Physical Fitness And Wellness Policy For The Austin Peay State University Police Department Essay

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.

Detectives encounter many different people daily who come from different backgrounds, and it is important that a detective has a way to communicate with anyone who walks into their precinct. Both electives and physical education are important to the instruction of any kind of police detective. Being a Homicide Detective means occasionally having to run, tackle, and have physical confrontations with individuals who can be dangerous. Therefore, participation in PE classes, health classes, and extracurricular sports during high school will aid the detective in the

This initiative emphasizes the importance of individuals holding themselves accountable for their own health, wellness, and safety. Additionally, this message needs to be derived and set forth by the administration of the department who should equally demonstrate the same behavior. A Fire Chief who establishes such expectations are the first in line to demonstrate their own accountability standards through their physical appearance and visible measures. For example, maintaining a healthy image resembling one of physically fit, and maintain and advocate healthy dietary eating habits both on and off the job. RMFD’s current Fire Chief emulates these standards. However, the Assistant Fire Chief and one of the Battalion Chiefs fall short, detouring the unity and strength behind the accountability maintaining a positive image.

In recent years, recruitment and retention of police officers has been a pain point for many departments across the nation. Odd and inflexible hours, uncompetitive pay, para-militaristic organizational structures, and a negative public perception have all worked to diminish the pool of applicants interested in careers in law enforcement. Add to the mix the sexist “brotherhood” police culture, emphasis on masculinity and aggression, and the nearly non-existent opportunities for advancement for women, and over half of the eligible workforce has been discouraged from even considering a career in law enforcement. In 2013, women comprised just over 57% of the labor force, but accounted for only 13% of sworn police officers (USDOL, 2013; Crooke, 2013). Not only are women sorely underrepresented in the field of law enforcement, but those who are employed experience discrimination at the hands of their supervisors and coworkers, and as a result, the attrition rate for women is often much higher than that of their male counterparts. Departments should pledge dedication to recruiting and retaining more female officers, as research indicates that not only do females perform just as well as males in patrol positions, but they also have a unique set of advantages to offer agencies when employed in law enforcement. In order to improve the recruitment and retention of females into policing roles, departments must determine the biggest deterrents for women who are considering the pursuit

An important part of the United States workforce is made up of police officers. The number of police officers employed has grown drastically over the past few years. However, although the number of police officers employed has increased, public scrutiny has as well. The police employment practices have affected the publics’ perception of the police because of the factors involved as well as the desire to seek employment in law enforcement. The paper below will describe some of the factors involved with race and ethnicity when seeking police careers.

The profession of policing derives its effectiveness from its ability to attract and employ quality individuals who will strive to better their community. Therefore proper recruitment and selection of officers is incredibly important to a police organization. Some major needs to Missouri’s recruitment process will be addressed in the following paragraphs.

The article Attracting females and racial/ethnic minorities to law enforcement is about local law enforcement agencies and their efforts to engage women and ethnic/minorities into participating in law enforcement agencies applicant processes and also concerns the hiring patterns of law enforcement agencies and the abilities of these agencies to fill sworn positions with females and minority officers. The arrival of the 20th century brought with it a change in the policing environment from the spoils system of earlier days to a more inclusive environment for female and minority presence within officer ranks. Some of the problems that law enforcement agencies of the more recent times will have with attracting females and minorities into law enforcement agency careers comes from outside of the agencies, but the most important determining problems can come from within those agencies themselves such as fear of the race and gender discrimination from the likes of employers and co-workers that makes females and minorities reluctant to join law enforcement agencies. The more highly televised incidents of the police brutality such as the Rodney King beating, Abner Louima torturing, and other abuse of force incidents make it very important

The Policeone.com podcast that I chose was, Officer Wellness and safety in 21st century policing. Officer wellness and safety is the sixth pillar of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The two topics that I noticed were more physically focused, and the mental aspects of wellness in policing. The podcast began discussing two of the five tenets in the Below 100 initiative; (1) wear your seatbelt, (2) wear your vest, (3) watch your speed, (4) WIN What’s Important Now, and (5) Remember Complacency Kills. The Below 100 mission is to permanently eliminate preventable line of duty deaths and injuries through innovative training and awareness.

The first step in consideration of law enforcement selection, is recruitment and Conser (1978) explained mandated minimum state standards for selection dates back to the early 1950 's; albeit the actual reinforcement of established selection standards emphasized to the states until 1975, when The Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations found police selection standards lacking (Conser, 1978). This lead to enacting legislation, employing the development of state commission councils of policing standards composed of local officials’ and law enforcement agencies, whose main responsibilities were to: oversee, implement and enforce the screening and evaluation of potential candidates; ensuring properly provided services and protection of local communities (Conser, 1978). The commissions set minimum standards of: 21 years of age or higher, good physical health, set minimum and maximum height and weight requirements to ensure the abilities of candidates would meet the physical demands of law enforcement work (Conser, 1978). Equally important officials’ sought out characteristics of candidates’ skills that consisted of: high emotional and stress level, endurance, confidence, public trust, and knowledgeable, psychologically sound individuals (Cosner, 1978). Moreover, officials’ conducted personality profiles, checked citizenship, verified addresses, and ran background checks (Conser, 1978). In addition, Cosner (1978) state the process also also involved: oral interviews,

The Department’s Compliance Bureau assisted the Monitor with the review. They reviewed the recruit background investigation files for classes 174–178 and the Academy records for those recruits and interviewed multiple NOPD employees. Of the 137 files, they found that 59, or around a third, had risk indicators that were not adequately investigated and/or documented as resolved. These risk indicators included self-reported repeated drug use that allegedly stopped right before the background investigation began, multiple unsuccessful applications at other police agencies, and negative professional references. Their discussions with NOPD personnel reinforced their concern that the Department may be hiring unqualified recruits. They presented their findings to Judge

Perceptions of what constitutes a qualified police officer have been crafted as a result of numerous television shows and movies. They are often portrayed as heroic, invincible, and possessors of brute strength. While some of these physical attributes are in fact expected and required of police officers, they are not the only ones and at times,

Although physical strength has not been studied as a downfall for law enforcement, it merely weeds out potentially good women (Challenges). The physical comparability is one of the issues that cause the most concern. A lot of people will immediately look at a strong male versus a strong female and suggest they feel safer with the male officer. Society made us believe that a male will be more protective in many if not all incidents of criminal behavior.

Today’s task is to conduct 4 For the Core, Military Movement Drills 1 & 2, and Hill Repeats. IAW TC 3-22.20.

Wellness in the workplace needs to be taken seriously by all employers, and employees. There has been evidence that making sure employees eat healthier leads to lower call out rates and more savings on health plans. In an article in Employee Benefits magazine it states that “Wellness management does not need to be complicated, or costly. A few simple steps could help to mitigate long-term problems, such as introducing early intervention activities that red flag cases identified via an absence reporting mechanism, the proactive management of musculo-skeletal conditions and stress, introducing a smoking cessation program or running regular health wellbeing days. “Workplace wellness as a concept has been used extensively in recent years by management in business and industry, health professionals, fitness experts, and others. This is a policy that should be implanted in all jobs. Wellness may not

The psychologists recommend for police departments to periodically evaluate the officer 's using methods other than routine psychological tests. They recommend better training and increasing behavioral monitoring on all officers. Current screening methods to evaluate police candidates are limited almost exclusively to psychological tests and preemployment clinical interviews. New screening technologies could enable psychologists to examine such areas as a candidate 's decision making and problem-solving abilities and the ability to interact with others. These things are important for resolving problems without using excessive force.