Crime and Law Enforcement in The United States of America

Main articles: Law enforcement in the United States and Crime in the United States

See also: Law of the United States, Incarceration in the United States, and Capital punishment in the United States

Law enforcement in the U.S. is maintained primarily by local police departments. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) is the largest in the country.^[167]

Law enforcement in the United States is primarily the responsibility of local police and sheriff's departments, with state police providing broader services. Federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Marshals Service have specialized duties. At the federal level and in almost every state, jurisprudence operates on a common law system. State courts conduct most criminal trials; federal courts handle certain designated crimes as well as certain appeals from the state systems. Federal law prohibits a variety of drugs, although states sometimes pass laws in conflict with federal regulations. The smoking age is generally 18, and the drinking age is generally 21.

Among developed nations, the United States has above-average levels of violent crime and particularly high levels of gun violence and homicide.^[168] There were 5.0 murders per 100,000 persons in 2009, 10.4% fewer than in 2000.^[169] Gun ownership rights are the subject of contentious political debate.
The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate^[170] and total prison population^[171] in the world. At the start of 2008, more than 2.3 million people were incarcerated, more than one in every 100 adults.^[172] The current rate is about seven times the 1980 figure,^[173] and over three times the figure in Poland, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country with the next highest rate.^[174] African American males are jailed at about six times the rate of white males and three times the rate of Hispanic males.^[170] The country's high rate of incarceration is largely due to sentencing and drug policies.^[170][175]

Though it has been abolished in most Western nations, capital punishment is sanctioned in the United States for certain federal and military crimes, and in thirty-four states. Since 1976, when the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty after a four-year moratorium, there have been more than 1,000 executions.^[176] In 2010, the country had the fifth highest number of executions in the world, following China, Iran, North Korea, and Yemen.^[177] In 2007, New Jersey became the first state to legislatively abolish the death penalty since the 1976 Supreme Court decision, followed by New Mexico in 2009 and Illinois in 2011.<sup>[178]

Tuesday, June 12, 2012</sup>