Police officer

Police officer

Police officers in South Australia
Occupation
Activity sectors	Law enforcement
Description
Competencies	Physical fitness, sense of justice
Education required	Secondary or tertiary education
Fields of employment	Public areas
Related jobs	Criminal, gendarmerie, military police, security guard, guard

German state police officer in Hamburg

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer in the force's distinctive dress uniform.

A police officer (also known as a policeman, policewoman, or Peace Officer) is a warranted employee of a police force. Police officers are generally responsible for apprehending criminals, maintaining public order, and preventing and detecting crimes. Police officers are sworn to an oath, and are granted the power to arrest and imprison suspects, along with other practices.

Some police officers may also be trained in special duties such as; counter-terrorism, surveillance, child protection, VIP protection, and investigation techniques into major crime, such as fraud, rape, murder or drug trafficking.

Work as a police officer

Responsibilities of a police officer are broad, changing from country to country. Common responsibilities include keeping of the peace, enforcement of the law, protection of the public and property, and the investigation of crimes. Officers are expected to be able to respond to a variety of situations that may arise while they are on duty. Rules and guidelines dictate how an officer should act towards the public and in the community, and some countries have restrictions placed on what the uniform officer wears. In some countries, rules and procedures dictate that a police officer is obliged to intervene in a criminal incident, even if they are off-duty. Police officers in most countries retain their lawful powers, while off duty.

Function in the community

In the majority of Western legal systems, the major role of the police is to maintain order, keeping the peace through the enforcement of the law. They also function to discourage crimes through high-visibility policing, and most police forces have an investigative capability. Police have the legal authority of arrest, usually granted to them by magistrates. Police officers also respond to emergency calls, along with routine community policing.

Police are often used as an emergency service and may provide a public safety function at large gatherings, as well as in emergencies, disasters, and search and rescue situations, Road Traffic Collisions. To provide a prompt response in emergencies, the police often coordinate their operations with fire and emergency medical services. In some countries, individuals serve jointly as police officers as well as firefighters (creating the role of Fire Police) or paramedics. In many countries there is a common emergency service number that allows the police, firefighters, or medical services to be summoned to an emergency. Some countries, such as the United Kingdom have outlined command procedures, for the use in major emergencies or disorder. The Gold Silver Bronze command structure is a system set up to improve communications between ground based officers and the control room, typically, Bronze Commander would be a senior officer on the ground, coordinating the efforts in the center of the emergency, Silver Commanders would be positioned in an 'Incident Control Room' erected to improve better communications at the scene, and a Gold Commander who would be in the Control Room.

Police are also responsible for reprimanding minor offenders by issuing citations which typically may result in the imposition of fines, particularly for violations of traffic law. Traffic enforcement is often and effectively accomplished by police officers on motorcycles — called motor officers, these officers refer to the motorcycles they ride on duty as simply motors. Police are also trained to assist persons in distress, such motorists whose car has broken down and people experiencing a medical emergency. Police are typically trained in basic First aid such as CPR.

In addition, some park rangers are commissioned as law enforcement officers and carry out a law-enforcement role within national parks and other back-country wilderness and recreational areas, whereas Military police perform law enforcement functions within the military.

Qualifications

In most countries, candidates for the police force must have completed some formal education. Increasing numbers of people are joining the police force who possess tertiary education and in response to this many police forces have developed a "fast-track" scheme whereby those with university degrees spend two to three years as a Police Constable before receiving promotion to higher ranks, such as Sergeants or Inspectors. (Officers who work within investigative divisions or plainclothes are not necessarily of a higher rank but merely have different duties.) Police officers are also recruited from those with experience in the military or security services. Most law enforcement agencies now have measurable physical fitness requirements for officers. In the United States state laws may codify state-wide qualification standards regarding age, education, criminal record, and training but in other places requirements are set by local police agencies.

Police agencies are usually semi-military in organization, so that with specified experience or training qualifications officers become eligible for promotion to a higher supervisory rank, such as sergeant. Promotion is not automatic and usually requires the candidate to pass some kind of examination, interview board or other selection procedure. Although promotion normally includes an increase in salary, it also brings with it an increase in responsibility and for most, an increase in administrative paperwork. Unlike military service, it is not unusual for police officers to remain or choose to remain at lower levels, choosing not to apply for promotion. There is no stigma attached to this, as experienced line patrol officers are highly regarded.

A motor officer patrolling in Arizona on a BMW motorcycle.

After completing a certain period of service, officers may also apply for specialist positions, such as detective, police dog handler, mounted police officer, motorcycle officer, water police officer, or firearms officer (in countries where police are not routinely armed).

In some countries such as in Singapore, police ranks may also be supplemented through conscription, similar to national service in the military. Qualifications may thus be relaxed or enhanced depending on the target mix of conscripts. In Singapore, for example, conscripts face tougher physical requirements in areas such as eyesight, but are less stringent with minimum academic qualification requirements. Some police officers also join as volunteers, who again may do so via differing qualification requirements.

Dangers and rewards of the profession

Due to the unpredictable nature of law enforcement,police officers can encounter many dangerous situations in the course of their career. Officers face an increased risk of infectious diseases, physical injury or in some cases, death, as well as the potential for emotional disorder due to both the high stress and inherently adversarial nature of police work. These dangers are encountered in many different situations, such as the investigation, pursuit, and apprehension of criminals, motor vehicle stops, crimes, response to terrorism, intervention in domestic disputes, investigating traffic accidents, and directing traffic. The constant risk, uncertainty and tension inherent in law enforcement and the exposure to vast amounts of human suffering and violence can lead susceptible individuals to anxiety, depression, and alcoholism.

Individuals' are drawn to police work for many reasons. Among these often include a desire to protect the public and social order from criminals and danger; a desire to hold a position of respect and authority; a disdain for or antipathy towards criminals and rule breakers; the professional challenges of the work; the employment benefits that are provided with civil service jobs in many countries; the sense of camaraderie that often holds among police; or a family tradition of police work or civil service. An important task of the recruitment activity of police agencies in many countries is screening potential candidates to determine the fitness of their character and personality for the work, often through background investigations and consultation with a psychologist. Even though police work is very dangerous, police officers are still seen by most people as necessary to maintain order. As a result, police officers are generally held in high regard by the population they serve, although this can vary from country to country, depending on past experiences with the police or general national perception.

Line of duty deaths

Line of duty deaths are deaths which occur while an officer is conducting his or her appointed duties. Despite the increased risk of being a victim of a homicide, automobile accidents are the most common cause of officer deaths. Officers are more likely to be involved in traffic accidents because of their large amount of time spent conducting vehicle patrols, or directing traffic, as well as their work outside their vehicles alongside or on the roadway, or in dangerous pursuits. Officers killed by suspects make up a smaller proportion of deaths. In the U.S. in 2005, 156 line of duty deaths were recorded of which 44% were from assaults on officers, 35% vehicle related (only 3% during vehicular pursuits) and the rest from other causes: heart attacks during arrests/foot pursuits, diseases contracted from suspects, accidental gun discharges, falls, and drownings.

Police officers who die in the line of duty, especially those who die from the actions of suspects, are often given elaborate funerals, attended by large numbers of fellow officers. Their families may also be entitled to special pensions. Fallen officers are often remembered in public memorials, such as the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in the U.S., the National Police Memorial in the U.K. and the Scottish Police Memorial, at the Scottish Police College.

18,838 law enforcement officers are known to have died in the line of duty in the United States. In Canada, 809 law enforcement officers met a similar fate. In the United Kingdom, about 3,600 law enforcement officers are known to have died in the line of duty. The Singapore Police Force registered just over 100 deaths in a century up to the year 2000. There have been 28 New Zealand police officers killed by criminal act since 1890. Despite perceived dangers, policing has never been listed among the top ten most dangerous jobs in America. In terms of deaths per capita, driver-sales work such as pizza delivery is a more dangerous profession than being a police officer.

Equipment

A typical police officer may carry various equipment on their duty belt, to assist them in performing their duties. Although this varies from country to country, the equipment normally carried includes some or all of the following:

• Handgun & Ammunition (Depending on country & role of Officer)
• Body armor
• Radio or communications equipment and PDA.
• Night stick, truncheon or baton.
• Restraints: handcuffs or Plasticuffs
• Notebook for recording incident information, taking down statements, etc
• Pencil or pen
• Pepper spray, PAVA Spray or CS gas (Depending on country)
• Firearms, tasers (Depending on role of officer, and country)
• Badge, warrant card or ID
• Flashlights
• Hi-visibility jacket or vest (doubles as a waterproof garment) (Worn or carried in vehicle)
• latex gloves
• Pocket mask (for giving mouth to mouth first aid)

Vehicle-based officers may also typically carry additional equipment, as would those assigned to specialist units.

Mounted police patrol an urban center in Finland by horseback.

File:DSC 0161.JPG

A Chicago police officer patrolling on a Segway

Equipment carried on patrol vehicles might typically include:

• Barrier/hazard tape
• Industrial rubber gloves
• Evidence Bags
• Traffic cones
• Megaphone
• First aid kit
• Breath alcohol meter
• Speed gun
• Video recording equipment
• Chalk, sand or spray paint
• Seatbelt cutter
• Rope or chain
• Hi-powered lamps, torch, flashlight
• Box-cutter
• Warning signs
• Firearms (Depending on role of officer, and country)

Transport

Police officers may patrol on foot, but most commonly have some form of transport.

• Police cars
• Police motorcycles or bicycles: used everywhere, but especially useful in congested urban areas
• Police horses: mounted police patrol parks, urban centers, and events such as parades
• Bicycles: useful in urban centers, school campuses, and parks

See also

• Peace officer
• Military police
• Fictional police officers.
• Police brutality
• Cops (TV series)
• Police procedural
• President Grover Cleveland-former Sheriff of Erie County, New York
• President Theodore Roosevelt-Deputy Sheriff in the Dakota territory and New York City Police Commissioner.
• List of slang terms for police officers

External links

• Metropolitan Police history
• http://www.newscotlandyard.police.uk/foi/pdfs/other_information/corporate/operational_uniform_and_equipment.pdf
• http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/publications/freedom-of-information/policy.asp?id=144
• http://www.gmp.police.uk/mainsite/pages/pcsouniform.htm,ts=2
• http://www.policelink.com