The Process for Becoming Police Officers - Essay Example

Police work Introduction Police work entails duties and responsibilities that every police officer must carry out. Some of the work of a police officer includes: Carrying out patrols in all the areas designated by their commanders, responding to crimes and emergencies promptly via answering of calls and availing themselves on the crime scene on time, arresting and prosecuting suspected criminals, carrying out crime investigation as well as collecting evidence to be used in the court. Further, a police officer has a responsibility ensuring both public and private property has been safeguarded against any form of vandalism. In addition, the officers have the duty of controlling traffic and executing any other duties as designated by their commanders (Perez, 2011). The process for becoming police officers The process of becoming a police officer varies from one country to the other because the laws of different countries have set different of becoming a police officer. There are four basic requirements to be fulfilled by any person who want to become a police officer. The first requirement is that one must have attained a legal age of 21 years, be a citizen of the United State and have a valid driving licence. Secondly, one must be morally upright. This means that a person who intends to become a police officer should not have been convicted of crime and felonies during his/her teenage life. Therefore, teenagers are urged to shun any form of crime and domestic misdemeanour because it may disqualify them of becoming a police officer. The third step entails having a good credit record. This means that for one to be considered to a position of a police officer one should have clean credit record. This may involve avoiding debts accumulation and paying creditors promptly. It is therefore, vital for a person with a passion of becoming a police officer to have a good credit rating to qualify for a position of a police officer. The forth step involves having a good job experience. This involves having any little experience that may help the recruiters to see that one is responsible person and can be in a position to work both as an individual as well as a team member. The fifth requirement involves being physically feet according to the health standards for all police officers. For example, police officers are expected to have muscle reflex, being able to run short and long g distances as well as being to lift heavy objects. The sixth requirement involves understanding what the work of a police officer is as well as how they should relate with the general public (Northeast Editing, Inc, 2011). The eighth requirement entails possessing the required level of education and training. The education and training requirements involves the following four elements. The first element is that one must have completed high school education and passed General Education Development Exams. The second element entails having a college degree. However, this is not a basic requirement but it may be an added advantage to the candidate because it may help to reduce the period of time that one is supposed to take during the training especially if one holds a degree that relates to criminology. The third element entails attending a police academy where one is anticipated to train for a period of three to four months. During the training the candidates are taught on topics such as; psychology of crime, constitutional law, local and state laws, ways of investigating crime, apprehension, first aid skills, controlling of traffic, use of firearms as well as how to carry out self defence. The final element of police education and training involves taking and passing the exams. The exams that one must go through to become a police officer include; psychology exams, drug test exams, physical fitness exams and test for background check. The final process of becoming a police officer involves applying for the position, attending and passing the interview and finally accepting the position of a police officer (Northeast Editing, Inc, 2011). Police subculture Police subculture entails a set of values customs and believes that guide and direct the officers on how to interact with the general public. Research indicates that the work of police officer is tend to be very stressful given the fact that they deal with criminals and people with unruly behaviours. Therefore, police officer should posses some strong values, customs and believes which makes them distinct from the general members of the general public. Some of the core believes in police subculture include: they believe that only the fellow police officer can understand the other office, loyalty is a each other is a key factor in their job, police officers are the only relevant fighters of crime, public does not support the work of police officers to mention just but a few of the believes. Therefore, through police subculture, the law enforcing officers are able to know the standard procedure for dealing with criminals. The subculture helps to make the work of a police officer easier and manageable as each police officer understand how they should carry themselves in different situations (Secrecy, 2002). Career concerns There has been concern regarding the career life of police officers given the fact that most of them spend a lot of time in patrols and hence lacking time for career advancement. Globalization and Technological new advancement calls for additional training among the police officer. This because criminals have digitalised their strategies and therefore, level of training and period undertaken by the officer may not be adequate to learn on how to deal with digitalised crimes. However, police officers who want to advance their career tend to have a difficult time because of indivisibility especially those officers who spend most of their time on crime patrols in different location. Community policing and community involvement Community policing entails. Over the years, police officers had been viewed by the community as enemies and bad people due to the manner in which they mistreated the community members. This created a lot of fear among the public making it difficult for any community members to have courage of approach a police officer and report a crime. This has made the law enforcement agencies and police department to consider the need of involving the community in their work in order to make their work easier and successful (Schmalleger and Worrall, 2010). Some of the community based policing strategies employed include: community participation in crime control, involving college intern in crime control, listening to public views among other strategies (Miller, Hess & Orthmann, 2011). Reference List Miller, L. S., Hess, K. M., & Orthmann, C. M. H. (2011). Community policing: Partnerships for problem solving. Australia: Delmar Cengage Learning. Northeast Editing, Inc. (2011). Cliffs Notes police officer cram plan. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Pub., Inc. Secrecy.C.C (2002). Police Sub-Culture. Retrieved:on 16.03.2014. Perez, D. W. (2011). The paradoxes of police work. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning. Schmalleger, F. and Worrall, J. (2010). Policing today. Prentice hall: New Jersey. Read More