Craft vs Profession Essay

“So what’s the point of the academy? Primarily, it’s to protect the department from the legal liability that could result from negligent training. To the trainees this appears more important than educating police officers.” And second, despite

Also, I would be aware of officers applying with the sole motivation of advancing their own careers rather than having the true motivation of training new officers (Scoville, 2005). There would have to be a minimum amount of time served on patrol, and depending on the size of the agency, the time requirement could be different. I would say 5 years is a good starting point. Data has suggested that FTO’s can become “burnt-out” due to the long shifts and constant flow of new officers rotating in (Doerner, 2012). Officers that possess a strong quality of patients are essential. I would require FTO’s to pass a FTO trainers course consisting of at least 40 hours. The course will provide the qualification of becoming certified as an instructor. I would seek officers that have a diverse qualification background such as K-9, anti-gang/drug, traffic, and homicide, which would expose new officers to the many faucets of police work. Although not a qualification, FTO selection would be strictly reserved for officers that are absolutely honest, have a tough work ethic, and exemplifies moral principals. The long-term impact FTOs have on new officers cannot be

This discipline i choose for my career field description was structural engineering with is a branch of civil engineering. Structural engineering focuses on the framework of structures and designing structures to withstand the stresses and pressures of their environment and remain safe, stable, and secure throughout their use. In other words, structural engineers make sure that buildings don't fall down and bridges don't collapse. Structural engineering is among the oldest types of engineering, dating back to the first instance of tree branches being lashed together with vines to make a shelter. Throughout history, people have been designing and building increasingly larger and more sophisticated structures, from small huts to the International Space Station.

Having had the opportunity to see both sides of the argument play out in the City of Memphis and as a member of the Memphis Police Department. I have become an advocate for requiring entry-level police officers to have at the very minimum an associate degree or the equivalent college credits. The college requirement can only be avoided with military experience. However, my position is not that more education makes you a better police officer or less education makes you a lousy officer. I believe that there should be a “happy medium” when it comes to police work. A good officer will be empathic, fair and in tune with the needs of the community and its members. Requiring a level of education for your entry-level officers speaks volumes about your agency and their dedication to professionalism. The benefits of having a college educated officer have shown to make a difference in the way they do their jobs. An educated police officer is less likely to utilize force when interacting with his co-workers or civilians. A department with educated officers also has shown to see a reduction in misconduct and disciplinary issues(Gómez-Mejía et al., 2016). Some years back the Memphis Police Department had relaxed their

A growing number of entry-level criminal justice practitioners have college degrees. This paper will explore whether or not law enforcement agencies should require applicants to have a post secondary degree as a condition of employment and will college-educated police officers will be resistant to organizational change.

This chapter to me is the meat of the book; the most important snippets of what officers have to go through and what you really become. Overall, the police academy is where you are tested and demanded to the max, not only about that certain departments policies and regulations, firearms in order to equip the young rookies with the ability to protect themselves and others from danger, but also mentally asking do you have the guts to kill someone and making you into the cop you will become. Overall, basic training shows how exposure to police involved violence fits into the overall pictures that the rookies learn through the ropes (AKA

First, there is lack of information and knowledge on the right police training philosophy, learning approach and training program objectives (CALEA, 2010). This lack of knowledge has immense negative effects on police training, especially because it affects not only senior commanders of police departments but also management, police trainers and other staffs. The other ingredient to police training that lacks is community understanding and support for police training programs (Mitrani, 2014). It is found out that the communities that are served by officers do little to support or appreciate post-academy training programs, which have numerous benefits to communities (CALEA, 2010). For instance, post-academy and field training for newly posted officers helps in the utilization of individual and department creativity, stakeholder collaboration, and effective problem-solving skills and techniques that would improve communal safety and

Many people might argue that the lack of training in the police force is more harmful to the officers than the effect it has on society. Leslie Pfeiffer mentions in her article “” that the Federal government devotes a shocking amount of money toward training, yet local police agencies are often left to fend for themselves” (Pfeiffer). Whatsoever the federal government may be doing with the funds should undoubtedly be providing effective programs and necessities to ensure a complete and sufficient training process for officers. Often time’s people forget that although the officer is vulnerable to failure, error, and possible injury, in the event of a possible suspect or wrongfully accused person the lack of knowledge perceived by the officer can cause outcomes such as hostility, hatred, and death. Not only are officers fending for themselves but in

Over the past several years, there have been several high-profile police-involved shootings, and the justification behind the shooting has been questioned. Several of these shootings have resulted in a subsequent criminal conviction involving some form of a homicide charge for the police officer involved. This has created a great division between those who support and those who oppose the police. Police agencies and community leaders have sought to repair this relationship, and citizen police academies are one potential avenue.

Lawyers and psychologists require even more schooling, a minimum of around eight years. Police officers end up being all of these things, and more. To obtain the real goal of law, and prevent crime, officers must have the trust and respect of the community they serve. "Instead, policing has been defined as uneducated people's work" (Fyfe, 262). Many citizens feel that the people protecting them are not as smart as they are. This leads to disrespect, and a sense of superiority within the community. With disrespect comes uncooperation, something any department would be worlds better without. If officers were required to obtain more basic schooling, and focus on social issues and psychology more during training, they would be better equipped to take up the position of law enforcement in any community. Besides the obvious benefit of being more adept at dealing with citizens, there would be added bonuses in police departments requiring more strenuous schooling. With four years of general education, officers would inherently become acquainted with a wide range of topics that they might not otherwise be exposed to with the minimal curriculum now required. Foreign language, art, and psychology classes would be especially useful in exposing up and comers to the varied environments they might encounter in their careers. Most importantly, people in the community would have a new respect for the

As you progress towards becoming a police officer, you must obviously go through rigorous training programs. Of these training programs, people must go to a police academy in order to train new officers. In these academies, training is committed to the basics of combat policing such as self-defense, firing range, and field tactics. Police Academies usually take roughly 12 to 14 weeks to train soon-to-be officers on these important basic tactics (BLS, 2010-11).

Law enforcement officers are inducted into the police subculture early in their career. As early as the academy, law enforcement recruits begin learning about ethics, rank structure, ethos, and other values. During the academy, recruits are trained on specific tasks tailored to police work from 8 to 16 weeks. They are taught combative skills, marksmanship, defensive driving, and other techniques unique to law enforcement by the academy staff. The academy staff normally consists of seasoned officers that usually have military training or backgrounds. In most cases, recruits tend to emulate or try to identify with these officers.

A: I went to Western Illinois university for my bachelors degree, which is 4 years for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. After College I spend 2 weeks shadowing my FTO (field training officer) for on the job training. After words we spend time in PTI (police training institute for about 5 weeks.

Law enforcement like much of the economy and society has had to adapt to the rapidly changing Atmosphere of the technological advances. To counter these advances, education has served in the forefront to combating the technological sophistication that is rapidly sweeping the workforce. The need and desire to remain competitive with the technology that we have is a need that can be satisfied with more education. Much like technology, education has benefits elsewhere in the equation of remaining competitive. Education on the higher tiered level provides a professionalism to accompany by the demands placed on students during their scholastic years of study. Activities required by many professors in the higher education

Training is one of the most important roles at a law enforcement agency. It is never-ending as “concepts, theories, philosophies, practices, procedures, and techniques are constantly changing to meet social needs” (Iannone et al, 2009, p. 60). Without training, even the best officer will turn into one that is not respected by his peers or society. Gone are the days when an officer is sent to the training academy and has no more except for yearly inservice. This can be accomplished with field training after the academy, roll call training, inservice, emailed updates from the training staff, and outside the agency training. It does not always have to be expensive. Most think that the effectiveness of training can’t be measured, but successful training can easily be seen through “higher morale, less job stress with its high economic cost, greater esprit de corps, a lessened need for punitive discipline, greater effectiveness, in crime suppression, increased public support and confidence, fewer errors, better