Anyone who has ever lived in small towns or rural communities has their own local sheriff’s office. It may have two to four officers and is in charge of local problems and provide a sense of security. The benefits of local law enforcement or state-run agencies are:
1. By having local law enforcement it makes the community feel much more comfortable that someone that they know in some way is watching over them. It provides a sense of comfort and control that a neighbor is watching over them and it allows the officers to be much more approachable rather than a state policeman who might be more intimidating rather than a more laid-back easy-going local law official.
2. It becomes much easier for the local officer to become attuned with what goes on within the community and is easily able to distinguish certain cliques within the community which in turn allows him/her to know who would or wouldn’t cause a certain crime. An example would be if the officer got a call saying that someone had just stolen a lawnmower and the victim accused the young nice couple across the street of going through with the crime. The officer is also friends with the couple and knows that they only own half an acre of land and only 200 square feet is of grass. He also knows that they use a weed-whacker to trim their grass and are volunteers with the neighborhood-watch. All of this which the officer knows right off-hand and is able to know that something could be wrong with the whole accusation which the “accuser” turns out to have been trying to get 500 dollars for a new mower and his failed attempt was all figured out within a matter of minutes of the sheriff not even having to leave the comfort of the office.
3. By also having local law-enforcement they are focused on helping the county rather than state-run agencies focusing on a larger geographical area and having to perform multiple duties as well. By having local law enforcement focusing on the community rather than trying to focus on more than one county, it gives the officers or sheriffs more time to focus all their time on the community’s well-being and its security.
These are the benefits that state police departments might not offer or have rather than what local law enforcement agencies offer and provide.