Advantages and Disadvantages of Becoming a Police Officer

With all the jobs out there in the world, how does anyone decide what they want to do with their lives? Most of the time this is the first question young people ask themselves when they are trying to figure out what they want to major in at college. This question caused me a lot of confusion about my possible future career. The career I finally choose, like many other young adults, was law enforcement, to be a police officer. In the following paragraphs, I will describe the reasons for my choice, along with the effects that my education and training have on my goal of becoming a police officer.

Police officers have played a major role in society by protecting us from crime. Their responsibilities include not only preserving the peace, preventing criminal acts, enforcing the law, investigating crimes, and arresting those who violate the law but also directing traffic, community relations work, and controlling crowds at public events.

The role of police officers is very significant to American history. Police work toward protecting citizens’ rights and helping America become the land of the free. The United States of America is built from the U.S. Constitution Bill of Rights and police play a major role in making sure American rights are met. Evolution has changed many of American history for the better; policing is part of those changes. As new issues in society arise, police must change and adapt to protect and serve the public.

Having had the opportunity to see both sides of the argument play out in the City of Memphis and as a member of the Memphis Police Department. I have become an advocate for requiring entry-level police officers to have at the very minimum an associate degree or the equivalent college credits. The college requirement can only be avoided with military experience. However, my position is not that more education makes you a better police officer or less education makes you a lousy officer. I believe that there should be a “happy medium” when it comes to police work. A good officer will be empathic, fair and in tune with the needs of the community and its members. Requiring a level of education for your entry-level officers speaks volumes about your agency and their dedication to professionalism. The benefits of having a college educated officer have shown to make a difference in the way they do their jobs. An educated police officer is less likely to utilize force when interacting with his co-workers or civilians. A department with educated officers also has shown to see a reduction in misconduct and disciplinary issues(Gómez-Mejía et al., 2016). Some years back the Memphis Police Department had relaxed their

Finding a career in which you feel personally rewarded by helping others and knowing that you are making a difference should be one’s main goal. Officer Mares, was able to achieve this goal when he joined the LAPD as a police undercover agent back in 1996 when he was only 21 ½ years old. Nineteen years later, he is going strong, satisfactorily performing his duties as an officer and serving the community of Los Angeles. He feels rewarded, with this career and loves his schedule, and he is happy when he goes to work. He focuses on knowing that he is making a difference one person at a time. He states, “ I may not change the world, but I am making a difference one individual at a time, which in turn makes a better community for our kids to grow in.” (Mares) Back in the days, around 1960 being a police officer or becoming part of a department that served and protected the public was highly regarded. However, that is no longer the case. Now the Police Department is an affiliation you almost do not want to be involved in.

Entering the career of law enforcement is not always easy. Becoming a Police Officer means that I would become a justified employee of the police force. As a Police Officer, I would typically be responsible for placing criminals under arrest, looking for crimes and preventing them before they can happen, protecting the community and it's property and many other things. It is not an easy job at all, Police work can be stressful and dangerous because there is a constant possibility of being injured or killed every day, but it is definitely worth it in the end. Even though those were clear examples, being a Police Officer alone would just be saving someone’s life. Enforcing the law saves peoples lives, and that is exactly what I would be doing. Everything that I would do would be preventing something that could have been fatal.

While being a police officer, you have guidelines and rules that you need to follow just as if you worked as a chef or even a sales associate you have rules

Police Officer, also commonly known as policewoman, police agent, or police employee is a warranted law employee of a police force by definition. Their main duties are to protect and serve the United States. They keep their streets safe and enforce the rules to keep our country under control. Police officers work under a department or a city. The ranks that police officers can be very between places. In a city the ranks can be; Chief of Police, Deputy or assistant chief, Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Commander, Major, Captain, Lieutenant, inspector, Staff Sergeant, Sergeant, Corporal, Master police officer, police officer, Trooper, Detective, Recruit, Cadet, Trainee, or Probationary officer. Frank's can be skipped or emitted and structure is often determined by individual municipalities. State and local law enforcement agencies employed more than 1.1 million people on a full-time basis including about 765,000 sworn personnel back in 2008. In 1838 the city of Boston established the first American Police Force followed by New York City and 1845 Albany New York and Chicago in 1851.

Have you ever asked yourself what it would be like to become a police officer. Becoming a police officer isn’t an easy take because they have to risk their life everyday to protect and serve the community. They have to go through the dangers of arresting criminals when there is a chance that they could die. However, in today’s society only a small amount of the police officers actually serves their community and protect citizens from danger. Right now, most police officers abuse their power to the point where they don’t seem to care for the safety of the community. They would usually arrest innocent people, make accusations, and even use their power as a source to show their dominance. If you think about, whenever you are stuck in traffic

When I was a high schooler, I always wanted to help the community. I wanted to be more than a volunteer for the communities, I wanted a job that I could prevent crimes and help to make a difference. “ we thought we could change the world, we are the protector of the peace. We define the odds and criticisms..” This is what a police officer had said during a YouTube video talking about the Los Angeles Police

Presently, the duties of a police officer, also known as a law enforcement officer, focus on protecting people and property.

When I was younger and people would ask me, "what does your father do for a living," I'd smile from ear to ear and answer, "my daddy is a policeman!" I was so comfortable telling the world that my dad is a police officer, that he stops bad guys... Now not so much. Being a teenager around this time, I am obviously involved in social media. Where people just slander police officers. I soon realized that no one really likes police based on the actions of a few individuals. I am her to inform really whoever is willing to listen, that they're wrong about policemen.

A police officers job is to protect and serve. An officer is to offer assistance to those in need and to enforce the laws established by the law makers. A police officer’s job is not the monotonous 8-5 job that most have…..it is ever changing, 24-7. It is not a normal environment. Think about it, a police officer runs into a gun fight…….normal folks run away from it!

Police officers are responsible for protecting people and property. Related job titles include Sheriffs and sheriffs deputy, detectives, and state police officers. However all of these job titles have similar duties for example they are all responsible for the protection of people and property. These job titles might be very similar but they do differ in many ways. Police officers patrol the city issuing citations keeping the peace and conduct traffic stops. Sheriff 's and deputies hold practically the same duties as police officers but do so for the entire county. A state police officer could also be addressed as a state trooper. These officers usually patrol highways and issue citations and are frequently called for comprehensive law enforcement services. Detective is the title that differs from the others the most. Detectives aren 't in uniform. They investigate crime scenes and find evidence for criminal cases. Detectives conduct interviews, observe activities of suspects, and also participate in raids. Although a normal police officer does not earn as much income as related titles it is still a very demanding and dangerous job.

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be a police officer. I’m sure, as a little boy, what first caught my attention were the flashing lights and sirens on the police cars. It could have also been then the facts that police officer were permitted to carry a gun and had the ability to run red lights. This is why as I grew up and played games like cops and robbers, I was always the police officer. During my teenage years, I later joined the police explorer program and really started to learn about police work. That’s when I