Defining a Municipal Law Enforcement Officer
A Municipal Law Enforcement Officer is defined in the Provincial Offences Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.33 as "an employee of a municipality or local board, as defined in the Municipal Act, acting under the authority of a by-law or of an agreement between the municipality or local board and the Crown in Right of Ontario or the Government of Canada, who enforces or carries out the purposes and enforcement of a by-law passed by the municipality or local board." The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Region) has numerous responsibility and enforcement powers. For example, it is responsible for the on-road transportation system, waste management, economic development, environmental protection, health and long-term care, land use planning, parks and trails, recreation facilities, public health, public housing and regional police. In most cases , when staff of the Region Circle Municipal Law Enforcement Officers, a Council approved policy is established. These policies define the scope of the Municipal Law Enforcement Officers ability to enforce the law. For example, the Waste Management By-law provides the authority for Municipal Law Enforcement Officers to issue a ticket for illegal dumping. However, the Waste Management By-law does not authorize these officers to inspect, handle, process, collect, transport and dispose of waste material. Some of these functions are assigned to the Region by the Environmental Protection Act or other provincial statues. Accordingly, certain enforcement duties fall under the authority of Provincial Offences Officers, which are officers of the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Parks, and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
Day-to-Day Duties and Responsibilities
Municipal law enforcement officers (MLEOs) are often the most visible and familiar representatives of the municipality’s law enforcement function. Their everyday responsibilities and duties, however, will vary according to the needs of the municipality.
Many municipalities assign MLEOs’ duties on a function-oriented basis. For example, in small and rural municipalities, MLEOs may investigate all crimes committed within their jurisdiction, supervise probationers, and conduct all municipal court security functions. In addition, MLEOs regularly enforce animal control, building safety, zoning and other municipal ordinances. Working with animals or the inspection of buildings is generally beyond the capabilities of state law enforcement officers who rarely have reason to visit small towns.
In contrast, larger municipalities assign MLEOs police duties in a more limited fashion. In some cases, their duties will only involve criminal investigations of violations of the New Jersey State Criminal Code, either by excluding or providing fewer municipal ordinance enforcement and specific statutory duties. By limiting MLEOs’ duties, larger municipalities may reduce the potential for conflicts with full-time police departments, which are sometimes referred to as "shadow police forces."
There are other limitations on the assignment of MLEOs’ duties. By statute, MLEOs cannot be assigned to perform certain duties which are specifically reserved for full-time police officers. Those duties include the power of arrest, motor vehicle enforcement duties, issuance of summonses for violations of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Code, and other duties enumerated in N.J.S.A. 40A:14-146 (r). These limitations do not apply if the duties are assigned to a full-time police officer.
Qualifications, Skills, and Training
Municipal law enforcement officers must meet certain educational and training requirements to be certified in their respective states. Although many municipal law enforcement officers are required to have a high school diploma or equivalency, several states now require specific training programs to be completed. Certification to become a police officer is routinely required by state law. These certification requirements are typically established by a state’s law enforcement training boards. For example, Georgia requires a minimum of 400 hours of basic training for all prospective law enforcement officers. To qualify for state certification, a prospective law enforcement officer in Georgia must hold a high school diploma or equivalent, be at least 18 years old, be fingerprinted, pass a physical exam as well as a pass drug test and a background check. With respect to firearms, Georgia imposes the following requirement: "all persons required to carry firearms, including peace officers, shall receive instruction on firearms safety and demonstrate proficiency with any firearms (handgun and shotgun) they may be required to carry." Following the completion of basic training and certification, municipal law enforcement officers must continue to participate in training programs as required by state law in order to maintain their certification. Although specific training programs vary from state to state, several states offer continuing education training on specialized topics such as electronic crime, gang activity, counter-terrorism, homicide investigation, resource management, hostage negotiation, interrogation, interviewing, and sexual assault investigations.
Municipal Law Enforcement: Challenges and Opportunities
While a career as a municipal law enforcement officer offers many rewards, it also comes with several unique challenges. The day-to-day demands of a police department require officers to think on their feet and problem-solve, as they are constantly dealing with a variety of situations, including those that are potentially dangerous. Nevertheless, municipal law enforcement generally provides officers greater autonomy and a wider range of responsibilities than other law enforcement departments. As a result, municipalities often hire fewer officers than are employed at the county and state level, meaning that each municipal officer has more duties and responsibilities than his or her counterparts at larger agencies. The communities served by municipal law enforcement officers are also another potential obstacle. Police departments of cities and towns tend to be smaller than counterparts in larger cities and may have underdeveloped lines of communications with their constituents. This can lead to conflict between officers and residents — or even different factions of the community — so it is imperative that municipal law enforcement officers establish respect and credibility within the community. Another internal challenge faced by municipal law enforcement officers is that their careers may be limited by an outdated promotion system that only allows established officers to move up within their departments. The patchwork nature of municipal law enforcement in the United States means that there are several competing agencies vying for top talent. As a result, the value of municipal experience is not as high as that of federal or other police agencies. Difficulty finding and retaining top talent may mean that municipal law enforcement agencies are unable to maintain a level of staffing necessary to offer long-term opportunities for growth for their officers. Despite these obstacles, municipal law enforcement officers possess several key strengths that help them tackle the numerous challenges posed both internally within their agencies and externally in their communities. As locally positioned agencies, municipal police departments are more familiar with their communities than are larger agencies. They have deeper roots in the community and are more closely involved in local government. As a result, municipal law enforcement officers are better able to build rapport and trust with residents. And because municipal law enforcement officers are city or town employees, their continued employment relies upon the support of the community. This leads to outcomes seen as more satisfactory to residents and can pay dividends for municipal officers.
Innovations, Technology, and Tools of the Trade
As you might expect, modern technology has had an impact on how municipalities function and incur expenses to comply with state law requirements. Municipal law enforcement is no exception to this impact. The advent of the digital police report has ushered in far more sophisticated reporting than the "blotter" type reports that used to be required. Most towns now require their officers to prepare a report when they receive any call or respond to a situation. Usually, that report must then be approved by a supervisor and sometimes, depending upon the department policy, multiple supervisors until it is deemed complete. As you might imagine, prepared correctly, these reports can be invaluable in defense of a lawsuit.
Somewhat of an offshoot from the increased need for reports is the municipal obsession with cameras, both stationary and those that may be affixed to the officer’s uniform or belt. Many municipalities now outfit their officers with body cameras which are becoming common nowadays. These officers will wear a camera on their uniform above their chest with the lens pointing forward. These cameras record every interaction an officer has when patrolling, or doing something other than seated at a table or in a car or office. The camera, however, is not always on. Most municipalities require this feature after numerous lawsuits and improper usages. Most body cameras now are only activated when an officer presses the record button on their belts when an interaction is about to begin.
Many municipalities have also equipped their police cruisers with dash cameras . Dash cameras, which have far improved since their introduction, now record sundry events. Like body cameras, these dash cameras are activated by a button, although dash cameras were activated by motion detectors. Dash cameras, unlike body cameras, are always recording and may inadvertently capture what is going on around the police cruiser. Some municipalities have also equipped their police cruisers with automatic license plate reader (ALPR). ALPR cameras scan the plates of all vehicles going in front of the camera, unlike a dash camera, which has a field of view directly ahead. ALPRs operate by storing records for all vehicles reviewed by their camera.
With these new cameras comes the added cost of data storage. While body cameras have loan systems which allow them to upload selected video, the majority of video recorded is uploaded wirelessly. This creates a new expense for municipalities to purchase data storage to keep all of the video footage.
Finally, there is social media. Social media plays an important role in the communication between municipalities and its citizens. Many municipalities have Facebook pages and Twitter accounts to liaise with its constituents. These social media vehicles are not without their problems. Some municipalities have been sued over the speech of its officers and employees on Facebook and Twitter. Many municipalities have considered adopting Internet use policies to assist in educating employees in the proper use of social media. Some have enacted these policies, but many have not.
Community Relations and Engagement
A municipal law enforcement officer is not only responsible for enforcing the law, arresting violators, and keeping the peace, but also for staying connected with and actively giving back to the community they serve. A strong community engagement strategy is integral to building healthy relationships between local law enforcement and the people who live and work in the municipalities they service. Heavy reliance on social media channels is an increasingly popular way to reach that goal, and the modern municipal law enforcement officer should be embracing social media as a tool for good, both in their daily practice of policing and as a prompt to actively pursue additional opportunities to benefit their community. Successful community programming varies greatly by size, demographics and need. However, the best place for most municipal law enforcement officers to start is by simply devoting the technology at their fingertips to checking in on the residents they serve. Many complaints and requests they receive can be answered directly through social media and other digital communication channels. But the rewards of this strategy do not stop there. When the community sees the officers who service them genuinely taking the time to engage with them—and not just when there is trouble or a violation of the law—they are more likely to recognize those officers as friendly and approachable members of the community, and not hear "Officer" and think of either someone in a scary uniform or in a pair of handcuffs taking away someone they love. When building relationships with police, community members may be more likely to view them as aberrational and having less to do with their "normal" lives. Those efforts will likely translate to greater trust and cooperation between the police and the residents they serve, and in the end, to effective crime suppression strategies that rely on a large network of eyes and ears working together for everyone’s safety, rather than by fear, coercion or isolation. True engagement and cooperation with municipal law enforcement officers will bring all of that and more, and in ways that are not only sustainable but even positive. When you participate in the local bake-off or watch a little league game from the sidelines with your family, you yard work alongside your neighbors, and you attend each other’s social events, and when you get reach out to those you interact with throughout the day because of genuine concern or simple curiosity, instead of only when your work prompts you to do so, it will lead to better relationships between officers and the community members they work most closely with. Furthermore, it will not only lead to a better working relationship, but to better friendships, as a result. When they are approached as a fellow human being (and not a badge under which they are hiding), officers will always do much better befriending individual members of the community they serve, and connecting in meaningful ways to help make the places in which they live and work better and safer, with a spirit of cooperation that will skyrocket their overall success. Many factors will play into how successful municipal law enforcement officers become at staying positively connected with their communities, but the most effective approach is to embrace the technology available to them in a way that gives back, rather than just takes, from the communities until they are able to see its inherent value. One example of this is to take to Facebook to ask your followers to submit photos of themselves wearing your latest badge of honor in order to empower your residents to spread the content and help keep everyone aware of your work as a department. Of course officers should not always rely on their followers and friends to share their victories in a way that brings awareness. Rather, it is entirely reasonable—and even desirable—for law enforcement officers to be their own best advocates by giving back and starting to build community for themselves. And while participating in social media and digital technology is a great place to start, these tools are also valuable when used for a variety of other purposes of varying levels of effort. At the end of the day, the most and least amount of success built from community engagement and public relations efforts will always be limited by the passion and effort devoted to those endeavors. However, whether low-key or high-key, if those efforts are approached as part of the job, rather than as something that draws from it that which must be given back, they will undoubtedly lead to greater understanding of the profession by the communities being served, and safer, healthier places for everyone to live, work and play.
The Future of Municipal Law Enforcement
As the landscape of municipal law enforcement continues to evolve, it is important to consider the future trends that may shape the development of this area of law. One significant factor that may influence the future of municipal law enforcement is the ongoing legislative changes at both the state and federal levels. These changes could include new statutes or amendments to existing laws that impact the duties and responsibilities of law enforcement agencies and their officers. Additionally, there is the potential for new regulations or guidelines that would govern the hiring, training, and retention of law enforcement personnel.
Another area of focus in the future of municipal law enforcement is the use of new and emerging technologies within police departments. As technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, law enforcement agencies are exploring new tools and resources to aid them in their duties. This could include advancements in body-worn and in-car cameras , social media monitoring, and enhanced record management systems. With these changes, agencies must also consider how they will maintain compliance with both constitutional requirements and state privacy laws.
Lastly, continued focus on community expectations and relationships will likely drive the future of municipal law enforcement. Public apprehension regarding police actions has spurred difficult conversations between private citizens and police departments. Police agencies should practice transparency in their activities and have clear lines of communication both internally and externally. With the proper approach, police departments will be able to successfully navigate these challenges and grow as dynamic law enforcement agencies that foster strong and trusting relationships with the communities they serve.