Pros and Cons of Hiring Police Officers

Lack of training and policing standards are closely linked to the myriad problems bedeviling police work, especially in small departments (Brodeur, 2010). All over the country, police departments report cases of officers being caught in uncompromising and unprofessional situations, resulting in disciplinary actions such as redeployment, suspension or sacking. These cases of unprofessionalism have led to questions being asked about policing, occasioned by recurring series of questionable and controversial encounters with police officers (Brodeur, 2010). The consequence of such encounters is increasing public distrust in law enforcement agencies.

In the field of policing there are a couple different paths for an individual to choose from and they include private security and public policing. State government, city government, and towns normally provide the community with a public police force to enforce the laws and protect the citizens. Police officers are very important within a community but sometimes a private security can come in and help out and this frees up time for the public policing. Private security personnel generally work for a private company that handles their own dispatching, training and recruiting. Private security functions include loss-prevention duties or protective services that would not be

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

The militarization of the police force would mean supplying them with military grade equipment and having them use military tactics ("Police Militarization"). The United States should not militarize the police force because it is not a necessary expense for a country with a lot of debt, it increases the chance of police violence, a topic that has been in the media a lot recently, and it would lessen citizen's trust in the police.

The police must be stable, efficient, and organized along military lines (Bohm & Haley, 2012). Officers must be professional in everything that they do. The police department must be able to withstand departmental changes. The military is always uniform, clean, knowledgeable, trained and always prepared for the next mission and most police departments follow a military chain of command

Having had the opportunity to see both sides of the argument play out in the City of Memphis and as a member of the Memphis Police Department. I have become an advocate for requiring entry-level police officers to have at the very minimum an associate degree or the equivalent college credits. The college requirement can only be avoided with military experience. However, my position is not that more education makes you a better police officer or less education makes you a lousy officer. I believe that there should be a “happy medium” when it comes to police work. A good officer will be empathic, fair and in tune with the needs of the community and its members. Requiring a level of education for your entry-level officers speaks volumes about your agency and their dedication to professionalism. The benefits of having a college educated officer have shown to make a difference in the way they do their jobs. An educated police officer is less likely to utilize force when interacting with his co-workers or civilians. A department with educated officers also has shown to see a reduction in misconduct and disciplinary issues(Gómez-Mejía et al., 2016). Some years back the Memphis Police Department had relaxed their

With the many dangers of moonlighting assignments and the potential for lawsuits against the moonlighting officer the question of who is liable for paying for these events is a serious concern. While on-duty and while acting as a police officer off-duty, it seems reasonable that the agency is responsible. It is much less clear who should be responsible when a moonlighting officer injures themselves or another. The issue can be further complicated by the fact that many departments permit or even encourage moonlighting officers to wear their department-issued uniform and gun while moonlighting (Scarry 2007).

Police departments across the country and their actions of their employees have been scrutinized a lot lately in the media. Not only the way their employees behave but the way they recruit potential employees. Police officers take an oath to protect the communities that they serve in and uphold the constitution no matter what race, gender or ethnicity. With that being said, police officers should also be made up of people of different genders, races, and ethnicities.

As a police officer, the major objectives are to maintain order, enforce the law, protect one’s property, and to save lives. In addition, police are divided into two roles based on how they perform their duties. The two roles of a police officer are a public servant and a crime fighter. A police officer whose role as a public servant is to serve all types of people, as well as criminals. Public servants regularly provide advice and make judgments as to the degree of risk they should take with the public. Many decisions involving risk are relatively easy to make, but others are complex and significant consequences (Kernaghan and Langford, 2016). These risks may involve using force and the consequences could be media backlash or a potential termination. Public servants abide by the oath and uphold the integrity and honor of the organization as an officer. Also, public servant officers like to play it safe because they like to be known as ordinary citizens who like to go home to their

The existence of security in the world brought happiness to mankind because men choose pleasure over pain (Ortmeier, 2008, p. 4.).However, without some measures of security man would not live in peace and the war of all against all (crime) would inundate the entire world. Public policing and private security have several distinct differences. Public policing is the ability to enforce the law and maintain order in society. Private securities are paid agencies that perform the protective and loss-prevention duties not handled by police officers. Equally

With municipal and state budgets being slashed across the nation, in response to the prolonged economic recession which devastated America's bottom line, many professional police forces have been compelled to reallocate resources or reduce their numbers. To fill the void in law enforcement left by these cuts to police budgets, many private companies have become increasingly reliant on the services provided by the private security industry. Although private security officers safeguard our apartment buildings after sundown, patrol mall parking lots to prevent theft, and enhance public safety at sporting events, most members of society fail to ascribe the same sense of heroic duty to private security officers as they do the police. Indeed, criminal justice researchers have consistently demonstrated that "without the services of private industry, a gaping, colossal, protection vacuum would exist in the distribution of justice, [and] the protection of assets and facilities" (Nemeth, 2011), but nonetheless private security officers are not afforded the same respect or legal protections as traditional law enforcement officials. One of the most alarming trends to develop in the last decade, as private security contracting grew from a niche occupation to a full-fledged industry, is the rising rate of incidence involving private security officers discharging their service weapons in the line of duty, and being charged with manslaughter or even first degree murder simply for doing

Companies need to address what security concerns are present and the threat level of their environment. Hiring an unarmed security guard may save money over hiring an armed guard. However, it may not be the right solution to the potential problems. Criminals will be less deterred from unarmed guards, especially if the business deals with valuable goods. Another issue could arise from an active shooter scenario at a business with an unarmed guard, where the guard does not have the means to protect employees and perhaps become an additional target of

Having a greater police presence in an area alone reduces the likelihood of a shooting to occur on campus. But they cannot just be patrolling the campus in their cruisers, there have to be some that roam around the campus on foot. With recent events that are stereotyping police officers as racists, it is understandable that this might not be one of the best decisions to make. Keep in mind though that a police officer’s

Responsibility and reliability are two of the main characteristics an armed guard must possess. The duties of an armed guard consist of securing valuable merchandise, securing large perimeters, and checkpoints. PPS armed guards mostly work at the port of Miami or the port of everglades. The armed guards on duty work overnight, and there job is to rover around there prospective areas and to make sure no one is trying to steal any crates that contain some high valued

Having a security guard patrol the premises places visitors at ease and affirms that your property is safe and secure. Commercial security patrols also help ward off criminals that might otherwise attempt to harm or burglarize your business.