Police Operations Paper
Jessica Eley
Todd Larson
CJA/214
9/6/11
In the early 1900 policing made up of two basic functions patrolling and investigating crimes. Patrol officers patrolled the areas mainly on foot requiring direct contact with the community they served. The detectives investigated illegal gambling operations and corruption. Looking into modern policing dangers in the job is a primary concern and how to improve measures for the safety of the officers. The Taser is a less than lethal weapon used to stop individuals without fatally wounding them. The use of modern technology in today’s policing has become widespread in securing Americas borders and every day policing duties. In policing there are applications
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Police workers experience various tasks, interpersonal and physical demands during police operations that the majority of ordinary people never come across at their work or in their families. These requirements and stressors negatively influence a physical and psychological condition that may lead to more serious physical or mental damage or interruption role and physical demands for policemen can develop a condition of constant overload called hyper stress. Typically, the number of queries concerns and emergency calls exceeds the time assigned to a particular police worker. Therefore, not only is the quality of the time given to each separate case and that’s why each case at risk, the mental and physical condition of the police worker is in jeopardy. Regarding investigators, they experience heavy caseloads for which they are expected to follow prescribed case management criteria.
Also, they find themselves within very limited time framework set by prosecutors who may keep them under the pressure to finish the process as fast as they possibly can, so that the case can reach the trial. Insomnia or permanent tiredness is often caused by hyper stress, as well as weight loss /gain and different degrees of impairment of mental processes. On the contrary, hypo stress may emerge from input under loads for police workers who work a 3rd shift and accept few or calls during night
Have you ever wondered what’s it 's like to be a cop? Or what cop’s families go through on a day to day basis? This book Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement written by Kevin M. Gilmartin, Ph.D. gives us an outline on the difficulty and stress that law enforcement officer and their families face on daily basis. Dr. Gilmartin discusses the stages of hypervigilance. And the long-term effects of hypervigilance and the toll it takes on the officer and his or her family.
In our research study we hope to show that the goal to Tasers it to provide law enforcement with alternatives to deadly force in order to minimize harm to both community members and police. We also want to show that no use of devices or techniques may be safe to everyone, but that we can't look just
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
Technology used in policing enhances law enforcement organizations’ ability to function because it has improved police databases, reports, tracking, and forensics (DOJ, 2004). In addition, a less-lethal weapon is designed to disable, capture, or immobilize a suspect without killing them. However, occasionally deaths do happen as a result of less-lethal weapons which include kinetic energy, electrical, acoustic, and chemical weapons. Furthermore, violence, disease, and infected evidence are dangers that law enforcement officers face today.
From the night watch in Boston, to the present day policing, law enforcement has behind in the world of technology. As time rolled through the political era, professional era, and community-oriented era, police patrols would use the rapidly advancing technology in their favor. "Those were desperate times for policemen in a hostile country with unpaved streets and uneven sidewalks, sometimes miles from the police station, with little prospects of assistance in case of need.... It took nerve to be a policeman in those days," this was reported by Chief Francis O 'Neill of the Chicago Police Department in 1903. With only having a printing press and a multiple-shot revolver over a hundred years ago, the advancement in technology today has helped improve the policing methods in patrol quite significantly. However, technology would eventually out-run the police.
Certification of Authorship: I certify that I am the author of this paper and that any assistance I received in its preparation is fully acknowledged and disclosed in the paper. I have also cited any sources from which I used data, ideas, words, either quoted directly or paraphrased. I also certify that this paper was prepared by me especially for this course.
In light of the recent spate of police-involved homicides of suspects who may or may not have put the lives of the police involved in fear for their safety and well-being, this paper seeks to examine the use of deadly force by police officers in the line of duty. The training involved in using one’s service weapon in situations that call for a determination of the use of force will be explored, as will the rules, regulations, and extenuating circumstances that lead to the firing of a service weapon in the line of duty, resulting in the death of a suspect. The Supreme Court cases that have led to and/or upheld laws allowing a broader interpretation of what is considered justifiable use of deadly force will be briefly examined. Additionally, the use of non-lethal weapons, such as Tasers, by police forces and how the availability of these weapons influences the rate of deadly force will be inspected. Finally, an elucidation of the various perceptions of the general public of the police after use of deadly force is used within their communities will be addressed.
Stress can cause officers to develop depression, and it can cause them to have problems at home and work. As a result, officers are two times more likely to commit suicide than civilians are (Grant & Terry, 2008). With that being said, there needs to be more avenues for help out there for officers to be more successful in managing their stress. Help could come in the form of better training for new recruits regarding stress and better counseling services for current police officers. Stress will continue to be an issue within law enforcement, and it will only get worse in the future of policing. That is why it is important to develop measures now to help officers manage their stress levels instead of waiting. It is a known problem now, so why not develop a plan to combat it?
Moreover, to limit officer’s discretion on unjustly use of deadly force, law enforcement agencies need to adopt new practices and techniques when dealing with the public if deadly use of force is not required. Officers should adopt new practices of using the taser as a means of force. “Tasers [are] developed to subdue suspects with non-lethal means” (DeLone, Thompson, 2009, p.416). Many law enforcement officers praise the use of tasers as a tool to “increase the safety of both officer and citizen by decreasing the use of deadly force” (DeLone, Thompson,2009, p.418). Individuals who are not complying/showing aggression with officers and or have some sort of weapon can be easily subdued and controlled with the taser rather than being shot at
In addition, police officer exposed to high levels of stress relate to their job have been at an increased risk for adverse health problems, including depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder, (Grant & Terry, 2012).
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
The history of policing can be traced back to the beginning of time. When looking at the subject of police work there is a large culture and history that follows along with it. There are many topics that can be analyzed when identifying, and describing the elements and the significances that are associated with policing. A large element of the police job that plays a large factor in the work and attributes to the policing culture is the amount of stress that an office will face while performing on the job. Another part of the job that plays a large part in the culture
Gathering data and researching material is very important within the criminal justice system. No matter what profession one may have within the judicial system, researching information is something that has to be done at one time or another. Within this paper I plan on discussing what I’ve learned about research for criminal justice and its criteria. Emphases of this paper are to give some informational data on police officers and why they choose protecting the community a profession.
Organizational stress affects many officers but is not as obvious as other stressors that take place. Police departments vary in size and resources, in spite of this, most organizational structures of departments follow a hierachial bureaucracy. Organizational stressors may include