Introduction: United States Law Enforcement officers are constantly under pressure. Their job requires them to serve and protect mankind, under any circumstances, at all times. Because of this, officers run the risk of putting themselves in harmful situation. This may include apprehending a violent assailant, or entering harmful locations. In this study, I used books and articles such as, Criminal Justice Today, to get an understanding of the dangers Law Enforcement Officer face in the line of duty. When performing task outside the prescient, office4rs are put into dangerous situations because of their surroundings, offender’s actions, and officer mistakes. Due to the high stress of this job, it not only affects their performance, but their health as well.
Issue Identification: Police work can be dangerous because with any situation they face, there can be a possibility that it results in personal injury or death to the officer. Throughout their line of worker, there are many variables that create constant dangers for police officers. They are responsible for ensuring everyone’s safety, which means if an incident occurs they must correct the problem. Any of their every day duties can lead to an accident as a result of the offender’s, victim’s, or officer’s actions. Dangerous incidents can take place during their police duty can happen while: responding to a code 3, responding to traffic violation, involved in pursuits, or making an arrest (Brucia). These incidents
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
My goal’s I attend to achieve in pursuing a certificate in Basic Law Enforcement are primarily to make an impact in the community. Furthermore, I enjoy the various jobs that Law Enforcement has to offer. Last reason, would be to be part of an exclusive organization that I can be proud of. My past experiences in my work history have been mostly related to customer service, problem solving, and interpersonal skills. I also have interacted with plentiful of people, on many different social levels and many diverse cultures.
Policing, even though it may not look as rough or as dangerous as it seems on the television, is a very dangerous job. Police officers face many dangers daily, in their jobs. They never really know the outcomes of any situation they get called in to. Dangers that policemen face are the risk of getting shot, PTSD, biohazard exposure, dangers in making arrests and serious or minor trauma. All of these dangers occur in different situations just in making a simple traffic stop, making an arrest, hazmat scenes, and even directing traffic.
Law enforcement officers are authorized to use different forces based on its situation. Officers face many circumstances during the period of their job when use of force is necessary. For example, making arrests, restraining unruled combatants, and while controlling disruptive situations. Incidents involving the use of excessive force by the police frequently receive media attentions, legislators and sometimes even criminal courts. To serve better for a community or country a small percentage of police interactions with citizens involve use of force to server better and protect others from illegal or criminal minds. NIJ- sponsored research explains that police custody arrests (handcuffing) used less than 20 percent of 7,512 arrests. Even in those cases police used weaponless techniques like grabbing or holding can be view as minor types of force statistics on police us of force on citizens. The further support by the research, it indicates that the incidents contain resistance by suspects, their injuries resulting from the police use of force were typically minor.
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
This first section is designed to delve into the safety measures that officers put into place to ensure their safety and the safety of the community. First and foremost we must take into account the officers safety. A memo titled, “ Officer Safety and Wellness” from the United States Department of Justice included this statistic:
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
Dangers of police work in another topic discussed in chapter 6. It is very obvious that police officers put their life at risk every time they show up for duty. There could be many instances in which police officers can be in imminent danger. Simply by patrolling neighborhoods they could
When an officer first decides that he or she would like to become a police officer, they are put through rigorous training, extensive background checks, and tedious mental and physical health exams in order to determine their level of fitness for the job. Being a police officer is a dangerous profession that can lead to repeated exposure to trauma and challenges that can cause stress in even the most well-trained individuals (Alicea, 2016). In 2014, more than 42,000 police officer suicides were counted (Clark and White, 2017). By recognizing the seriousness of police officer suicides and taking proactive steps towards addressing the issue, suicide rates would decrease and officers would be better suited to adapt to their stressful work conditions.
Law enforcement officers are given an incredible amount of discretion solely due to the nature of their career. They are faced with potentially life threatening situations, which require an exceptional amount of judgment. Due to these situations, officers are expected to think and act quickly, consciously, and appropriately. It seems that the use of force is a very necessary aspect of policing, however, the amount of force used should be handled with great discretion. Officers who use an excessive amount of force are more than likely to cause a community to become a negative environment.
I am writing to express my interest for the general law enforcement internship position. As a criminology major, I am interested in law enforcement and particularly in the work of investigations because of its focus on careful examination to discover facts or gain information on people who are breaking the law. Through my studies and activities at the University of Minnesota Duluth, I have developed both the content knowledge in criminology and the leadership skills needed to be successful in this position.
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.
Law enforcement officers have encountered some very deadly days. The life of a law enforcement officer is one of constantly being aware of your surroundings, dealing with the uncertainty of not knowing the individuals you have to approach, and being able to cope with the visual images seen after vicious crimes. The life of a law enforcement officer, who protects and serves, is both challenging and rewarding. The first law enforcement system was established in Boston, Massachusetts over 350 years ago. During this time in the Colonies that were not heavily populated, the sheriff served as the main law enforcement officer. During the 1800’s, 24-hour law enforcement service and systems similar to what is used today began to emerge (NLEMI). Law enforcement officers face incredible dangers. With over 900,000 law enforcement officers nationwide the Federal Bureau of Investigations reported approximately 1,165,383 violent crimes in 2014. Approximately one law enforcement officer dies every 61 hours (NLEMI).The law enforcement profession is the most challenging and dangerous career, because officers must be aware of every law and action they take at all times, manage constant training and stress, and protecting others as well as themselves in the line of duty.
Law enforcement, in some form, has existed for centuries and since its creation there has been numerous improvements. Improvements have come about because of community changes and the need for more effective ways of policing the people. As crimes became more fierce and complex so did the need for the investigation and solving of these crimes. Criminal investigative techniques were not just born from thin air, some thought and planning had to go into figuring out the proper ways to go about doing things. Pioneers of the criminal justice and criminal investigation field such as August Vollmer, Alphonse Bertillon, Edward Henry, and Edmond Locard have made superior contributions to the development of criminal investigative techniques. These techniques have impacted the way police operate today and set a substantial base for law enforcement to build on.
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).