Changing Police Departments

The Virginia State Police has experienced a rise in staffing issues which include staffing shortages because of poor recruitment, an increase in retirements, poor salaries, and retention issues. However, these issues also occur in other counties around the country. Many local police officers execute their duties, along with the duties of the state police officers. Beyond the low salaries of police officers, the department lacks the proper equipment it needs to perform the jobs well. The lack of money, equipment, and resources has caused low employee morale, which resulted in many police officers quitting or retiring.

This was an article I found through the APUS library that offers information on the hours that police officers work. It also explains the complications of being overworked and its results. I will use this information to expand on the day-to-day operations of an officer. I will also be able to determine some cons of pursuing this career.

Stress happens to everyone and it is usually not seen as something so serious. Police officers usually have higher stress levels due to the fact that people’s safety are in their hands. Historically, law enforcement agencies did not recognize the seriousness of the high levels of stress, and police officers were forced to deal with it on their own. When assistance was finally available, most officers chose not to seek help because it would make them seem weak. However, Police stress needs to be taken into consideration as a serious matter, and even several studies have shown that police fatigue has similar effects as those alcohol. To Police officers, stress caused by the job can sometimes be overwhelming. This can affect their

communities in order to achieve goals and avoid conflicts. Racism, discrimination, and miscommunication have been the cause of countless police/immigrant community confrontations, and that in return diminishes the chances of recruiting Asian-American candidates towards a career in law enforcement.

Many police departments both across the country and throughout the world have found themselves struggling with manpower resource issues. Having enough officers on call to effectively meet the needs of the community must always be the priority, but it is a priority that is often overlooked by those who delegate financial resources to these departments. Being tasked with performing a job more efficiently and still using the same levels of resources requires a creative and lateral approach. One such method for meeting this increased demand in law enforcement is the employment of call volume analysis and the subsequent changes in scheduling that the results suggest. In most cases, the solution

For my internship I was with the Spirit Lake Police Department. They are located in Spirit Lake Iowa and they’re a city police department. They have a total of ten people working in their department. The Spirit Lake Police Department hierarchy is one Chief; Jeff Hanson, two Sergeants; Shane Brevik and Scott Colt, 6 Officers; Josh Kilpatrick, Nathan Roth, Daren Diers, Jesse Miller, Hunter Clayton, and Ryan Vos. They also have an office secretary Sanja Erickson. They also have a K-9 whose name is Cairo his handler is Sergeants Brevik. They also normally have a lieutenant but Rodney Baker retired back in May so they’re in the process of promoting one of their officers to that position once there new officer Ryan Vos comes back from the academy. The schedules that the Spirit Lake officers have are 4 days on and then 4 days off. They work a 12-hour shift (Six to Six). They

Officer fatigue can be a quite serious problem for police departments. Excess fatigue will generally reduce alertness, decrease performance and worsen mood. These symptoms can reduce officer's performance and safety with potentially life-threatening effects. Patrol officers are expected to remain alert and able to resolve complex, emotional, and potentially dangerous situations. They are expected to be able to multi-task, as well as stay alert during periods of inaction. These activities can be quite difficult for a fatigued officer to complete (Vila 1996). Community oriented policing efforts can be seriously compromised by officer fatigue with excess officer fatigue harming community-police relations (Vila & Taiji 1999).

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer is making a complaint about his parole division being understaffed and overworked. Chief Dyer States "that the men and women we depend on to keep us safe, a report of findings that there are not enough of them in Fresno and it is weighing down on the department." I agree that there are not enough police officers in the patrol division. The more we overwork them the less likely they will be able to handle their job to their full extent. Anyone that has been overworked would have a hard time completing their job in a matter what it is. Having overworked police officers on the street trying to do their job is very dangerous in a way. They could make a bad judgment call because of lack of sleep. Doing these jobs can

The impact of rotating shift work on police officers in terms of fatigue, increased stress, and other long term medical problems cannot be overstated. In 2011, an in-depth research project, “Sleep disorders, health, and safety in police officers” (JAMA, 2011), was conducted involving a group of North American police officers in regards to the sleep disorders and the health and safety of the officers participating. The study involved 4,957 officers that worked rotating shifts over a period of approximately two years. The findings were startling and revealed that 3,930 officers (79.3%) were overweight or obese. Another 40.7% tested positive for at least one (1) sleep disorder and the majority of those that tested positive for a disorder

One thing I realized after learning about police reform efforts in Chicago was that this process may have started with revolutionary ideas and passion and determination, but truly changing the police infrastructure requires stamina and the willingness to endure countless mistakes and attempt to fix them along the way. The grand idea itself, i.e. justice for those who experienced discrimination and brutality as a result of unjust policing practices, is powerful. Reformers and activists should never forget that. However, as the countless court rulings against the efforts of reformers and the repeated acquittals of policemen have shown, relying on an idea alone is not pragmatic or practical, and it is up to the activists to garner continued interest

1. Identify and discuss the eight (8) recurring reasons that change occurs in law enforcement agencies.

Although the community is benefitting from the jail expansion, a concern is the negotiation of a 12-hour shift model with the custodial deputy’s union that reduces the number of positions required (Carlson, 2017). A shift length experiment was conducted and revealed that officers who worked 12-hour shifts were significantly less alert than those on 8-hour shifts (Amendola, Weisburd, Jones, Slipka). Researchers also found that officers with sleep disorders or lack of sleep were more likely to make serious administrative errors or safety violations (Pearsall, 2012). It was also found that officers with sleep disorders experience “uncontrolled anger” toward suspects (Pearsall, 2012). According

As crime coexists with humanity, the presence of the police force ensures the suppression of crime and the safety for our society. Every occupation has its own work stress. What is unique is all the different stress found in one job. Aside from the heroic services police officers perform in their duty, they experience overwhelming stress in their daily duty. Police stress refers to the negative pressures related to police work (Police Stress, n.d.). In order to maintain peace and order, there must be an effective police force up and running. For that to happen, departments need to be aware and deal with the negative effects caused by police stress. Whereas, police officers must conquer their stress in order to work at their

Law enforcement officers have encountered some very deadly days. The life of a law enforcement officer is one of constantly being aware of your surroundings, dealing with the uncertainty of not knowing the individuals you have to approach, and being able to cope with the visual images seen after vicious crimes. The life of a law enforcement officer, who protects and serves, is both challenging and rewarding. The first law enforcement system was established in Boston, Massachusetts over 350 years ago. During this time in the Colonies that were not heavily populated, the sheriff served as the main law enforcement officer. During the 1800’s, 24-hour law enforcement service and systems similar to what is used today began to emerge (NLEMI). Law enforcement officers face incredible dangers. With over 900,000 law enforcement officers nationwide the Federal Bureau of Investigations reported approximately 1,165,383 violent crimes in 2014. Approximately one law enforcement officer dies every 61 hours (NLEMI).The law enforcement profession is the most challenging and dangerous career, because officers must be aware of every law and action they take at all times, manage constant training and stress, and protecting others as well as themselves in the line of duty.

You had a perfect example of places that are very popular with the night life that being Las Vegas. One of my friends just returned from there a few months ago and said thing are pretty much laid back in the day but the night life is something that cannot be explained, it must be experienced. I am very interested in what kind of shifts the police departments run there. I am sure if you picked a city that has a very active night life then you can expect to primarily work according to that. I would also like to know how the attitude and morale are for the surrounding departments. Ma, Correll, Wittenbrink, Sriram & Nosek claims that fatigue plays into how a police officer will engage a suspect along with other variables(2013, p.523). This