who has more jurisdiction?

Question

who has more jurisdiction, local city police, county sherriffs department, constable, or state police

Answer 1

The department with the most political capital is the department with the most jurisdiction. Who had the most jurisdiction while in grade school; Parent, Teacher, Principal or friend?

Answer 2

It's not so much who has 'more' jurisdiction, but rather where do each of these agencies have jurisdiction.

Police Departments have primary jurisdiction for everything inside of the city limits.

Sheriff Departments have primary jurisdiction for everywhere else in the county that is 'outside' of other city limits.

I'll use California for your reference to a 'state' police. Years ago California merged the State Police with the Highway Patrol. They patrol, protect, investigate crimes on state property and the CHP enforces traffic laws on state highways (primarily) but can enforce traffic laws in cities too.

Federal enforcement agencies focus on federal violations and investigate crimes committed on 'federal' property, such as a federal court house, federal prison, etc.

A constable is something not heard much anymore, at least not where I am. He/she is traditionally a jack-of-all-trades elected official, usually in a smaller community, who has police powers in addition to a number of other judicially related powers and duties.

Answer 3

What do you mean? All have different jurisdictional limits. City police can arrest within city limits, the sheriff within county borders, and state police within the confines of the state. However, state authorities will usually defer to local police and let them handle their local problems.

Answer 4

In any normal state, the state police, or highway patrol would have more authority, however in Webster County, Mo it seems the sheriff and his team of followers enforce only what they want on who they want, in fact we recently had a non certified jailer (not a cop)write a ticket to a highway patrolman, the way the sheriffs position is set up, everyone takes care of him, and he takes care of securing votes, instead of protecting the public which makes his position a political one not a law enforcement one. BTW I'd like to add he was removed from office, re-elected and later we found out he no longer had a POST certification and can't make arrests, that might have changed the voters opinion wouldn't you say? For the most part on a city and state level, cops don't have to cover up the facts and are usually more honest.

Answer 5

It varies by location. Highway Patrol have primary jurisdiction on highways that cross local and county boundaries. City Police have primary jurisdiction within city boundaries. However, the Sheriff can override either city or state within his/her county because he/she is an elected official.

Answer 6

Different areas of jurisdiction, so it depends on what you mean by "more" -- geographic or effective.

State police have geographic authority everywhere in the state, but in practice are limited to state roads, state public buildings, and whenever they are called by the governor or the local police.

Same with sheriffs, who have geographic authority across the county, but are generally limited in practice to unincorporated lands outside cities/towns, or county-owned property.

City/town police have the smallest geographic authority, but usually handle much more in terms of actual law enforcement on a regular basis because the vast majority of the population is under their scope.

Answer 7

State police have more geographical jurisdiction. Municipal police work for municipalities such as towns or cities, county police and deputy sheriffs work for counties, state police work for states, and federal police work for the federal government. Some have the same duties as one another or very similar duties, and some have different or additional duties. Their jurisdiction is sometimes the main difference. For example, a municipal police officer normally has primary jurisdiction only in the town he or she works for, and a county police officer normally has primary jurisdiction only in the county he or she works for.