Police officers are viewed by the masses of Americans that they are sworn to protect as the men and women in blue. They have sworn to protect the innocent and keep them from harm’s way and in turn do much more than that for their community. It takes an extraordinaire person to be a police officer. They are someone who is willing to dedicate their lives, health and safety in order to protect those who depend on them. In this paper I will attempt to address and research an interest that has been voiced concerning police officers and their jobs. By discussing certain topics in this paper, it will give distinct advantages of a qualitative data-gathering strategy, which will include more qualitative approaches and participant observation. Also, in this paper, I will stress the importance of informed consent and confidentiality.
It is a common conception that police officers choose their particular career path simply because they are inheriting a family member’s desire. They choose to be an officer because their father or their mother or a relative was an officer. It is a common conception that officers are not chosen they are inherited and expected to be from family. This area of interest is something that would be well suited for that of research and a study. How many police officers performing duties today have had a family member who was also a police officer? We can achieve our results through a survey that will take place the process of doing research and contacting police officers over the internet, over the telephone and doing so by interviewing them.
The first question that we will attempt to answer during our interview process is why the individual decided to choose a career in law enforcement. Research...
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... new information it is a requirement of either or both the interviewer or the interviewee to keep the results confidential, which this admission has grown from simply being something pertaining to ethical boundaries but to that which has become law.
In conclusion, only the officers truly know why they choose to be officers. It has been recorded that here is no denying the influence a family member being in the field has an effect on their decision but through our own investigation there is evidence that the officers believe they chose that career for themselves. It is possible that both a family member and the officer’s personal judgment each played a role in their choice. In fact, we should hope it is that way. We want our officers to feel obligated to protect and serve us as well as feel that it is a decision that they have made for themselves.
The Thompson Valley Police Service is seeking to double the number of police recruits over the next three years. In an attempt to attract more applicants, the newly appointed Police Commissioner, Commissioner Jason DeVillain is proposing two key changes to the current selection process. Firstly, Commissioner DeVillain is proposing to eliminate the requirement for partial or completed tertiary education. Secondly, it is being proposed that psychological testing should be removed from the selection process. As a research and policy officer for the Thompson Valley Police Service, the validity and likely impact of the above two proposed changes will be investigated thoroughly, followed by recommendations to Commissioner DeVillain to ensure the selection process is as effective as possible in selecting the most suitable candidates for the new police recruits. The role of a general duties police officer is broad in nature and requires the officer to be efficient in many areas, ranging from administrative duties to conflict resolution and problem solving. In addition to the recording and logging of all jobs attended while on duty, the officer may be required to prepare documents for court hearings, where written communication skills will also be
On October 13th I was fortunate enough to be able to interview Sandi Lopez. Lopez is from Grand Island, Nebraska and has also lived in Kansas for a few years. At first she was not quite sure on what to do with her career pathway. She wanted a job where she could be able to help others and her community. Lopez says that having many of her friends being police officers is what got her more into law enforcement. She says hanging out around her friends telling her stories about being officers made her really want to be a part of the law enforcement department. However, she says it was a very hard decision to make knowing the fact that she would have to work long hours and being with her family was very important to her. In the end, she decided
While on the job, police must put all their personal opinions aside. They must provide everyone with an equal and fair chance. It is important in a democratic society for police to not know too much about the community they are policing. It allows them to ...
The job of a law enforcement officer sometimes can be tough. Officer are sometimes plagued with situation that test their ability to enforce the law and maintain order. Police officers today face a constant battle to maintain higher ethical standards. This mission becomes tougher each day when one considers the importance of fighting terrorism, drugs, human trafficking,
This paper will show four different police departments that are currently hiring or recruiting for police officers. There will be a summary on the research found on the process used to recruit police officers. It will also show their current hiring trends and what hiring practices they have that are successful or not successful. The paper will also go over the different methods departments use to train their new officers and their values.
A career in law enforcement is a unique opportunity that has intrigued me for the majority of my life. My curiosity likely stems from multiple family members of mine, who either have a career in law enforcement or had one previously. With my family history and my interest in law enforcement, it would appear that selecting an occupation in law enforcement would be a simple task. Yet, I often ponder whether I would prefer to work for a municipal agency such as the San Francisco Police Department, or a federal agency, namely the FBI. I have researched a multitude of factors such as qualifications, requirements, salary, and job description to assist me in determining which profession is the right one for me.
The law enforcement officers who protect and serve the local communities have and live stressful lives. How stressful is the occupation of a law enforcement officer in their job and in their personal lives than other occupations? How hard would it be to be a spouse or loved one of a law enforcement officer? Does the public know what goes on in a law enforcement officer's job life and the life of their family? Could the average person handle the daily stress that takes place in the lives of law enforcement officers? These are several questions that individuals could ask themselves on any given day. What are the answers to these questions? I know firsthand, because I am a wife of a law enforcement officer, and I have found that it is not as easy or as hard as some would think. Furthermore, there are resources, and assistance, which can help the families of law enforcement officers in areas such as: how to cope or deal with certain situations, whether it is just daily family life, the officer’s job in general, and loss of life on duty, and the list goes on.
It is both a result and a cause of police isolation from the larger society and of police solidarity. Its influence begins early in the new officer’s career when he is told by more experienced officers that the “training given in police academies is irrelevant to ‘real’ police work”. What is relevant, recruits are told, is the experience of senior officers who know the ropes or know how to get around things. Recruits are often told by officers with considerable experience to forget what they learned in the academy and in college and to start learning real police work as soon as they get to their Field Training Officers. Among the first lessons learned are that police officers share secrets among themselves and that those secrets especially when they deal with activities that are questionable in terms of ethics, legality, and departmental policy, are not to be told to others. They also are told that administrators and Internal Affairs officers cannot often be trusted. This emphasis on the police occupational subculture results in many officers regarding themselves as members of a “blue
Growing up in the house of a police officer always had a stressful, yet interesting connotation. My father, who now works as a detective for the Phoenix Police Department, worked patrol for several years. I always looked forward to his return, because he told the best stories. However, my mother was often worried about his involvement on the streets. Since I was raised in a Christian home, prayer for my dad’s safety was a routine activity growing up. While my father was away at work, I remained at home hopelessly outnumbered by the girls in my family. Living with three younger sisters was always a struggle. Not only is it never quiet, but also, regardless of the situation, I managed to unfairly become the culprit. In addition to this,
It is a myth to believe that an officers job is spend fighting dangerous crimes, in reality officers spend more time handing smaller cases. For example, police officers spend a lot of time doing daily tasks such as giving speeding tickets and being mediators in disputes (Kappeler & Potter, 2005). Handing out speeding tickers and handling minor disputes are far from fighting crime. Police officers spend more time doing preventive measures (Kappeler & Potter, 2005). Preventive measures involve officers intervening to prevent further altercations. Victor Kappeler and Gary Potter discussed the myth of crime fighting as invalid and misleading notions of an officer’s employment.
The recruitment of new police officers, moreover, the retention of existing police officers has become an extremely daunting task for many departments across the country. There are several factors contributing to the diminished interested in careers in law enforcement; society's current attitude toward law enforcement, better job opportunities with lower risks, moreover, decreased incentives to be a police officer (Ali, 2017). The broadened duties of police work have placed a demand for work performance on a scale much higher than the level of compensation in several cities (Wilson et. al., 2010). This increase in the workload coupled with the negative attitudes toward law enforcement as well as the lacking compensation for officers has created
In this essay, law enforcement has a spotlight again, but for a positive standing this time. Police officers are typically displayed in the news because someone’s always criticizing them. Human beings have a stigma for patrolling officers; only the toughest are meant to serve and protect. Noone wants brains surgeons with post-traumatic stress disorder operating on them. When it comes to police officers and psychological health issues, it sounds unimaginable. One glimpse and officers appear to look fine, on the surface at least, but doesn't everyone? Everyone conceals something, especially when it comes to mental illnesses. When an officer comes out and voices a mental health problem, every force receives hate. Why was he/she even admitted
Serve and protect as a police officer in the city of Santa Ana has been my career dream goal since I was growing up being influenced by police officers throughout my education. Seeing so many casualties by violence in my community is one of the reasons why I am pursuing this profession, so that I can be able to accommodate the best way I can to reduce the violence. Other reasons why I am desiring to become police officer is to save someone 's life, help people make better choices, challenging tasks, and serve my community. Although dilemmas with people being unsupportive with law enforcement has increased, I will continue to pursue this career and make a tremendous impact in the community. This career will provide me with excellent benefits
Police recruitment is very important to all law enforcement agencies; it seeks to recruit, select, train and maintain the best possible officers (Grant et al, 2012). This paper will give you the reader a general understanding of police recruitment and also discuss some of the problems happening in police recruitment; past and present, along with remedies to these problems.
In the past eight years as a police officer for the City of South Salt Lake, I have found that personal growth and achievement in my career have been based on certain past experiences. Such experiences have molded what my personality is today. I have found that in order to be triumphant in my personal and professional goals, it has been necessary for me to reflect not only on my strides, but also my mistakes.