A brief, and reasonably vague, definition of law enforcement, (specifically police work,) and some of the major duties involved are to control traffic, investigate crimes, and to give first-aid to victims at accident scenes. In metropolitan areas, work may include patrol, traffic, chemical analysis, and handwriting/fingerprint identification. Another aspect of police work is the everything but adored paperwork, i.e. reports and police records; and an officer may be called upon to testify in court. The job exists to help maintain and enforce the laws. This service is here to help protect and benefit the public.
Within the law enforcement occupation there are many fields in which one may specialize. Some of these fields could be chemical and microscopic analysis, firearms identification, or handwriting and fingerprint identification. There are other special types of units that combat a specific type of crime. Some of these units include mounted and motorcycle patrol, harbor patrol, canine corps, special weapons and tactics or emergency response teams, or task forces.
The equipment used for law enforcement varies greatly depending on where one is talking about, due to differing state laws and individual police departments. Some of the equipment that is used, though, are such things as a police car (of course!) or motorcycle, uniform, nightstick/asp and/or gun (depending on where you are), mace, handcuffs, radio, and other basic equipment such as that.
The education required for a career in law enforcement varies greatly depending on what specific field you are interested in, and where you go. College courses that may be helpful are English, grammar, math, psychology, counseling, American history, public administration, public relations, sociology, business law, chemistry, physics, computers, P.E., and have a degree in basically anything. Volunteer work is always good, such as with a church, 4-H, or the reserve police. The Explorers is a good program to get into. No previous work experience is absolutely necessary to enter a law enforcement career. The on-the-job training is basically experience and other essentials of this line of work. There is no specific length of time required to get necessary education, although you must be 21, a U.S. citizen, have no felony convictions or convictions of domestic issues, and have a high school degree.
Some of the personal qualifications, skills, and abilities needed for law enforcement are things such as honesty, good judgment, and a sense of responsibility. One must also be in good physical condition, and have accurate vision, strength, and agility. Personal interests could include working with people and serving the public. In most places some sort of formal training is required. This may consist of classroom instruction in constitutional law and civil rights, State laws and local ordinances, and accident investigation. Recruits also receive supervised experience and training in patrol, traffic control, use of firearms, self-defense, first aid, and handling emergencies. It would also be helpful to know a second language (especially Spanish), be good at report writing, and have good interpersonal skills.
The average salary of a nonsupervisory police officer and detective was about $34,700 per year in 1996. Most police and sheriffs’ departments provide paid vacation, sick leave, medical and life insurance, and liberal pension plans.
Police work involves both outdoor and indoor work. Depending on where the job is located, (city, rural, or other type of community), affects things such as noise level and traveling time. Police work is a very stressful and dangerous occupation. Besides the possible dangers of confronting criminals, there is the need to be constantly alert and ready to deal appropriately with stressful or emergency situations. The work schedule of a law enforcement officer changes so frequently that it is impossible to pin down any *exact* hours. However, many people usually work a 40-hour week; paid overtime is very common. Junior officers must frequently work weekends, holidays, and nights. While Police officers, detectives, and special agents are on-call all the time, whenever their services are needed. Law enforcement officers are required to file reports of their activities, and to fill out other essential paperwork, which may take many long, tedious hours to complete. Most equipment and supplies are usually furnished by the department, although, for some items the officer must buy and pay for themselves. Transportation to work is the responsibility of the individual.
Dress requirements vary depending on the police department for which one is working. But each department has a specific dress code, including a uniform with specified accessories. This is so that each officer can be identified as a legal law enforcement officer, and to be able to differentiate between departments. Travel time depends greatly on how big the jurisdiction you’re working under is. But usually there is a lot of travel time involved, going from scene to scene, and patrolling. Many places have discriminated against women or different races, but those boundaries are being broken. Employers are now trying to even things out a bit by hiring women into careers where before it was virtually a male dominated occupation.
The type of organizations that law enforcement is found in are such as the F.B.I., local law enforcement departments, K-9 corps, Search and Rescue, Immigration, Investigators, Detectives, etc. Law enforcement careers are found basically anywhere in the world.
The normal method of entry into a law enforcement career is to first take all the necessary classes and meet the requirements, then it’s just a matter of applying for a job and waiting to see if you’re accepted or not. Some larger cities hire high school graduates that are still in their teens as police cadets or trainees. These people do clerical work and attend classes, and can be appointed to the regular force at the conclusion of their training, usually in one or two years, when they have reached the minimum age requirement. The hiring outlook for a law enforcement career in the future is very good; very competitive, but very good. This is a career that will always be needed, especially with the growing population. The “ladder” of promotion, if you will, basically goes from rookie, to corporal, then sergeant, lieutenant, and captain. One usually become eligible for a promotion after a probationary period anywhere from 6 months to 3 years. In larger departments, a promotion may enable an officer to specialize in one type of police work, such as laboratory analysis of evidence or working with juveniles. A promotion is usually made according to the candidate’s standing position on a promotion list. The stability of employment in this occupation is very good, and most likely will remain so.
Occupations that are similar to law enforcement are jobs such as the correctional officers, guards, fire marshals, and inspectors.
Sources for additional information about law enforcement could be obtained from Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies; and additional information about FBI Special Agent is available at the nearest State FBI office, (phone number and address are listed in the local phone book.) For further information about qualifications and employment as a DEA Special Agent, contact your nearest DEA office, or call 1-800-DEA-4288. Information about career opportunities, yadda, yadda, yadda to become a deputy marshal or U.S. Secret Service Special Agent contact:
United States Marshals Service
Employment and Compensation Division
Field Staffing Branch
600 Army Navy Dr.
Arlington, VA 22202
&
U.S. Secret Service
Personnel Division, Room 912
1800 G St. NW
Washington, DC 20223
Respectively. Information about law enforcement careers in general may be obtained from:
International Union of Police Associations
1016 Duke St.
Alexandria, VA 22314
If you wanted to observe someone in a law enforcement occupation locally, I would recommend talking to your local police department. Each department is different and has its own rules and regulations governing it. And if you’re looking at a part-time, co-op, internship, or something else like it, then, again, I would recommend talking with your local police department.
Some of the personality traits of people that work in law enforcement would be hopefully a good sense of humor, good people skills, able to work under pressure, have an ability to communicate well with others, and be able to think logically and make decisions. There is no actual “average” range of ages that people work in a law enforcement career. Some start right out of high school, while others start when they’re almost 30 or older. Most either work until they can’t or they find another job, or until they retire. Law enforcement, right now, is mostly a male-dominated career, but that’s being changed everyday, with more and more women joining the force. I suppose the number of ethnic minority workers would differ greatly depending on where one was talking about. In a bigger city, such as L.A. or New York, there would probably be a greater range of races and ethnic backgrounds working together. In smaller communities, you just kind of take what you got.
Values for working in a law enforcement career would probably be first of all, helping other people. But one must also consider the independence for decisions (while still complying with orders and regulations, of course!), and the praises you get when you help someone and they appreciate it, (and then you have all the little snot-nosed whiners out there who give you a hard time no matter what you do!) The status of this occupation as seen by society would probably be either good and helpful, with the ability to enforce laws and “fix things”, or bad and useless, that is from people who don’t care that we have laws at all; the ones that are caught doing something wrong. Then there’s the people who just flat-out hate the cops, no matter what. And one can’t forget the people who practically worship the ground they walk on, as well. Hopefully, with any luck, the public’s perception of law enforcement officials is a pretty good one.
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