Being A Police Officer: What It Means

In most cases, police officers are one of the most hated and neglected professions. There are those few people that only see the bad in police work rather than seeing the good they do for the community. Ever since I was very young I had always looked up to police officers. I grew up learning about the work they do to protect the people and other ways they can help us. The one day when I became more fascinated in this career was when a group of police officers visited my elementary school and gave a presentation about their duties as police officers.

Those duties included protecting the people and their property, patrolling their assigned areas, and responding to calls in their area or any surrounding one. After my many years of research and going through law enforcement classes I knew it was the career for me. It’s been a big part of my life learning and understanding what needs to be done to go down that path of being a police officer.

Get quality help now

RhizMan

Verified writer

Proficient in: Police Officer

4.9 (247)

“ Rhizman is absolutely amazing at what he does . I highly recommend him if you need an assignment done ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

I believe I am highly capable of performing those duties and am prepared for what is to come in that field of work.

Police officers have an important role in the community and have a wide variety of duties and responsibilities. The duties of a police officer focus on protecting the people and property. Law enforcement officers also patrol the areas they are assigned to. Other duties include responding to calls, making arrests, enforcing laws, and testifying in court cases.

They often make traffic stops and also conduct safety inspections on roads or highways. In some cases, they may also provide first aid to a person that has been involved in any traffic accident or a domestic dispute. This is usually done until paramedics arrive. Qualifications for a law enforcement officer vary by agency. The minimum requirement to qualify would be a high school diploma, at least 21 years of age, and no felony convictions. In other agencies, they require an associate's degree to qualify. You will also have to meet certain requirements such as physical fitness, written examinations, and vision and hearing tests. The training academy usually takes around 12 months depending on the agency. After graduating from the academy you will have 2 years to activate your license. If someone is not able to get a job and activate that license under the 2 year period they have to restart and go through the training academy once again. Once hired you will start as a probationary officer and will be constantly supervised with limited responsibilities. Police work can be very dangerous. It gets very stressful and can also be physically demanding. An average salary for a police officer is about $53,000 a year. Of course, this number won’t go for all agencies. It all depends on the location you get hired in, your experience, and your performance as an office. 

Works cited

1. Lauchs, M. (2017). Policing and the Legacy of Racial Injustice. Lexington Books.
2. Skolnick, J. H., & Fyfe, J. J. (1993). Above the law: Police and the excessive use of force. Free Press.
3. Kappeler, V. E., Sluder, R. D., & Alpert, G. P. (2019). Forces of Deviance: Understanding the Dark Side of Policing. Routledge.
4. Terrill, W., & Paoline, E. A. (2018). Policing: A Text/Reader. Sage Publications.
5. Oliver, W. M., & Del Carmen, R. V. (2019). The Future of Policing. Routledge.
6. Wadman, R. C., & Maguire, E. R. (2020). The Oxford Handbook of Police Misconduct. Oxford University Press.
7. Walker, S., & Katz, C. M. (2019). The Police in America: An Introduction. McGraw-Hill Education.
8. Police Executive Research Forum. (2016). Guiding Principles on Use of Force. Retrieved from https://www.policeforum.org/assets/Guiding_Principles_on_Use_of_Force_-_PERF.pdf
9. United States Department of Justice. (2020). Law Enforcement Training Standards for Entry Level Law Enforcement Officers. Retrieved from https://cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/taskforce/taskforce_05_training.pdf
10. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (n.d.). Police and Detectives. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/protective-service/police-and-detectives.htm