...Stress can go undetected for most individuals, those within the criminal justice system face more stress than most due to the nature of their jobs. Those that are in positions of authority and making life and death decisions regularly, stress has the potential to create negative impacts on their lives and the lives of others. One of the biggest problems facing law enforcement is that stress is sometimes unrecognized and unacknowledged. Most never take the time to seek treatment, or most will often deny the stress they are experiencing due to being concerned about how it will look to others, law enforcement officers like to present themselves as being strong, giving off signs of stress creates the illusion of being weak or not able to handle the job. There are many factors that contribute to stress and many will experience different types of stress. According to the National Institute of Justice work-related factors that cause stress are poor management, inadequate equipment, excessive overtime, and rotating shifts (How police can reduce and manage...
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...partnership between police and citizens (Peak, 2010). Policing in communities has influenced crime. For instance, a drug deal less likely to happen when a police patrol car is roaming the area every 20 minutes, the risk of becoming busted is high so the crime does not happen. This is good for high crime areas. Police officers are willing to explore alternatives to law enforcement to tackle the underlying cause of community problems. The role of police officer was lessened there would be much more crime on the streets. Community policing would not be able to enforce the laws as they apply. They would not be able to stop the criminals; the theory is for both to work together and learning from each other. They are sharing information and learning how to enforce the laws or make new laws to stop the criminals. The role of a police officer is very important to this theory and practice, without him or her, and his or her knowledge the criminals would get away with his or her crimes. By both of the community policing and the police officers working together to stop crime was a good idea that way he or she is learning new ways to stop the criminals and learn new ways to enforce the laws (Xu, Fiedler, Flaming, 2005). Issues Police officers may encounter different levels of crime daily, as every day new challenges may surface at a moment’s notice. For example, an officer may witness victims of murder, beatings, robberies, rapes, and sex crimes that may affect his or her stress level. Therefore...
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...Write a 200- to 300-word response addressing the following questions: How does stress affect the policing community? How does police culture support police officers in evolving job situations? What resources exist to help officers handle stress? When stress affects the policing community it can have a negative impact on officers, even meaning the matter of life and death. It is important for police officers to maintain their stress to a minimal level to avoid many different side effects of it. When police are stressed it can cause depression, anxiety, anger issues, and many more things. Each one of these side effects is not a good thing for an officer because it can cloud their judgment and make them make the wrong decision or not react fast enough. Typically when a police officer is involved with a on the job situation they will go through some type of debriefing or counseling by someone, this is especially true when it comes to a shooting because some officers may feel they did something wrong by shooting and/or killing someone. As well as being debriefed and counseled because of a stressful situation, it also helps them to remember all the details of the event in case it goes to court. There are many resources available to officers to help assist them in dealing with job related stress. When I worked at the prison we had an EAP (Employee Assistance Program). In a nut shell it was your typical counseling session with a trained professional, we were allowed a certain...
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...july14,2012 Dr. Theresa Fox Law Enforcement in today's Society There are several issues that the Police Department face in Today’s Society that are a big concern. Since the beginning of policing, there has been a problem with police corruption and concerns about racial profiling in society. Some police officers will use abusive power and authority for personal and organized gain. Police officers will turn their back on criminal activity for a financial gain and lose the respect from Society because of their corruption. Dangers on the job are an issue for officers to face in today’s society. Police officers face deaths from stress, car crashes, on the job training, and deaths at the hands of the offenders apprehended to protect the community. Police are exposed to diseases while in contact with an offender. Officers can contract AIDS and other diseases from blood and bodily fluids from hypodermic needles during a search, bites, urine or feces. Stress can be a contributed because of the requirements of the job. The American Institute of Stress ranks an officer to be a top ten stress-producing job in the United States. The officer wants the work effective and without mistakes and flaws so this is stressful Police see homicides, victims of accidents and other disturbing scenes that people can’t even imagine. Police officers live in constant fear because the danger of the requirements of their job. Fatigue contributes to officers...
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...the future. Police agencies normally have numerous functions, but are based on Sir Robert Peel’s (1788-1850) “Peelian Principles” which are normally seen as the basic foundation for current law enforcement organizations and community policing throughout the world, (Nazemi, 2009). The founder of the first metropolitan police, Peel inadvertently founded the standard for modern policing. Although each of these principles was created in the 1800’s, they still hold very true today: 1. “The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder.” 2. “The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions.” 3. “Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public.” 4. “The degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force.” 5. “Police seek and preserve public favor not by catering to the public opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law.” 6. “Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient.” 7. “Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police...
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...activity and advances in technology that have a direct bearing on the future. Police agencies normally have numerous functions, but are based on Sir Robert Peel’s (1788-1850) “Peelian Principles” which are normally seen as the basic foundation for current law enforcement organizations and community policing throughout the world, (Nazemi, 2009). The founder of the first metropolitan police, Peel inadvertently founded the standard for modern policing. Although each of these principles was created in the 1800’s, they still hold very true today: 1. “The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder.” 2. “The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions.” 3. “Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public.” 4. “The degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force.” 5. “Police seek and preserve public favor not by catering to the public opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law.” 6. “Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient.” 7. “Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality...
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...Policing Culture CJA/214 Policing Culture Whether you’re interested in becoming a Fish and Wildlife enforcement officer or just a Law Enforcement Officer and you have a strong desire to protect and serve your community or a state and federal area. There are many departments within every city, but they have their own recruitment and selection process. Many of the smaller agencies recruitment and selection process mimics that of the larger local Police Departments, this is due to the strong relationship all agencies have with within their states. “No specific formula exists for recruiting and maintaining the ideal officer, and many of those who were once considered ideal may experience stress, burnout, personal problems, and ultimately may cause more harm than good” (Grant, H.B. & Terry, 2012). Primarily the first steps to becoming a Law Enforcement Officer is to apply for a Law Enforcement recruit positions. One must first meet the minimum application requirements examples are: [pic] High School Education Verification, Birth Certificate, Driver's License copy, copy of DD214 if[pic] applicable, [pic]Next is the selection process, [pic]based on information[pic] submitted in the resume, the HR staff will evaluate the resume to make certain that the candidate meets the minimum credentials. Information on the submission documents will be confirmed later in the background investigation process. It is the accountability of the applicant to be frank and to provide correct...
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...If I were to conduct research on police officers and their jobs the information I would look into researching on this topic would be how do police officers handle the long work hours as some departments require officers to work rotating shifts as well as 10 or 12 hour work days. How does this tend to affect the relationships with their family and friends? Does it create for more stress within the family as well as within the work environment? There is the fact that they will not be able to go out with friends as much who work a normal work schedule as well as the fact that the husband or wife will not be around for many holidays as well as working on some of the birthdays of their child. The goal of this research is to determine if working these longer hours in conjunction with working in a hazards and stressful work environment has cause for a higher rate of divorce for police officers in comparison to those who work a regular 9 to 5 pm job and don’t have to deal with hazardous and stressful work environment. The type of interview structure I would use is the depth interview structure. As this is a more intensive and detailed interview, and is particularly useful in life histories or case studies. It is also beneficial in that I would have a general list of topics to be explored, but have the ability to exercise whatever discretion and flexibility when it comes to the direction of questioning I would want to take. Some of the questions I would ask would definitely focus...
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...1. Q: What is community policy? What is the established philosophy of community policing? Does your community utilize community policing, and if so how? Community policy is when a police force and citizens within a community form a bond to control crime in a neighborhood. The philosophy is that police simply showing up when called to take care of a crime didn’t have a lasting effect on the crime rate because they were just seen as public service figures, but when seen talking with people in the neighborhoods often or doing foot patrols it gave the impression that the neighborhood had a firm stance on crime. My own community is too secluded and small to utilize community policing but there are areas within my town which have a community watch program which is a good example of how this system is used today. 2. Q: What are the four main functions of the local police? Describe each function has to what the police do and how it helps the citizens. The four functions are: Law enforcement- Law enforcement is the most commonly thought of aspect when asked what an officer does. These duties include testifying in court, investigating a crime, routine traffic stops and many other duties. This function serves to protect people in a community and punish criminals. Order maintenance and peacekeeping - Order maintenance and peacekeeping includes duties such as breaking up a fight, stopping a domestic dispute before it goes too far or even patrolling a local community street festival...
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...a commonplace fixture around police stations nationwide. Both large and small departments had to contend with the issues surrounding the disease of alcoholism and its progression among members of their forces. While it is common knowledge that the law enforcement profession is not the only occupational group to experience alcoholism among the ranks and the alcoholic officer is not unlike millions of others in the workforce that contend with the disease, how prevalent does the abuse of alcohol among police officers remain? It was 1975 when former law enforcement turned novelist, Joseph Wambaugh, shared The Choirboys with us. Wambaugh’s fictional tale of the shenanigans involving police officers spent a great deal of time discussing the use and abuse of alcohol by the police. Are cops are still turning up the bottle and at an alarming rate? From the Wambaugh’s tales of the after-shift meetings in MacArthur Park to today’s “stress-relief” briefings at various wing houses and sports bars across the country police officers are boozing it up and alcohol abuse among the profession has reached an all-time high. Recent studies indicate that one-quarter of all police officers in the U.S. are afflicted with the disease of alcoholism. Not surprisingly, studies have established a significant correlation between occupational stress and increased alcohol use by police officers today. Occupational stress, if untreated, can lead to negative...
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...definition . The IOM (2001) implements the idea of "positive health" thus attached are four components: a healthy body, high-quality personal relationships, a sense of purpose in life, and resilience to stress, trauma, and change. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as physical, mental, and social well-being (WHO &UNICEF, 1978). The Determinants of Health There are a many factors that determine what health an certain area is within a society. Thus a society would know what health polices to enforce when certain determinants are recognize. So, below there will be a brief elaboration on some influential factors. Social Environment It’s evident that extreme stress or burn out can caused a person to become unhealthy. It’s apparent that some stress is natural and necessary such as a women giving birth, she has to experience some level of stress during the delivery process. Another example could be a person suffering from depression thus she or he also, will deal with pain or exhaustion .The depression could be caused by a social issues such as poverty or non- active social life. Are there available resources in his or her social environment? Is it a matter of lack of social support and social interactions? One example that could lead to this stress is working...
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...Katherine Nielsen Buena Vista University Online Abstract This work is an overview of the increase in deaths of law enforcement agents: those killed on duty and those who kill themselves. As per a yearly report (Berman, 2014), the number of law enforcement agents killed while working rose almost a quarter this past year compared to years prior, especially ambush-style killings. Police officers across the country face potential dangers on their job, and they are a target simply because they are in uniform. As well, every 17 hours an officer commits suicide (Berman, 2014). This paper explores the correlation of the stress experienced by law enforcement associated with general strain theory (GST). GST is an explanation for suicide ideation for law enforcement officers. Other articles observe that police officers may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a critical incident or a traumatic experience. PTSD awareness is critical for saving lives. Why is there an increase in law enforcement deaths and suicides, and what needs to occur to change this trend? Keywords: post-traumatic stress disorder, general strain theory Introduction There were 50 officers murdered by shootings in 2014, a huge leap from the 32 such deaths a year prior (Berman, 2014). One officer killed is one officer too many, and this trend needs to be reversed. How does society stop this? Altogether, 126 law enforcement officers died in 2014, an increase of almost a quarter from the 102 officers...
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...this paper, I proposed to write about the drug system within American prisons across the scope of the nation. It wasn’t until a, somewhat recent, article came across my computer screen about a Honolulu officer being investigated after allegedly beating up his girlfriend that changed my mind completely (Blaine, 2014). Many of the qualities valued in on-duty, or even off-duty, police officers can make them dangerous domestic violence offenders. Domestic violence is a multifaceted complex phenomenon. It includes abusive acts towards children, intimate partners regardless of gender, and the elderly. All abusers use similar methods to control and abuse their intimate partners. Officers however, have skills and tactics not generally possessed by civilians. Professional training in combat, intimidation, interrogation, weapons and surveillance become a dangerous and potentially lethal combination in an intimate partner or domestic situation. Victims face the bias of law enforcement agencies and the legal system, psychological fear, and a high lethality risk. This is because victims of domestic violence by police officers are in a very different situation than that of other victims of domestic violence. Domestic violence is unique in that the parties share a personal, emotional and sexual relationship. No one single definition of domestic violence exists really. Different authorities include different forms of violence within their definitions. For the purpose of this paper, ‘‘domestic...
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...trends with current criminal justice organizations. The privatization of criminal justice organizations stems from the idea that awarding contracts to private companies that could run such services efficiently and effectively would potentially save and even earn the government money. (Nichols, 2010) To understand privatized policing we must first differentiate between police and private security force. Although both function as public safety officials and the duties performed are similar, they are two separate entities. “The term police typically refers to sworn officers working as members of the executive branch of government rather than to private security agents or agencies.” (Forst, p. 22, 2000) A private security agency while serving in the same capacity as a police officer is defined differently. The private security term refers to “non governmentally provided services and products used to protect the lives and property of commercial and residential patrons against crime.” (Forst, p. 22, 2000) The most notable differences between police officers and private security agents would be that the police are sworn-in officers working as members of the...
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...The Rising Issue of Generation Y and Police Training By Problem Solving Practicum OL430 Anthony Nixon February 27, 2008 CONTENTS References iii Research Focus The Real Issues 1 What is Generation X? 2 Generation Y 4 The Problem 6 Recruitment, Selection, and Retention 8 Conclusions 12 References Lomi Kriel. (2006, June 26). Cities face troubles in hiring cops. San Antonio Express News, p. 1. Andy Headworth. (2007, December 07). Ten differences between Generation X and Generation Y Employees [Msg 1]. Message posted to Sirona Says To infinite recruitment and beyond electronic mailing list, archived at http://blog.sironaconsulting.com/sironasays/2007/12/our-futurex-ver.html Wikipedia. (2007). Generation X. In Wikipedia (1st ed., Vol. 1, p. 1). Unknown, World Wide Web: Wikipedia. Retrieved March 10, 2008, from Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X Research Focus The Real Issues There is a rising problem in the police field regarding hiring and retaining quality officers. At the front of this problem is the Y generation and the opposing generational values between them and generation X. This also lends itself to training issues and the difference in learning styles between the two generations. This paper will delve in to merging the two current styles of training and the problems that might come up during the process. This investigation will deal with agencies across the country as well...
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