Define Professionalism In Law Enforcement

This paper will show four different police departments that are currently hiring or recruiting for police officers. There will be a summary on the research found on the process used to recruit police officers. It will also show their current hiring trends and what hiring practices they have that are successful or not successful. The paper will also go over the different methods departments use to train their new officers and their values.

Concepts like crime prevention, authority, professionalism and discretion have evolved in modern law enforcement since the twentieth century. August Vollmer instituted university training as a tool for young officers in training and under Vollmer’s teachings; O.W. Wilson pioneered the use of advanced training for officers and is also known for the start of criminal justice as an academic field. Wilson was also instrumental in applying modern management and administrative techniques to policing. Vollmer’s drive for educational innovations and improvements has changed policing tremendously and is still practiced heavily upon in today’s modern law enforcement society.

Law enforcement is a career that is both violent and rewarding in many capacities. Justice needs to be served in law enforcement and they have a responsibility to uphold the law and serve the people in the community. Law enforcement is crucial in the world today as a global realm as life continues to be more complex and law enforcement struggles to combat many aspects of crime. In order to combat these problems and have a positive future in the criminal justice system, everyone must work together on a bigger scale.

I strongly feel that police officers and law enforcement officers in general should be considered professionals. Until relatively recently, law enforcement was seen as rigid, rule bound job that lacked the autonomy and interaction with bona fide clientele enjoyed by the traditional professions (Glen et al., 2003) With the new age of police professionalism, I believe that many of these former arguments are no longer valid. Police officers receive specialized training and are expected to maintain a combination of physical, communications, and diplomatic skill unique to their vocation (Glen et al., 2003).

Professions are guided by codes of ethics to aid them in performance of their duties and to ensure maintenance of high standards of conduct. Police officers are faced with a maze of obligations in the performance of their official duties. The “Law Enforcement Code of Ethics” and “Canons of Police Ethics” were created to make explicit the conduct considered appropriate for police officers and to guide them in the performance of their duties. Although police have these guides, many are faced with ethical dilemmas, also known as a moral dilemmas. This mean the officer is challenged to make a decision which sometimes conflicts with societal and personal ethical morals and values and provide no

New officers need to know that no profession demands a higher ethical standard than law enforcement. Whether or not there are other careers that require a similar dedication to doing the right thing, it is undeniable that there is a tremendous degree of expectations placed upon police officers. Every officer knows, or at least should know by now, that they live in a fishbowl. Friends, relatives, neighbors and strangers watch every move law enforcement officers make, both on and off duty. The fact is that the public scrutinizes police officers more than most other professions, either because they are cynical or hope to catch them screwing up or because they are hopeful

This can provide benefits in the form of encouragement – tacitly or explicitly – towards professionalism on the part of all police personnel, not just those associated with the PPU. Although the term “police professionalism” has fallen into some disfavor due to its association with a concept of the police as a cold and distant force imposed against crime, the reality is that militarization does serve to increase consistency of behavior across police forces as well as the imposition of expectations of professional behavior (Hall & Coyne, 2013). Additionally, PPUs may serve an important morale-boosting purpose for police forces, setting a high standard for competence and ability and creating a goal to which line officers may aspire (Breede, 2008). Finally, when it comes to civilian law enforcement, it is far more desirable to layer a degree of military training, tactics, and equipment onto a preexisting police mindset than to try to retrain a military mindset for civilian law enforcement work (Breede,

This research project is an analysis of six scenarios. The scenarios are as follows: History and rolls of law enforcement in society, Levels of jurisdiction, Distinction among the multiple functions of Law enforcement agencies, Analysis of Historical events that have shaped modern policing practices, Ethical and professional behavior in the workplace, and Evaluation of how knowledge, skills, and attitude learned in this course apply to your chosen career. There will also be a summary of reactions on Ethical and professional behavior in the work place. Included in the second section, there will be six scenarios. The responses will incorporate knowledge of

What does it mean to be a professional? A professional is defined as a qualified and experienced person in a work environment that conforms to the standards of skill, with competence and character. After nearly a decade of war the Army has decided to focus on creating professionals rather than just creating warriors. Leaders have realized the importance of being a professional and want to ensure that every soldier and civilian member of the Army understands the same importance. Therefore, the Army has begun implementing the Profession of Arms.

Professionalism has a different meaning to everyone. To me it is defined as "the skill and good judgment that is expected from a person who is trained to do a specific job." As an EMS provider, I will be in contact with the public that is looking at me to be the best in my profession. They will expect me to carry myself in a professional manner. They will also expect the best care that I can provide, and that I can acknowledge when I need to call for ALS personal to render better care if needed.

If you currently are or will be considering becoming a law enforcement officer you will hopefully find the following information useful. I will be conveying to you not only the importance of professional appearance and means you can use to be more efficient at presenting such an appearance. While representing a state, city or county a less than professional image as an officer is not acceptable. As a public servant an officer’s appearance is the public’s first impression of who you are and what you represent or stand for. Not caring about your own appearance as a professional may lead some to assume you do not care about your job. We will discuss the reasons an officer should take extra pride in their appearance as well as steps to take that will assist in achieving a more professional appearance. Hopefully you will consider the advice given to you and make yourself a more professional looking officer or officer to be.

“protect those that need protecting, perform the job with integrity, keep others information confidential unless the performance of duty or legal provision requires otherwise, use discretion based on reasonableness, never employ use of force unless in the defense of life, and behave in a manner that does not discredit the office in which they are employed” (Ethics and Law Enforcement, 2002).

Innocent until proven guilty, that is for the suspect, today law enforcements ethics and values are under suspicion and rightfully so. This honorable profession needs to be progressive and transparent, and bring critical details to the public quickly, as in matter of hours not days. Furthermore, law enforcement ethics need to be virtuous and these men and women should possess the following virtues, courage, perseverance, compassion, generosity, truthfulness, and a good temper. These men and women are not without fault, however they must constantly strive to be

The law enforcement community operates and has similarities like the military. They both have some type of basic training. They wear uniforms, have a rank structure, policy and procedures govern their actions, and in most cases have a politician as their commander or chief. Military members make up the largest candidate pool for law enforcement

     Police officers need a good understanding of the law. Recruits need training in criminal law and civil law. Within the law training blocks, recruits would be introduced to criminal procedure and rules of evidence. Training must also include how to handle incidents with juveniles and the mentally ill and domestic violence situations.