What is a Police Officer?
Keeping the peace is one of the basic needs of society. And it is role of a police officer. Police
officers work for law enforcement agencies within their country, region, or city, and swear an
oath to protect and serve the citizens they represent.
Police officers enforce the law by arresting criminals and detecting and preventing crimes. They
are usually viewed as heroes within their communities because of the dangerous situations they
often encounter in service to the public. If you are someone that hates monotony, this may be the
career for you!
What does a Police Officer do?
The duties of a police officer largely depend on where they are located. In large cities, officers
are usually given very specific job duties or will be assigned to a fraud, murder, drug-trafficking,
or rape unit. Each unit has a specific goal, and the officers within the unit are trained solely for
that objective.
Police officers in rural areas rarely have the opportunity to specialize in any given area of law
enforcement. Due to lower crime rates and the relatively small population, officers in townships,
co-ops, and other rural areas take care of any or all law enforcement tasks, from simple traffic
infractions to child protection or murder cases.
A police officer's primary duty is to maintain public order. Patrol officers on foot, in a car, or
even on horseback spend their days dealing with people who break the law. There are the typical
traffic violations that need to be dealt with, of course, but police officers also receive calls to
investigate burglaries or other serious crimes.
Police officers may give a warning or citation or, if the offence is serious, they have the authority
to arrest and detain a suspect. Dangerous circumstances may arise if the suspect carries a
weapon, takes a hostage, or flees in an attempt to resist arrest. Police officers, however, are
trained to defend both themselves and possible victims. They keep streets and neighbourhoods
safe, even if that safety requires them to be in situations where they may have to put their lives
on the line.
Detectives, or officers working in a special unit, spend most of their time working on specific
investigations. They work to gather evidence of drug trafficking, terrorist activity, and other
crimes. They may work undercover or through an informant. Sometimes simply observing,
monitoring, and recording the activities of known criminals is enough to gather necessary
evidence for an indictment. Most substantial evidence, however, is obtained through the
interrogation of both criminals and witnesses.
Before making any arrests, officers must be sure that the evidence is accurate, true, and reliable.
The best evidence in any crime is a direct confession, and police officers have the right to use
psychological techniques, misdirection, and lies to encourage a criminal to confess.
Before and after their work in the field, police officers spend the largest portion of their time
writing reports and keeping accurate records. The records they keep are often the only evidence
in a court case. Without it, some criminals cannot be convicted, so it is extremely important for
officers to complete their paperwork thoroughly and promptly. Additionally, when police
officers witness a crime, they are often called to testify in court.
What is the workplace of a Police Officer like?
Police officers rarely work a regular, 40-hour week. Officers work late at night, on the weekends,
and even on holidays. Most police officers work outdoors while on patrol, and are subjected to
all types of weather conditions. Police work is also mentally gruelling. Officers often witness
terrible crimes or become the focus of a criminal's rage and abuse. Police officers must handle
the stress brought on by these situations while remaining calm and collected.
Working as a police officer can bring on a range of emotions. It can leave you feeling satisfied,
sad, rewarded, disgruntled, lonely and fulfilled, all within the same shift. A police officer needs
to be a warrior, an information booth, a social worker, a guardian angel, a marriage counselor,
and an arbitrator (just to name a few). The mental challenges are far more rigorous than all of the
physical challenges put together.
Police officers carry the power of life and death on their hips, and are empowered to do things
that, were they done by civilians, would get those civilians arrested. They can control traffic,
take and imprison people against their will, and seize property. However, they are constantly
reminded of the constraints that they must work under in order to exercise that power lawfully
and fairly.
Police officers spend all their working hours dealing with people at their worst, as no one ever
calls the police when everything is okay. The trickiest part is having to make snap decisions of
great significance to other people's lives (including the potential for ending them). These
decisions may also be subject to intensive review at a later date. Good training and experience
can diminish the possibility of making a serious mistake, but the possibility for violent and
deadly confrontations always exists.
