Unit 3. Law Enforcement Organizations. Police. Prosecutor.

I. Use of English

Task 1. Revise the vocabulary and complete the definitions

1. Organisations that supervise the law to be put into execution are called ....

2. Government entity authorized to resolve legal disputes is called ....

3. The judgment formally pronounced by the court or judge upon the defendant after his conviction in a criminal prosecution, imposing the punishment to be inflicted is called ....

4. To seize or detain a person by force and often for ransom means to ....

5. To kill (somebody) unlawfully and intentionally means to ....

6. A punishment legally imposed or incurred is called ....

7. To impose a penalty on (an offender) or for (an offence) means to ....

8. To steal something from (a person or place), esp. by violence or threat means to ....

9. The act of stealing is called ....

10. A sum payable as punishment for an offence is called ....

11. The act of killing a human being is called ....

12. Being put into prison is called ....

13. Any statement made by a witness under oath in a legal proceeding is called ....

14. One who breaks into houses or other buildings to steal is called ....

15. Violation of law, a grave offence is called ....

16. The law-making branch of government is called ... power.

17. Any proceeding, action, cause, lawsuit or controversy initiated through the court system by filing a complaint, petition, indictment or information is called ....

18. Any form of proof legally presented at a trial through witnesses, documents, etc. is called ....

19. A crime of graver nature than a misdemeanour is called ....

20. The public officer in each county who is a lawyer and who represents the interests of the state in criminal trials in all legal matters is called ....

21. To charge with an offence, crime; to blame means ....

22. To take a case to a higher court for rehearing and a new decision means to ....

23. A trial in court is called ....

24. A prison (Br. also gaol) is called ....

25. A public official authorized to decide questions brought before a court is called ....

26. Proper administration of laws is called ....

27. A person licensed to practice law is called ....

28. Recognized and permitted by law means ....

29. An illegal act punishable under criminal law is called ....

30. A person who testifies to what he has seen, heard or otherwise observed; a person whose declaration or affirmation under oath is received as evidence for any purpose is called ....

II. Reading

Task 2. Read the text about law enforcement agencies and say what definition is broader – a law enforcement agency or police

Law enforcement agency

A law enforcement agency (LEA), in North American English, is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Outside North America, such organizations are usually called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police, others are known as sheriff’s offices / departments, while investigative police services in the United States are often called bureaus, for example the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In the United States each state and county or city has its own LEAs.

The operations area of a LEA is referred to as a jurisdiction. Sometimes the one legal jurisdiction is covered by more than one LEA, for administrative and logistical efficiency or because of historical reasons.

In federations, a federal police agency is a federal LEA, which also has the typical police responsibilities of social order and public safety as well as federal law enforcement responsibilities. Examples of federal law enforcement agencies are the Australian Federal Police (Australia), Central Bureau of Investigation (India), Federal Bureau of Investigation (United States), Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Canada) and the State Security Service (Nigeria).

A national police agency is a national LEA, which also has typical police responsibilities of social order and public safety as well as national law enforcement responsibilities. Examples of countries with national police agencies are Canada, Italy, France, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines and Nicaragua.

Task 3. Read the text about police and say whether the sentences given below the text are true or false

Police

A police force is a constituted body of persons empowered by the state to enforce the law, protect property, and limit civil disorder. Their powers include the legitimized use of force. They are authorized to exercise the police power within a defined legal or territorial area of responsibility.

Policing has included an array of activities in different situations, but the predominant ones are concerned with the preservation of order. The police force is usually a public sector service, meaning they are paid through taxes. Alternative names for police force include constabulary, gendarmerie, police department, police service, crime prevention, protective services, law enforcement agency or civil (civic) guard. Members may be referred to as troopers, sheriffs, constables, police officers, rangers, peace officers or civic / civil guards.

The name “police” first attested in English in the early 15th century; it comes from Middle French ‘police’ (‘public order, administration, government’), in turn from Latin politia, which is the Latinisation of the Greek ‘politeia’, meaning “citizenship, administration, civil polity”.

Police forces include both preventive (uniformed) police and detectives. Terminology varies from country to country.

Uniformed (preventive) police designates the police that patrol and respond to emergencies and other incidents, as opposed to detective services.

Police detectives are responsible for investigations and detective work. Detectives may be called Investigations Police, Judiciary / Judicial Police and Criminal Police. In the UK, they are often referred to by the name of their department, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Detectives typically make up roughly 15% - 25% of a police service’s personnel.

In some cases, police are assigned to work “undercover”, where they conceal their police identity to investigate crimes, such as organized crime or narcotics crime, that are unsolvable by other means.

In many jurisdictions, police officers carry firearms in the normal course of their duties. In the United Kingdom (except in Northern Ireland), Iceland, Ireland, Norway, New Zealand, and Malta, with the exception of specialist units, officers do not carry firearms as a matter of course. Police often have specialist units for handling armed offenders, and similar dangerous situations, and can, in some extreme circumstances, call on the military.

In many nations, criminal procedure law has been developed to regulate officers’ discretion, so that they do not arbitrarily or unjustly exercise their powers of arrest, search and seizure, and use of force. Police are prohibited from holding criminal suspects for more than a reasonable amount of time (usually 24 – 48 hours) before arraignment, using torture, abuse or physical threats to extract confessions, using excessive force to effect an arrest, and searching suspects’ bodies or their homes without a warrant obtained upon a showing of probable cause. British police officers are governed by similar rules, but generally have greater powers. They may, for example, legally search any suspect, who has been arrested, or their vehicles, home or business premises, without a warrant, and may seize anything they find in a search as evidence.

Police functions include protecting life and property, enforcing criminal law, criminal investigations, regulating traffic, crowd control, and other public safety duties. Police are generally charged with the apprehension of criminals and the prevention and detection of crime, protection and assistance of the public, and the maintenance of public order. Police officers have the power to arrest people and detain them for a limited time, along with other duties and powers. Officers are expected to respond to a variety of situations that may arise while they are on duty. In some countries, rules and procedures dictate that a police officer is obliged to intervene in a criminal incident, even if they are off-duty.

It is important to mention that for recent years the Supreme Court of the United States has consistently ruled that law enforcement officers have no duty to protect any individual from harm, despite the motto “protect and serve”. Their duty is to enforce the law in general.

In some societies, police officers are paid relatively well compared to other occupations; their pay depends on what rank they are within their police force and how many years they have served. In the United States, a police officer’s salary averaged $52,810 in 2008. In the United Kingdom for the year 2011–12, a police officer’s average salary was £40,402.

Line of duty deaths are deaths, which occur while an officer is conducting his or her appointed duties. Despite the increased risk of being a victim of a homicide, automobile accidents are the most common cause of officer deaths. Officers killed by suspects make up a smaller proportion of deaths. In the U.S. in 2005, 156 line of duty deaths were recorded of which 44% were from assaults on officers, 35% vehicle related (only 3% during vehicular pursuits) and the rest from other causes.

Police officers who die in the line of duty, especially those who die from the actions of suspects or in accidents or heart attacks, are often given elaborate funerals, attended by large numbers of fellow officers. Their families may also be entitled to special pensions. Fallen officers are often remembered in public memorials.

In the United Kingdom, in the 10 years from April 2000 there were 143 line of duty deaths: 54 in road accidents travelling to or from duty, 46 in road accidents on duty, 23 from natural causes on duty, 15 from criminal acts, and 5 in other accidents (remembering that police do not normally carry firearms in Great Britain).

The Singapore Police Force registered just over 100 deaths in a century up to the year 2000. There have been 28 New Zealand police officers killed by criminal act since 1890.

Police are often used as an emergency service and may provide a public safety function at large gatherings, as well as in emergencies, disasters, search and rescue situations, and road traffic collisions. To provide a prompt response in emergencies, the police often coordinate their operations with fire and emergency medical services. In many countries, there is a common emergency service number that allows the police, fire fighters, or medical services to be summoned to an emergency (US – 911; UK - 999).

1. In most countries police is a private organisation.

2. Policemen have no powers to use force against civilians.

3. Detectives are investigators in other words.

4. To work “undercover” means to be a police informant.

5. Policemen’s powers are not limited in most countries.

6. English policemen carry firearms like other countries’ policemen.

7. Some counties demand their police officers fulfil their responsibilities even if they are off-duty.

8. Police forces are never used in emergency cases in most countries.

9. The country with the lowest rate of the line of duty deaths is the United Kingdom.

10. Policemen of most countries have the power to arrest a person without a warrant.

Task 4. Read the text about sheriffs and give the definition of the term

Sheriff

The word “sheriff” is a contraction of the term “shire reeve”. The term, from the Old English scīrgerefa, designated a royal official responsible for keeping the peace (a “reeve”) throughout a shire or county on behalf of the king. The term was preserved in England notwithstanding the Norman Conquest. From the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the term spread to several other regions, at an early point to Scotland, latterly to Ireland and to the United States.

In practice, the specific combination of legal, political and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country.

In the United States, a sheriff is a sworn law enforcement officer and the duties of his / her office vary across states and counties. A sheriff is generally an elected county official, with duties that typically include policing unincorporated areas, maintaining county jails, providing security to courts in the county, and (in some states) serving warrants and court papers. In addition to these policing and correction services, a sheriff is often responsible for enforcing civil law within his / her jurisdiction.

Nowadays, except the USA, sheriffs work the UK, Australia, Canada, Iceland, India, Ireland and some other countries, though their duties can vary from country to country.

III. Speaking

Task 5. Analyse the chart about the number of police officers in different countries of the world and express your opinion