Job As A Police Officer example essay topic

A police officer's duty is to maintain public order, preventing, and detecting crime. The concept of police officers, also known as cops, and law enforcement has been around ever since the ancient Romans had a theory that an organization of "peacekeepers" would reduce the crime and violence being committed. This theory stuck with society and is still around today. People of law enforcement have a mission when they step into their police car, that mission is to enforce the rules of conduct or law. Of course, accomplishing this mission can be dangerous. Often when a cop leaves his or her house to go to work worries start to set it, such as "will I be coming back home when my day is over" or "will a simple traffic stop go sour and someone ends up dead?" These thoughts are apart of the stress that comes with the job and most people are trained to deal with this stress.

Speaking of training, there are classes that a high school student can take to prepare for a career in law enforcement. Psychology, sociology, foreign languages, and computer courses are recommended for those students who plan to take criminal justice as their higher education major. Participating in sports can improve your chances on becoming an officer of law because it improves strength and endurance. Other student activities can be helpful in this career because they help to improve leadership skills and other publications. Every law enforcement agency has different requirements for qualification; however, almost all of them require a college degree.

You can either have a degree in police science, administration of justice, public administration, or criminal justice to qualify for employment. English, Sociology, Psychology, Personal Computer Operations, Survey of Criminal Justice, and Principles of Criminology are classes that need to be taken to complete a criminal justice major. Almost every college nationwide offers these classes. ("Police and Detectives").

There are many colleges that offer either an Associate's degree or a Bachelor's in criminal justice or any other type of law enforcement class. However, the decision is whether to attend a two-year community college and receive an Associate's degree or whether to attend a four-year community or state college to receive a Bachelor's degree. Some colleges that offer an Associate's degree in criminal justice are Delaware Technical and Community College, Gibbs College, and Hagerstown Business College. Some colleges that offer a Bachelor's degree in criminal justice are Wilmington College, Brown College, and Parks College. All of these colleges require a high school diploma or a GED for admission. ("Criminal").

In the United States, on average a police officer makes an annual income of $39,790. The salary range for a police officer ranges anywhere from $31,410 to $43,450, not including the overtime pay. This salary range grows as more years are put into the job and promotions are granted. For example, if a police officer gets promoted to police chief their salary range becomes anywhere from $62,640 to $78,580. These ranges do not include the overtime pay which many officers participate in and can lead to thousands of extra dollars. The benefits that are given to an officer of law are medical insurance, life insurance, paid vacations, and sick leave.

Although an average police officer does not make the highest income, they are covered by a liberal pension plan in which when a police officer retires after 20 or 25 years of service they still receive half of their pay they made. ("Police and Detectives") and ("Delaware"). No matter how many promotions a police officer gets or how much they make their goal is always the same, to serve and protect the community. On an everyday schedule a police officer would first report to the office and talk with the police chief.

Then he or she would enter their patrol car and head out on the road to witness traffic violations, attend to robberies and other criminal acts. According to my interview with police officer Ted Wheatley on an average Friday night they pull over about 10 citizens who have been drinking. Out of these 10 citizens who were taken away and charged with DUI, about 4 of them were underage. However, on a holiday such as New Year's Eve, law enforcement would pull over an average of 35 people who are charged with a DUI or a DWI. Robberies do not usually happen on a daily basis and shootouts that you see on television almost rarely happen. On an average schedule a police officer will work more than the usual 8 hour work day, some police officers work a shift of 12 hours because they are on call most of the time.

("Police Officer- A Day in the Life"). Pursuing a career in law enforcement is probably one of the most rewarding and stable conditions available. Since crime will always be around and continue to grow, the demand for officers of law will continue to grow with it. Currently, the number of qualified candidates exceeds the amount of openings available which is resulting in higher standards for employment and more selectivity by the employers. However, the demand for police officers is expected to grow at a fast pace by the year 2010 because of the concern of drug related crimes and the concerns of society. This is good news to young adults who are just starting their college career and plans on becoming a police officer.

On the other hand, this growth of demand cannot be certain because the employment of police officers depends on the level of government spending and an officer could lose his or her job if the budget is cut. In pursuing any career there are risks such as whether the job will be available or even exist in years to come. Having a job as a police officer not only has a reasonable pay with good benefits but it also seems like an exciting job full of surprises. I think this is the reason why so many people are looking into having a career in law enforcement. Unlike any other job, police officers have to have camaraderie with the other officers in order to have their goals met. Unlike any other job, if this camaraderie is broken someone could get hurt.

Can you imagine life without police officers? I picture complete chaos around the world and probably no one would survive it. I'm glad that we have police officers and other officers of law enforcement around to protect the people and make life a little bit safer. Interview with New Castle County Police Officer Ted WheatleyKrystina: "When did you first start thinking about pursuing a career as a police officer?" Officer Ted: "Well my father was a police officer so I always looked up to him and wanted to be like him so I was probably around the age of 6 when I knew I wanted to be a police officer". Krystina: "What college did you attend and what degree did you earn for criminal justice?" Officer Ted: I went to Wilmington College for four years and received a Bachelor's degree in their criminal justice program. Krystina: "When you first applied for the New Castle County Police what type of information did they need to do a background check?" Officer Ted: "I had to give them the names and phone numbers of my immediate family members and my spouse.

I also had to answer if they had ever been convicted of a crime. They also made me take a lie detector test to see if I had lied about anything on my application. Similar to other jobs they gave me a drug test to make sure I wasn't doing anything illegal". Krystina: "Have you ever searched a car or a house for illegal substances?" Officer Ted: "Yes actually about a month ago I saw this car swerving in and out of lanes and I thought it was going to be a DUI case.

I tested his alcohol level and it proved that he hadn't been drinking; however his car reeked of marijuana. This suspicion gave me the right to search his car and I found about a pound of marijuana in his glove compartment". Krystina: "What was his punishment?" Officer Ted: "Well that night he spent the night in jail, however since it was his first offense the judge let him off easy by suspending his license and giving him probation". Krystina: "Do you think that his punishment was fair?" Officer Ted: "Yes I do because he was a young kid and I think he learned his lesson". Krystina: "What is your opinion on drugs and alcohol in the teenage society?" Officer Ted: "I feel that the percentage of teen drug abuse is going to keep increasing because teenagers want to feel like they fit in with the so called "in" crowd and they feel that drinking or getting high will make them look cooler. It hurts me to see young kids screw up their lives just for a short term high".

Krystina: "About how many of the DUI traffic stops are underage teens?" Officer Ted: "I would say on an average Friday I make about 10 DUI stops and probably about 4 of them are underage". Krystina: "What is the punishment for an underage teen that has been drinking?" Officer Ted: "Usually their license is suspended and they are put on probation. However in some cases we can eliminate the charges completely if they tell us who gave them the alcohol. For example, I pulled over a young girl who had been drinking and she was served at a bar.

We told her that we would drop the charges if she went back into this bar and had the same person wait on her so that we can arrest that person". Krystina: "On average, how many hours do you work a day?" Officer Ted: "I work around 10 hours a day so I get 2 hours of overtime pay". Krystina: "What are your plans after retiring from the police force?" Officer Ted: "Well I enjoy it here so I probably will not be leaving for awhile and when I do retire I think I'll move out to the country where I am surrounded by land". Krystina: "How do you think this interview went?" Officer Ted: "I enjoyed this interview, I think you asked a lot of interesting questions and I hope I helped you out in your research on police officers".

Bibliography

Criminal Justice Schools in the United States of America". Univ Source 13 March 2005 web Career Compass 2004-2005.
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