The purpose of law enforcement is to protect the lives and property of both the community’s citizens and people who visit and work in the community. There are many different levels of law enforcement careers such as local, state and federal agencies. There are also many different occupations within the law enforcement field. One of those occupations is a police officer. (10 Things You Need to Consider Before Becoming a Police Officer, Criminology Careers.com, August 2012, Timothy Roufa, Criminology Careers Expert). To become a police officer it takes more than just wanting to carry a gun and “catch the bad guys”. The hiring process will be long. After submitting an application, each candidate must go through a written test, a physical agility test, an oral interview or two, a “background” check of nearly every aspect of his life, including driving records, drug or alcohol usage, a thorough medical and psychological exam, and a polygraph test. Then after that, each candidate must go through an exhausting physical and mental challenge known as the Police Academy. If the candidates make it through the Police Academy then they advance to on-the-job training known as Field Training, which is even more difficult than the Police Academy. After all of this training and becoming a police officer, one would have to ask themselves if the job is worth it. Police officers are put into dangerous situations daily. After all they have to deal with drunks, the mentally disabled
The law enforcement industry has become a less desirable job for Americans nowadays. The current shortage of police officer’s applications across the country are attributed to the diminishing pay, bad reputation, and dangerous nature of the job (Ali, 2017). Police departments around the country face severe scrutiny after heavy attention was drawn to police brutality incidents. The general belief that the law enforcement industry in America has a
Many times, it comes down to extra training and education one can bring to the job. My Marine Corps training has taught me many different skills such as: leadership, first aid and combat skills that I can use in any situation. The main thing any police department would look at is my urban combat training. This training gives me the ability to make decisions fast and in the heat of the moment while the world around me is in complete chaos. Having been trained to keep a cool, level head about me as I encounter dangerous situations, will help me if I need to take down a perpetrator who decides he wants to fight it out or do something else to resist arrest. My choice of career has also been influenced by my self-study of police literature that I read in my downtime in my barracks room and the extra education classes I have taken from teachers and professionals in the police field at the educational center on Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay. I read books about police training, as well as books written by retired police officers about different situations that happened and could happen while they were on the job. The classes taken at the education center on base were about police/security jobs. The started from local correctional officer positions all the way to the FBI and the situations that came with them. From those classes, I can draw a baseline of what any police
Being a police officer is by no means easy, there is a lot of things that goes on behind the scenes, things that don’t make the job so great. The job of a street cop is physically demanding, yes there is cops that aren’t in the best shape but to be a good cop you should be in decent shape. Their job is dangerous, there is all kinds of crimes and calls they get sent on every single day. There is many of
An officers’ job is not all guns and glory like it is perceived in movies and high crime television shows. What typically happens in a life of an officer is not as action packed as people tend to believe it to be. There are plenty of roles that come into being an officer. In my senior year of high school, I took criminal justice and during the semester, my teacher asked officers to come in and tell their jobs description and what a typical day is like for them. One officer came in with a bunch of tech gear worth thousand of dollars. She explained to us that she spent most of her time in front of a computer catching criminals online. Even though the roles of an officer can be different it does not mean that being an officer is not a
Becoming a police officer takes a lot of heart and determination. To become a police officer you must obtain a high school diploma or GED, pass the law enforcement entrance exam, graduate from the police academy and work towards promotion. In order to graduate from the police academy recruits must undergo 21 weeks of intense training. At the police academy recruits will learn all the following: state laws, criminal investigations, patrol procedures, firearms training, traffic control, defense driving, self-defense, first aid and computer skills (“An Overview of Police Academy Training”). The final step before graduating from the police academy recruits will take the Oath of Honor. “On my honor, I will never betray my badge, my integrity, my character, or the public trust. I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions. I will always uphold the constitution, my community and the agency I serve” (“What Is The Law Enforcement Oath of
To me law enforcement means a lot of things. Its not all about arresting someone. It means to be there when you are needed, to be a service to the community, the good old saying to serve and protect. I love law enforcement, because I am afforted the oppertunity to make a diffrences, where as in some other carrees you are not able too.
Ever since I was a kid I have been interested in Law Enforcement. I have always enjoyed watching COPS and shows based on Police work, such as 48 Hours. It wasn't until I went on a ride along that I really thought about pursuing a career in Law Enforcement. My best friend, who happens to be a LA County Deputy Sheriff, took my on my first ride along out of the Palmdale Station. After that ride along I was hooked and I decided being a Law Enforcement Officer was what I wanted to do for the rest of my working life. I went online and started applying at various agencies that were hiring at that
There is a significant health issue facing the public as well as law enforcement every day, suicide. The numbers surrounding suicide are shocking effects people of all backgrounds. In the year 2010 more than 38,000 adults committed suicide. Then in 2011 around 1 million adults admitted to attempting suicide, while 8 million had serious suicidal thoughts. Law Enforcement officers are at an even higher risk then most due to experiencing such a large number of risk factors. These factors include but are not limited to poor physical health, access to fire arms, domestic abuse, substance abuse, exposure to violence and suicide; depression, anxiety and other mental diseases. These factors lead to an above average number of officer suicides every
The thing that many people forget is that being a police officer is not a calling. People do not join because they are good people. They do not join because they want to make a difference. They
great amounts of networking opportunities. The Police Corps in your state may offer scholarships, but this varies significantly
It is widely known that police officers are given a substantial amount of latitude concerning vehicular searches while on patrol. Many officers make it a habit to ask citizens they pull over if it 's okay to search their cars, while others will only ask if they have reason to believe that a suspect is hiding something. Either way, what should you do if the police search your car without your permission, and without first obtaining a search warrant? Most people know that police officers need one of three things to search your car: permission, probable cause or a warrant. Unfortunately, an officer will obtain one of those three things if he is determined to execute a search, even if there is a possibility that it will later be thrown out in court. If permission is denied and they don 't have sufficient evidence for a warrant, just about anything can be used for probable cause. For example, let 's say that you 're pulled over for speeding, and when the police officer takes your license and registration, he notices that your eyes are red. This is a common side effect of marijuana use (and about a thousand other things), but he might decide that he wants to search your car, so he asks permission. If you don 't give it, but there is a large jacket tossed over the passenger seat of the car, he can use that jacket and your red eyes to generate probable cause. After all, you might be concealing an ounce of marijuana underneath the jacket, and he would have to search your car if he
How you become an officer is by obtaining the Necessary Education. A high school diploma or a GED is typically the minimum level of education needed to become a police officer, Submit an Application to a Police Department, ,Graduate from a Police Academy Training Program, Actively Work to Obtain Promotions. A police officer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the common duties of a police officer include patrolling designated areas, enforcing laws, answering calls for help, arresting individuals suspected of committing crimes, issuing citations, testifying in court and conducting traffic stops. Every Officer has to take an oath before beginning their career in law enforcement to set a good structure of what they are there to do.
The curriculum that is devised for a police officer is very important to the police officer and his or her success in their chosen career path. An officer’s training is also very important to the community in which they serve and the department in which they work. An officer must receive training in a variety of fields to help them be a well-rounded police officer. Officers receive training in such areas as: law, community relations, firearms, vehicle driving, search and seizure, and cultural awareness. The basic curriculum that is offered to a new recruit is focused on giving the recruit the best overall training that will give him or her the tools necessary to become the
New officers need to know that no profession demands a higher ethical standard than law enforcement. Whether or not there are other careers that require a similar dedication to doing the right thing, it is undeniable that there is a tremendous degree of expectations placed upon police officers. Every officer knows, or at least should know by now, that they live in a fishbowl. Friends, relatives, neighbors and strangers watch every move law enforcement officers make, both on and off duty. The fact is that the public scrutinizes police officers more than most other professions, either because they are cynical or hope to catch them screwing up or because they are hopeful
The psychologist serves a great purpose in the law enforcement as well. The police psychologists provide services that are used to counter police use of excessive force. The psychologists are there to characterize the types of officers who are known to abuse force and to recommend psychology-based intervention that could help police managers reduce cases of excessive force. Some think that the police departments should rely mostly on pre employment screening to identify violence-prone candidates.