Who gives authority to a police department? Lets say a new town were to be founded somewhere in the US, how is the local law enforcement agency brought up in that town?

Question

Who ordains it? Does the town mayor have authority over who gets to enforce the law? Is it the state legislature? The governor?

In: 12

Answer 1

In the USA the state does. The state constitution usually includes the process for incorporating new cities, etc. Since this is a state power, the exact answer to your question will be “it depends on the state”.