Communication In Law Enforcement

Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement by Kevin M. Gilmartin, Ph.D. is a book that seeks to inform and instruct those seeking to be in law enforcement, law enforcement professionals and their families of the realities of a career in law enforcement- professionally and personally. And how to best prepare for emotional survival of “on-duty and off-duty” life. It also compares and contrasts what happens to officers at the beginning of this journey and what typical happens to officers overtime; focusing mainly on what happens to officers that don’t know the techniques of emotional survival. Though it

It is easy to take a look across the occupational spectrum and see that Law Enforcement is a very emotional and dangerous job. Law enforcement officials come in contact with homicides, street violence, and other tragedies while “protecting and serving”. They

The understanding of those barriers to which prevent information from being received can allow for better communication throughout the department.

Skolnick begins by concentrating and analyzing certain elements pertaining to the law enforcement profession. The elements Skolnick identifies are danger, authority, and efficiency in the eyes of the public, which all produces unique cognitive and behavioral responses as officers. To Skolnick this is the working personality aforementioned. Understanding this, Skolnick begins the discussion of how police culture plays into a policeman’s working personality. First it is important to realize that police officers are required to respond to assaults against citizens of the community, as well as the properties and possessions of those people. This has several implications. First, “The policeman, because his work requires him to be occupied continually with potential violence, developed perpetual shorthand’s identify certain kinds of people and symbolic assailants, that is, as persons who use gesture, language, and attire that the policeman has come to recognize as a prelude to violence,” (Skolnick, 143). This concept can be trouble to some, as it seems to have a discriminatory feeling

The Book Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement by Dr. Kevin M. Gilmartin is a guide for officers and their families on the journey through law enforcement and how to coop with the ever demanding job officers face. This book discussed the demands of the job and how officers change throughout the course of their career. I will elaborate on several factors that were discussed in the book and how officers, with the proper training, can help combat the stress of the high demand place on them.

Emotional Survival For Law Enforcement by Kevin M. Gilmartin, is not a book that sugar coats the reality of policing but is written in a way to help police officers and those who want to understand the job. Not everyone is familiar with why police officers act the way they do and reading Kevin Gilmartin’s book provides an insider in the daily lives of police officers, the dangers the job and how it affects their families. The first chapters started off explaining the excitement of new recruits or those entering the academy. These young men and women are excited for the new opportunities coming their way but it is not all excitement. Their lives are all about policing and even their friends are fellow officers; they lose friends outside the

United States Law Enforcement officers are constantly under pressure. Their job requires them to serve and protect mankind, under any circumstances, at all times. Because of this, officers run the risk of putting themselves in harmful situation. This may include apprehending a violent assailant, or entering harmful locations. In this study, I used books and articles such as, Criminal Justice Today, to get an understanding of the dangers Law Enforcement Officer face in the line of duty. When performing task outside the prescient, office4rs are put into dangerous situations because of their surroundings, offender’s actions, and officer mistakes. Due to the high stress of this job, it not only affects their performance, but their health as well.

|Participation |Participate in class discussion and in class quizzes. If a student misses in-class time, |2-25-13 |10 points |

7) The need to be in constant emotional control. Law enforcement officers have a job that requires extreme restraint under highly emotional circumstances. They are told when they are extremely excited, they have to act calm. They are told when they are nervous, they have to be in charge. They are taught to be stoic when emotional. They are to interact with the world in a role. The emotional constraint of the role takes tremendous mental energy, much more energy than expressing true emotions. When the energy drain is very strong, it may make the officer more prone to exhaustion outside of work, such as not wanting to participate in social or family life. This energy drain can also create a sense of job and social burnout.

Communication issues are also a challenge for criminal justice agencies. There are two communication barriers one is individual and the other is organizational. Individual communication issues are that a person’s own interpretation of a message may not be what is meant. An organization’s culture can be a barrier in communicating with another organization. The court system, police and corrections have different jargon that is used within their culture. This sometimes makes communication difficult between the organizations as well as with the public. To handle these challenges a leader must be an affective communicator (Duelin, 2010).

Performing well under distressing circumstances is not easy. Yet in a few callings, it can be of fundamental significance that one has the capacity do as such. Case in point, when police officers are confronted with a furnished and hazardous attacker, they are required to act rapidly and viably to shield themselves and other individuals from damage. Getting included in such circumstances is unpleasant (Anderson, Litzenberger, and Plecas, 2002). Although police officers are required to perform well under stressful circumstances, a

"For example, in police-civilian interactions, members of the public tend to see the uniform and the badge rather than the individual behind them. However, studies show that police officers who are willing to take the time to show kindness, understanding and consideration when interacting with others--especially those who may be distrustful--will likely foster a more positive atmosphere" (Barker et al., 2008). This type of respectfulness goes a long way when officers are doing community service. For example, when officers participate in programs like D.A.R.E, they must show kindnesses when effectively communicating with groups of student and parents. In addition, they can also hold more community meetings. In order to accomplish this, local police in a community would do well to hold regular meetings in to talk about prevalent crimes and how to prevent them. Police officers need to be honest and clear, as well as kind, usually when they communicate with victims, as well as when communicating with those who break the law. Police officers need to be part of the community, and communication helps them achieve this.

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

When discussing leadership within the law enforcement profession is it vital to take the human factors into consideration. There are multiple human factors that the law enforcement leaders must take note of, such as, family issues, financial issues, stress, health, and morale. These human factors that play an important role for law enforcement in general can impact morale, officer safety and the public perception. When addressing the human factors, “Law enforcement leaders should challenge themselves and their employees to increase safety margins by focusing on human factors. By doing so, they will improve proactive communication at their level of influence and develop an organizational culture that values safety and wellness” (Bone, D., Normore,

Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every time he or she puts on their uniform. For instance, it is quite emotional for the family of any law enforcement officer to see their loved one go to work and not know what their shift will entail. One way that a family could endure the emotions is to pray for their loved one who is in law enforcement. Whereas the officers’ job stress is at high levels so could their personal lives. Some studies in particular, show how family, friends, and the community treated by the officers could depend on the officers’ level of stress and how well positive adaptation occurs (Hille, 2009). Understanding that the law enforcement officers’ job is stressful enough, their home lives should not be. As of 2000, police officers were seven times more likely to commit suicide than other Americans. In addition, police officers had the third highest suicide rate among 130 U. S. occupations. According to the National Association of Police Chiefs, twice as many police officers took their own lives each year as have killed in the line of duty (“World of Criminal Justice, Gale Research,” 2002). This outcome stems from the outward show of how the officers deal with their job stress. For instance, some of the ways officers handle their stress could be drinking, physically abusing their wives or children, or acting carelessly on vacation or on a family outing. Although particular law enforcement officers put on the persona