Law enforcement in the United States is one of three major components of the criminal justice system of the United States, along with courts and corrections. Although each component operates semi-independently, the three collectively form a chain leading from an investigation of suspected criminal activity to the administration of criminal punishment. Law enforcement operates through governmental police agencies. There are 17,985 U. S. police agencies in the United States which include City Police Departments, County Sheriff's Offices, State Police/Highway Patrol and Federal Law Enforcement Agencies. The law-enforcement purposes of these agencies are the investigation of suspected criminal activity, referral of the results of investigations to state or federal prosecutors, the temporary detention of suspected criminals pending judicial action. Law enforcement agencies, to varying degrees at different levels of government and in different agencies, are commonly charged with the responsibilities of deterring criminal activity and preventing the successful commission of crimes in progress.

Other duties may include the service and enforcement of warrants and other orders of the courts. Law enforcement agencies are involved in providing first response to emergencies and other threats to public safety. Policing in the United States is conducted by "around to 18,000 federal, state and city departments, all with their own rules"; every state has its own nomenclature for agencies, their powers and funding vary from state to state. At the federal level, there exists both federal police, who possess full federal authority as given to them under United States Code, federal law enforcement agencies, who are authorized to enforce various laws at the federal level. Both police and law enforcement agencies operate at the highest level and are endowed with police roles; the agencies have jurisdiction in all states, U. S. territories and U. S. possessions for enforcement of federal law. Most federal agencies are limited by the U. S. Code to investigating only matters that are explicitly within the power of the federal government.

However, federal investigative powers have become broad in practice since the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act. There are federal law enforcement agencies, such as the United States Park Police, that are granted state arrest authority off primary federal jurisdiction; the Department of Justice is responsible for most law enforcement duties at the federal level. It includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Explosives, the United States Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Prisons and others; the Department of Homeland Security is another branch with numerous federal law enforcement agencies reporting to it. U. S. Customs and Border Protection, U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Secret Service, United States Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration are some of the agencies that report to DHS; the United States Coast Guard is assigned to the United States Department of Defense in the event of war.

At a crime or disaster scene affecting large numbers of people, multiple jurisdictions, or broad geographic areas, many police agencies may be involved by mutual aid agreements. For example, the United States Federal Protective Service responded to the Hurricane Katrina natural disaster; the command in such situations remains a flexible issue. In accordance with the federal structure of the United States government, the national government is not authorized to execute general police powers by the Constitution of the United States of America; the power to have a police force is given to each of the United States' 50 federated states. The US Constitution gives the federal government the power to deal with foreign affairs and interstate affairs. For police, this means that if a non-federal crime is committed in a US state and the fugitive does not flee the state, the federal government has no jurisdiction. However, once the fugitive crosses a state line he violates the federal law of interstate flight and is subject to federal jurisdiction, at which time federal law enforcement agencies may become involved.

Most states operate statewide government agencies that provide law enforcement duties, including investigations and state patrols. They may be called state police or highway patrol, are part of the state Department of Public Safety. In addition, the Attorney General's office of each state has its own state bureau of investigation such as in California with the California Department of Justice. In Texas, the Texas Ranger Division fulfill this role though they have their history in the period before Texas became a state. Various departments of state governments may have their own enforcement divisions, such as capitol police, campus police, state hospitals, Departments of Correction, water police, environmental game wardens or conservation officers. In Colorado, for instance, the Department of Revenue has its own investigative branch, as do many of the state-funded universities. Known as parishes and boroughs, county law enforcement is provided by sheriffs' departments or offices and county police.

County police tend to exist only in metropolitan counties and have countywide jur

Johannes Hermann Adrianus Cornelis de Mol is a Dutch diplomat. He is the current Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine. Jennes de Mol finished his studies at the Radboud University in 1989, Greek and Latin Language and Culture, Classical Archaeology. Language skills: Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish. After an extended military service he started in 1992 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and worked at the department for Africa, at the Embassy in Moscow and the Permanent Representation to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva, he was Personnel and Management Advisor at the MFA. He was Consul General in Saint Petersburg.

The qualification for the UEFA Women's Euro 2005 was held between March 26, 2003 & November 27, 2004. The first-placed of the group stage qualified directly; the second-placed and the two best third-placed teams played in two playoff matches for three other berths. England qualified as host. England qualified automatically as hosts for the final tournament. Sweden qualified for the final tournament. Italy and Finland advanced for the playoff. Denmark qualified for the final tournament. Norway advanced for the playoff. France qualified for the final tournament. Russia and Iceland advanced for the playoff. Germany qualified for the final tournament. Czech Republic advanced for the playoff. Wales withdrew. Finland won 4–1 on aggregate. Norway won 9–3 on aggregate. Italy won 5–1 on aggregate. Finland and Italy qualified for the final tournament. 2003–05 UEFA Women's EURO at UEFA.com Tables & results at RSSSF.com