Career of a Police Officer

I believe many of us have the television version of a police officer but very few have true insight of the daily life of a police officer. Media can mistakenly portray a police officer as a racial profiler and utilizing extreme police brutality. Police Officers put their life on the line everyday they walk out their door. They have families and lives that they cherish but choose to protect the lives of our citizens. A police officer work long hours that take away from their families but are dedicated to maintain law and order.

In this essay I not only want to give details on the training and education of a police officer, but shed light and what they face on a daily basis. There has been headlines news that have portrayed a police officer in a negative light but I hope to shed a positive light to this career. Education and Training of a Police Officer What does it take to be a police officer? There are some specific educational goals or expectations for police that are set by law enforcement agencies that follow state or federal laws.

The city, county and state police officers are many times only required to only obtain to have a high school diploma or a GED. Many time police departments highly recommend and prefer applicants with some college degrees. (http://www. criminaljusticeschoolinfo. com/police-officer-training. html), there are law enforcement professionals that work for the federal government and these officers hold a bachelor’s degrees. It is also recommended that officers consider taking classes in in foreign languages, criminal justice and political science might prove useful during a career as a police office (http://www. riminaljusticeschoolinfo. com/police-officer-training. html).

There are many instances that police officers who hold college degrees have a military background. Police officers that are motivated to advance in the police department will further education and achieve a graduate degree in criminal justice, public administration or police science or even take a bigger step and receive a Doctor of Jurisprudence (J. D. ) (http://www. criminaljusticeschoolinfo. com/police-officer-training. html). Police Officers who seek advanced degrees usually receive administrative positions in their department.

Education is an essential part of becoming a police officer. Police departments prefer candidate with college a degree’s according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. (http://study. com/police_education. html) Candidates who achieve a degree in criminal justice or law enforcement are a common for many hopeful police officers. Although a degree is favorable there are some instances where a high school diploma or GED will be acceptable for some police departments. Again many police departments will favor a college degree over a high school or GED applicant.

Police officers who hold a college degree are expected to take continuing your education with law enforcement related classes as changes occur for this career. Having a strong foundation of police knowledge will only make your job safer. Training to be a police officer is extremely important, not only for the safety of the officer, but for the citizens as well. Police officer candidates are required to complete training programs that meet the guidelines and specifications to that particular police department.

Several police training programs will take at least 12 weeks training that include extensive physical training and it expects that all the candidate training programs must meet minimum fitness and age standard. (http://www. criminaljusticeschoolinfo. com/police-officer-training. html) Candidates that are attending a police academy learn about self-defense, firearms operations and first aid. The academy will also train the new police officers hostage negotiation, investigative techniques and traffic control because many times they will face this in their line of duty.

There are academies who will train their officers on high-speed driving skills, conflict resolution strategies as well as crowd management in police academy basic training programs for their candidates. (http://discoverpolicing. org/what_does_take/? fa=training_academy_life) Law enforcement students are expected an understanding of the legal process, and police education and the training academy will focuses on subjects such as law and criminal justice. Candidates will take classes in legal terminology; civil rights and the penal code are mandatory part of police training academies.

Candidates will be taught proper way in handling and questioning of suspects, maintaining evidence properly and be taught the laws in regards to proper searches and seizures. Once the candidate graduates from the police academy, they could continue their education by taking classes on legal testimony, proper ways to taking witness statements and ensuring they are following all criminal evidence guidelines. (http://discoverpolicing. org/what_does_take/? fa=training_academy_life) Once a candidate has completed the police academy, field training will be the last step to their police training.

Field training time is where a candidate will be paired with a training police officer and ride with him or her during routine patrol. Police departments will likely make an effort to rotate their candidates so they can experience different shifts and different areas of the city they patrol in order to provide complete exposure to what they could encounter when they patrol alone. Bureau of Justice Statistic report that police departments who conduct field training, they expect their candidates to get 180 hours or about eight weeks of field training. (http://www. iadlest. org/standards (visited March 18, 2008).

Dangers of being a Police Officer Police officer’s jobs are presented with potential for danger on any given work day; but oddly enough, the presence of danger brings many officers a sense reward and exhilaration doing their job. One important aspect of a police officer is to be constant vigilant at all times. . Police officers should expect to be faced with homicides, drugs, gangs, domestic violence, and highly volatile individuals during the career in law enforcement. Advancing in law enforcement education, training, and safety awareness are important and will better train you to handle these incidents in a skillful way.

Police officers should be aware that the more training and education you receive will achieve the ability to properly handle dangerous incidence that can happen when you least expect it. (https://www. thebalance. com/understand-the-dangers-of-being-a-police-officer-4034991) Research shows that an average of, 64 police officers per year were killed by criminals between 1980 and 2014, these numbers were from the Federal Bureau of Investigations. This number is some-what small percentage, due to the fact that United States has approximately 1 million police officers.

In 2013 it was reported that there was nearly 50,000 police officers that assaulted which that means that nine out of every one hundred officers were assaulted while on duty. .The real challenge to a police office and of course the biggest disadvantage a for police officers in any encounter with someone is that they never know what kind of person they are dealing with their reaction. Police officer must take precaution with every single citizen interaction because this could present a great amount of risk of being assaulted or killed by the unknown citizen.

Areas of Interest on the Police Force One area that draws interest to police officers is the The Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT). The SWAT team is a unit of the department that is considered a specialized police team. SWAT teams are part of most police departments. The SWAT will be called in to perform at higher risk events that are considered outside the duties of regular trained police officers. In 1968 is when the first SWAT team was established in the Los Angeles Police Department.

We will see that our smaller police department will supply their SWAT team with regular field police officers but will give them special training for the team. Cities that have that have mid to large sized metro police departments, you will see that this division has its own path, which will require specialized training, experience, and selection from the higher ranks. Many cases the starting point to achieve their dream of being on a SWAT team is to begin their career as a police officer and the demonstrate of quality police work will be the beginning steps to achieve their goal as a SWAT team member.

In order to be a detective a person must first begin as a police officer and work in a role as a patrol officer. Police officer gain knowledge of investigation during the training, probationary, and patrol periods. The police officer will gain an understanding, knowledge and appreciation for the criminal process, the criminal justice system, and the role of the law enforcement community.

Many police departments will require their detectives to hold a college degree related to the subject of law enforcement or criminal justice.  Many of the municipal police departments have educational incentive programs so they can reward their officers that have an associate’s, bachelors or master’s degree by giving salary increases in the higher rates due to their level of education.

Conclusion In conclusion, A career as a police officer can be the most rewarding job a person could have in the United States. Police officer has the sense that he is providing protection to his fellow citizens and that he can provide a sense of safety to his or her city.

The job of a police officer can advance to all areas of a department. He or she may have the ambition of being on a SWAT team or becoming a detective. Police Officers who are ambitious will continue their education in order to achieve their dreams of climbing through the ranks of their department. Although over the last several years police officers have received some bad media press, we must keep in mind that we still have many good police officers that are serve to protect their community.