serve its citizens with the highest level of performance. The agency should recognize the need of its personnel performing professionally to maintain the highest degree of performance concerning curbing crime.

References

Häkkinen, P. (2004). What Makes Learning and Understanding in Virtual Teams So Difficult?. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 7(2), 201-206. Doi:10.1089/109493104323024465

Maxwell, W., Crain, E., & Santos, A. (2014). Texas politics today. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Mitchell, V. (1993). Handling Consumer Complaint Information: Why and How?. Management Decision, 31(3). Doi:10.1108/00251749310036306       

Schmidt, S., Shelley, M., Santos, A., Crain, E., Bardes, B., & Maxwell, W. (2010). American government and politics today. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Statutory Extension of Injunctive Law Enforcement. (1932). Harvard Law Review, 45(6), 1096. Doi:10.2307/1332148