CHAPTER 4

The Law Enforcement

OBJECTIVES:
• To know the role of the law enforcement
agency in Criminal Justice
• To know the different functions of the law
enforcement agency

The Law Enforcement in Relation to the CJS

The Law enforcement as the first pillar is considered to be the “initiator” or the
“prime-mover” of the Criminal Justice System. It is considered as “the initiator of the
action s” that other pillar must act upon to attain its goal or objective. Some authors
would state that without the police initiating the action, the system would be at a
standstill.

Examples of law enforcement initiating

actions:

• Effecting an arrest
• Surveillance
• Crime Investigation

These are the Function of the Law Enforcement in Relation to the Administration
of CJS

1. To prevent criminal behavior

Prevention involves all the factors directed toward eliminating the cause of
crimes.
2. To reduce crime
Crime reduction essentially means eliminating and reducing opportunities
for criminal behavior.

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 3. To apprehend and arrest offenders
This function includes crime investigation and gathering of evidences that
could withstand the scrutiny of the court
4. To regulate non-criminal conduct
This involves the community service and the maintenance of order
functions of the PNP

The following are some of the Law Enforcement Agencies tasked to enforce
Criminal Law

1. The Philippine National Police

2. The National Bureau of Investigation
3. The Bureau of Internal Revenue in cases of tax evasion

The Philippine National Police

It is the government agency that has the

primary mandate to perform the police function
under constitution

Pursuant to the provision of the constitution,

the congress of the Philippines is mandate to
“establish and maintain one police force, which
shall be national in scope and civilian in character
to be administered by the national police
commission.

The congress in compliance to this mandate enacted the R.A 6975 establishing
the Philippine national Police.

The Law or act of the Congress caused the establishment of the PNP.

The PNP was establish by the enactment of R.A 6975 otherwise known as the
DILG ACT of 1990, Reorganizing the Department of Interior and Local Government

When the PNP was established?

It was establish on January of 1991, the date of its effectively

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An Act for Reorganization of PNP

The reorganization of PNP by virtue of the enactment of R.A 8551 on February 28,
1998 entitled “THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE REFORM ACT OF 1998”

Under this law, the PNP shall be a community and service oriented for the
maintenance of peace and order and public safety.

In Reorganizing the PNP, what criteria were followed by the National Police
Commission (NAPOLCOM) in its implementation?

Subject to limitations provided by this Act the reorganization must be based

on the following criteria:

a. Increase visibility through dispersal for the personnel from the headquarters to
the field offices.
b. Efficient and optimized delivery of police services to the community.

Powers and Function of the PNP

Under 6975, these are the following powers and function of the PNP:

a. Enforce all laws and ordinances relative to the protection of lives and
properties;

b. Maintain peace and order and take all the necessary steps to ensure public
safety;

c. Investigate and prevent crimes, effect the arrest of the criminal offenders,
bring offender to justice and assist in their prosecution;

d. Exercise the general powers to make arrest , search and seizure in

accordance with the constitution and pertinent laws;

e. Detain an arrested person for a period not beyond what is prescribed by

law, inform the person so detained of all his rights under the constitution;

f. Issue licenses for the possession of firearms and explosives in accordance

with law;

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 g. Supervise and control the training and operations of security agencies,
security guards and private detectives, for the practice if their professions
and
h. Perform such as other duties and exercise all other functions as may be
provided by law.

Four (4) categories of the power of the PNP base on R.A 6975

They are the following:

1. Order Maintenance
2. Community Service
3. Law Enforcement
4. Neighborhood Policing/ Team Policing/Community Policing

Explanation for each category

1. Order Maintenance

Order maintenance policing is a police practice that involves managing

minor offenses and neighborhood disorders in order to address community
problems. Order maintenance policing is influenced by the “broken windows”
hypothesis, which describes the process by which minor offenses can lead to
citizen fear and the decline of neighborhoods.

That officer should help to maintain order in communities has always been
an expected and desired function of modern police. In the contemporary sense,
order maintenance policing (also called “broken windows” policing or “quality-of-
life” policing) refers to a police operational tactic that involves managing minor
offenses and acts of physical and social disorder. Order maintenance is generally.

2. Community – Service Function

According to the philosophy of

community policing, local police should
provide citizens with formal access to the
department's decision-and policy-making
process. Neighborhood residents are
encour aged to voice their concerns to the
police, and it is the responsibility of the
police to thoughtfully address these
concerns. While police professionalism

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 remains important, this quality is no longer equated with officers' being
detached and aloof from local citizens. Under community policing, police
officers are expected to initiate frequent personal contacts with community
members on their beats, and to interact in an attentive, friendly, and
compassionate manner. Enforcing the law and fighting crime remain
important elements of policing, but community policing recognizes that, in
reality, most police work is oriented toward no enforcement tasks such as
maintaining order and providing social services

3. Law Enforcement

Increasing complexity of society has

witnessed the assumption of helping-system
roles by law enforcement-roles which fail to be
acknowledged by the field of law enforcement
or by recognized agencies within that system. It
is suggested that changes in police
organizational structure and significant changes
in poli ce training can conduce to police
performance which is to the advantage of both
society and the individual police officer and is
consistent with the objectives of the helping system, A recently concluded
demonstration in police family crisis intervention is described which provides a
structural model (generalist-specialist) for effectively incorporating helping
functions in law enforcement, while in no way compromising the primary function
of the police.

4. Neighborhood Team Policing

The defining features of neighborhood policing are:

• Police officers, staff and volunteers accessible to, responsible for

and accountable to communities
• Community engagement that builds trust and develops a
sophisticated understanding of community needs
• Collaborative problem-solving with communities supported by
integrated working with private, public and voluntary sectors.

The combination of these features distinguishes neighborhood policing from

other broader policing functions. It is an essential part of the UK policing approach
that aims to connect our communities directly and seamlessly to specialist policing
services at local, regional and national level. It recognizes that those involved in

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 neighborhood policing need time and space to work in a proactive and preventative
way to:

▪ Protect local neighborhoods or communities

▪ Safeguard the vulnerable
▪ Manage and divert offenders
▪ Earn community confidence

It encourages the use of locally tailored evidence-based practice to have a

sustained impact on reducing harm, repeat demand and increasing community
resilience. Alongside community engagement, it requires effective data sharing
between different agencies for problems to be identified and properly understood,
and for effective decision making and action at the neighborhood level. Defining
problems with precision helps to better target action assess the effect of
interventions and ensure limited resources are not wasted on ineffective activities.

Crime Detection

Crime detection in relation to the administration of the criminal justice

system.

Through crime detection, the police are typically the first component of the
justice system to deal with the commission of the crime.

How is crime detected?

a. The most typical way that crimes come to the attention of the police is
for the victim to report its occurrence to the police.
b. A less typical way for the police to be advised of the crime is through the
reporting of someone who has witnessed its commission or has come
upon evidence indicating that a crime has been committed.
c. The police themselves, through their proactive routine operation
discover that a crime has been committed or witness its commission.

The most important part of crime detection

An important part of crime detection may be the result of an aggressive police

work. Experienced police officers and detectives sometime concentrate their surveillance
operations and investigate efforts on persons, situations, or places in which past
experience has taught them that criminal behavior is likely. Example, Conducting a buy-
bust operation.

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Buy-bust Operation

Is also known in legal and police

parlance as a form of “entrapment”. This simply
means that ways and means are restored by the
police officers in order to catch a law violator as
distinguish from “instigation” wherein the police
basically induced the person into committing a
crime.

The Concept of Crime Control Functions and

“Rationing” in the Law Enforcement Pillar.

Crime Control Functions in Law

Enforcement is almost intertwined with the “rationing concept” in the enforcement of
criminal law.

Rationing refers to when the police selectively enforces criminal law for various
reasons.

In short, the concepts of crime control what specific criminal law to enforce, to
which specific individuals or group, when how is influenced by the rationing concept that
the police administration are adopting.

Reference:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007
/BF01434751

https://www.college.police.uk/What-we-
do/Standards/Guidelines/Neighbourhoo
d-Policing/Pages/definition-of-
neighbourhood-policing.aspx Video Link:
Philippine Criminal Justice System https://youtu.be/C0fT3hGyo1E
(Second Edition) By Atty. Ramil Gabao
https://youtu.be/4_29TS6jjsA

https://youtu.be/KIAe0lYUBgo

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