If you have ever thought about becoming a police officer, then this article is for you. You'll learn everything you ever wanted to know about becoming a police officer, where police officers work, how much they get paid, what kind of additional in-service training they need, how you can become a police officer, some of the dangers involved in the job, when you can expect to retire and how you can make difference in the lives of the people you serve. I am motivated to write this article because I always wanted to be a policeman. It is an honor to present to you this profession in detail.
Maintaining order and ensuring public safety are important roles that police officers have to play. They aren't always working in emergency situations like arrests, accidents, or ongoing criminal investigations like we used to think. In fact, they mostly have to work with the public by providing information as well as crime prevention. In other words, communication is the main tool used. Then, they must have the ability to interact well with others as well as the ability to be firm. They are essential because police officers often have to take decisions in difficult situations, and they must be self-confident otherwise they wouldn't have credibility. They must be able to control their emotion because they often have to deal with intoxicated people as well as angry ones. Furthermore, they have to keep a cool head and be able to handle pressure because they regularly deal with crisis situations. Finally, they must have the ability to remain neutral. Like everyone, they have friends and family, but they still have to apply the law equally.
There are four main types of activities involve in police officers' work: emergency response, crime prevention, investigations, and coordinating police services. Police officers mainly do crime prevention by maintaining order, ensuring public safety, and enforcing laws and regulations. In fact, it would be impossible to ensure public safety and peace without the cooperation of citizens. Then, policemen work closely with the population to prevent crimes. Their duties include their participation in community programs, such as Block Parents, the organization of information sessions about safety and crime prevention, and the development of partnerships with local community organizations and institutions. One of the biggest parts of police officers' work is prevention. They can discourage people, simply by patrolling in an area, from committing crimes or other violations. Police officers are preventing crimes by keeping watch over homes, public places, and businesses likely to have suspicious activity. They can also patrol areas, on bikes, by car, or on foot. Furthermore, they are at every protest and special event to make sure that everything is under control, they ensure people are protected, and they enforce speed limits. Police officers are also called to respond to emergency calls, to help victims, to arrest suspects, to give first aid, and to direct traffic. In addition, they can be involved in the judicial process. Then, they can have to appear at court hearings, they must write police reports, gather proof, interview witnesses, and police officers can also have to investigate criminal acts and accidents. There are also specialized officers that deal with the most dangerous situations. These officers have the required skills to manage rescue operations and hostage situations. They can also handle the situation when a person is threatening someone else, and they are trying to prevent suicide. Some of them are even specialized to handle explosives, defuse bombs, subdue or disarm individuals with weapons, etc. About the investigation, there are plenty of situations where police officers need to investigate; commercial scams, arms trafficking, kidnapping, terrorist planning activities, etc. Furthermore, police officers can also work in undercover operations where they have to use a variety of techniques and approaches because they must be undetectable. These policemen have to take photos, they have to keep a written record of everything that they observe, and they have to monitor the people they are associated with as well as the activities of an individual. Finally, there are police officers that are in charge of coordinating police services. They are mostly veteran officers. They have to oversee and coordinate the activities of the policemen, they help in the development of crime prevention programs, etc.
Police officers have many functions related to each of their specializations. However, I will explain what most of the policemen are doing on a typical day. Most of them are patrolling a specific area, so they are driving all day long. They have to make sure that the laws are respected and that everyone is safe. Then, they are looking out for people in need or for perpetrators. They are also filling out forms and reports of situations, then if they need to go to the tribunal, they will remember the events. They also received emergency calls that they need to respond to, so they can help the people in need. They must maintain the trust of the population they serve because they are the first line of defense between the criminals and the victims. Besides, if they want to protect society, the population has to ask for their help, but if the people can't trust the police force, then they will avoid them. Furthermore, as a policeman, you have to be a social worker, a psychologist, an officer of the peace, an investigator, and a soldier. In summary, you need to become the best ally of the citizens.
Police officers work in many environments and have shifts that varied depending on if they are carrying out an investigation, dealing with emergencies, patrolling, working in the community, etc. It may happen that sometimes they have to work indoors or outdoors, in offices or in vehicles. Due to their different skills and specialties, they may have to give talks in schools, monitor parks, scuba dive to recover bodies, use dogs to carry out searches, conduct investigations in the forest, manage crowds during demonstrations, and they may have to use computer equipment to conduct electronic surveillance.
In Quebec, if you want to become a police officer, you must do a DEC in Police Technology. In other Canada's provinces, you must have a CEGEP diploma or a secondary school diploma. Furthermore, there are different hiring policies and requirements for each police force. However, in most police agencies in Canada, you must be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada as well as being proficient in English and/or French languages. You must also have a Canadian high school diploma or equivalent and be in good health. Furthermore, you have to meet the vision and hearing standards as well as the level of physical abilities. Finally, you must have a good character, no criminal convictions, and no criminal charges pending.
In 2019, the median salary in Canada for police officers, with a 17 % projected 5 year wage growth, was $87 859.
Depending on which provinces you are living in, there is different additional training that a police officer needs. For example, in Quebec, if you want to become a policeman, you must finish the "École nationale de police du Québec" and you must have the "classe 4 A- Véhicules d'urgence", the "RCR DEA NIVEAU (C), SA 1,5H" and a gun licence.
There are a lot of dangers related to police officers. I will give you a few. They can suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder due to a traumatic event such as murder; they can get hit by a car when they are arresting someone; they can get beat up; they can get killed and insulted; they can get exposed on social media without the context, so they appeared to be bad policemen, and they can be discriminated. A lot of them are also living throw depression and suicide due to the horrors they have seen and all the other difficulties related to this work.
There isn't any chance that the robots will replace police officers soon because they can't apply the discretionary power. The police officers' duty is to apply the law, but it's mostly to help the person in need, so they must use their own perspective and judgment to apply it well. This is called discretionary power. For example, if there is a homeless man that tried to steal some food from a person, it's useless to arrest and give him a violation ticket that he will have to pay because he already doesn't have any money. In this circumstance, the police officer's duty isn't to apply the law by the book, it's to help this homeless person in need by giving him food and by trying to find him a place to sleep. A policeman needs emotions and sentiment to feel compassion and to do his job well. However, a robot can only follow the instruction that it has received. Then, in the same situation, it wouldn't have feel compassion, it would have rather given a violation ticket because it's what it was meant for. It would have followed the instruction. The robots will not replace police officers soon because they don't have humanity.
Police officers can retire after twenty years on the force with a pension. However, if they retire after twenty years, they can expect a pension usually at half pay as well as the opportunity to work in a second career. Obviously, they will also have the appreciation to live in a safer society.
Up until now, I have been studying Police Technology for the past 1 year at Ahuntsic College. I still have four semesters to complete to obtain my diploma. Then, I will have to finish my training at the "École nationale de police du Québec". After, I will finally be allowed to work as a police officer. I always wanted to become an investigator, so I will probably try to specialize in cyber criminology or narcotics, but first I'll have to patrol for a few years like every new policeman.
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Rationale: to inform or educate
Authority: recognized author
Date: still relevant
Accuracy: probably true
Relevance: relevant for this document
Sources: cites sources