Primary Concerns In The Law Enforcement Profession

Every day, law enforcement officers encounter danger while carrying out their duties. The foremost duty of law enforcement officers are to serve and protect citizens. Most law enforcement agencies do this successfully. However, many people view law enforcement officers as the enemy. People need to be better informed about law enforcement and why officers take specific actions in certain circumstances. In our society, police are in a very dangerous position when it comes to the amount of force they can use when dealing with an individual. Officers use discretion when deciding the best course of action for the situation, whether it be physical force, persuasion, or coercion. They must take the correct course of action, because if they are too lenient or to forceful, even when dealing with petty things, they can be reprimanded by superiors and the public. Should police use force? Which circumstances warrant use force and what are the limits of force they can use? These questions are often asked when police are compelled to use force.

Female police officers have been saddled with a stigma ever since they were allowed to join the force with male officers. Female police officers performance and ability to do their job and perform well is often questioned because they are women. Female officers are not given the same respect as male officers because of their gender; however, they bring different skills and assets to the profession that male officers do not. Female officers are less likely to use force or become aggressive because they have better communication skills and empathize. However, female officers will resort to using aggressive behaviors or force when necessary. Superior officers and male patrol officers feel that women are only on the force because it is a matter of social integration and an HR requirement. They feel that this is a man’s profession, and women have no business trying to be a part of it.

There are many stereotypes that women in the law enforcement field have to face. In order to recruit more women into policing, law enforcement agencies should attempt to overcome the idea that policing is a "male-oriented profession". This paper will cover parts of the history of women police officers, some views and stereotypes of the female officer, job related issues, life outside of the workforce and job satisfaction.

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

There is a significant health issue facing the public as well as law enforcement every day, suicide. The numbers surrounding suicide are shocking effects people of all backgrounds. In the year 2010 more than 38,000 adults committed suicide. Then in 2011 around 1 million adults admitted to attempting suicide, while 8 million had serious suicidal thoughts. Law Enforcement officers are at an even higher risk then most due to experiencing such a large number of risk factors. These factors include but are not limited to poor physical health, access to fire arms, domestic abuse, substance abuse, exposure to violence and suicide; depression, anxiety and other mental diseases. These factors lead to an above average number of officer suicides every

A critical issue that law enforcement faces from the time it was created to present day, is a lack of police training. The most recent data research done by the Bureau of Justice Statistics about police training across the United States was done in 2009. It reported that in the year 2009 basic training programs averaged 761 hours of classroom training (about 19 weeks). A third of academies also had additional mandatory field training with an average length of 453 hours. The topics with the average most instruction time in these training programs consisted of firearm training (60 hours), self-defense (51 hours), health and fitness (46 hours), patrol procedures (40 hours), investigations (40 hours), emergency vehicle operations (40 hours), criminal law (36 hours), and basic first aid (24 hours). In Texas, only 618 hours of basic training are required by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.

2). Within the past three decades, there has some “discussion about the pros and cons of adding women in large numbers to the rank and file of to the USA police system” (Mastrofski, 2007, p. 4). According to Zhao (et al, 2006), we have a rising number of female officers on the force compared to past decades, which suggest a growing consensus that adding women to law enforcement is a good idea.

Consequently, decades ago America could not fathom the idea of our women in harms way performing physical labor jobs, law enforcement jobs, any work occupation dominated by men. However, on the Dothard vs Rawlinson case was involving the Alabama prison system having a minimum height and weight requirement for the prison guard position. This regulation barred all women from that contact position, which was around seventy-five percent of the available prison guard position (Harvard Law review 1981). Moreover, Dianne Rawlinson, was a female white who’s height and weight was below the 5”2 and 120 pounds requirements the Alabama prison system was requiring at the time before Dothard vs Rawlinson case came about.

Criminal justice administration mainly focuses on crime prevention and punishing any illegal activities. Criminal justice administration is wide and it entails law enforcement and the judicial administration. Some of the jobs that relate to criminal justice administration include; security coordination, juvenile delinquency administration, law enforcement and being a courtroom official. Additional crime is also part of criminal justice administration. This field entails terrorism prevention, immigration policies and social policies. Other duties that criminal justice entails include; police officer, community relations advocate and correctional officer. For an officer working with the criminal justice administration, his work involves law enforcement (Bharti, 2008).

Ethical Dilemmas and Inherent Difficulties Faced by Law Enforcement Today Tim Sullivan LETA 1034 Abstract Compare and contrast your knowledge of being a police officer before, and after you have attended the police academy. What are the ethical dilemmas faced by police officers and how technology as a social force, individualism, materialism and the alternate reality caused by media inundation affected policing and the public’s expectations and demands of a police officer? Growing up people quickly learn many different ways that a police officer represents a community. For the most part children learn that police officers and other municipal personnel are heroes, and the majority want to grow

There have been many triumphs throughout history to make it possible for women to strive in the law enforcement profession. However, even though when the police agencies go out of their way to target woman and have better recruitment efforts, job openings, and compensation packages for them, it still seems not enough. The number of woman entering in the field of law enforcement has not increased (Walker, 2013).

Women do not have a long extensive history within law enforcement, therefore, they face many obstacles. Women were once not allowed in the law enforcement field, but over time we have seen a shift and more and more women have proven to be just as good, if not better (Nicholas, 2012). The whole concept of “women in law enforcement” has faced a fair share of common and everyday struggles. Women are often seen as inferior or less important than men, they are often harassed and faced with many different types of abuse. As a result, getting promoted or advancing throughout the criminal justice field remains a constant struggle (Nicholas, 2012). Many women are faced with family obligations such as: pregnancy, motherhood and learning how to balance life as a mom with life as an officer (Nicholas, 2012). Women in law enforcement are constantly dealing with everyday stressors such as: high stress positions and burnout among the departments (Nicholas, 2012).

In 2008, 4 out of 5 agencies targeted women and minorities for recruits yet sheriffs’ offices were the least likely to target women as recruits (BJS, 2008). Full time sworn female officers grew from 58,000 in 2013 compared to 27,000 in 1987 which resulted in 5-12% increase. Among this study concluded one in ten supervisors in departments were female (Dept. of Justice, 2015). Evidently, progress has been made for gender disparity in the police force through studies and statistics. The growth may seem minute and insignificant to most, but progress exemplifies growth from the

“However, women offer an underlying physical advantage making them just as competent as their male competitors. Women tend to use a style of policing that relies more on communication rather than physical force. Women have been accredited for a more community-oriented style of policing and thus more effective at handling domestic disturbances or violent incidents. Women are better at diffusing a situation; they tend to listen more before they react, women have also been recognized for using less excessive force than men. Although men may look bigger and stronger women have a different strength and just as productive way of protecting people. Women tend to use more speed and technique instead of the physical route that men typically turn too (Challenges).”

When it comes to race within law enforcement, male police officers still question whether women can handle the dangerous situations and physical confrontations that officers may be confronted with, while it is shown that most police women have easily met the expectations of their superiors. Indeed, studies have found that, in general, male and female officers perform in similar ways. In addition, research has found that most citizens have positive things to say about the work of police women (Worden,