Becoming a Police Officer: The Job

Police work is far from a 9 A.M to 5 P.M, Monday to Friday occupation.  A Police Officer could be assigned to work any day of the week at any time. The average work week is 40-44 hours a week.  Many agencies go with shift work, working 12 hour shifts. Example: I work 4 days on 4 days off, 12 hour shifts, 2 days then 2 nights. Working shift work may have some disadvantages but it's far from a humdrum existence.

What's the money like you may ask, well many large departments start officers off at $40,000 and you can work your way up close to $80,000, some even higher. As depending on what route your career takes you could make over $100,000 with promotions.

There are many other benefits of the job, usually early retirement with a full pension, sick leave, lots of vacation, paid uniforms, cool gear, excitement and job security.

But one thing I would say before you close down your laptop and sign up, think about the stress this job will place on your family or the family you plan to have. You end up missing alot of "family functions," your on a totally different schedule from your "normal" friends and it's a dangerous job. That's why you see alot of cops marry fellow cops. That's a decision you must make, to me it's worth it.

Becoming a Police Officer: Do your homework

I've been working on a page ( Become a Cop) for this site, that will aide people that are looking at a career in policing to get ready for the process. Here's Step #1

Learn your future boss:

One thing that I believe is very important when looking at becoming a Police Officer is if you have a city or area in mind that you would like to work, learn what they look for in future employees.

Most Police departments in North America have websites, and they usually dedicate a page or two to recruitment.

Here are two great examples of  recruitment pages, in the US ( NYPD ) and in Canada ( RCMP)

The Key is to look at what these departments are looking for and what you can do to give you the best chance.

Some Departments looking heavily on volunteer work, or taking part in your community, some will want a university degree others don't care at all.

The Key: Police Departments will do their homework on you, So do yours on them!!

Stay tuned for more steps.......

Police Skills: Leadership

When you go the recruitment process of a Police department, one skill they will be looking for is weather or not you are a leader.
Leadership represents a crucial determinant of police organizational efficacy. Supervisors and others in formal positions of power must engage, motivate, and guide subordinates, community members, and other local officials.

The evolving vision of patrol officers has led to a rethinking of the role of leadership even among those not possessing conventional supervisory control. Contemporary discussions about patrol personnel suggest that "every officer is a leader." Agencies desire frontline employees who can lead citizens during chaotic situations, facilitate and direct problem-solving activities, and make neighborhoods safer.

Q)What is Leadership?
A) Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”.

Are Leaders Born or Made?

This age-old question found within leadership literature frequently is answered through biographical examples of recognized leaders. The leadership sections of libraries and book stores often contain a number of texts that offer accounts of great military, political, and corporate leaders. Other examinations of this issue consider whether cultural and social events forge great leaders within the crucible of adversity, such as seen in World War II.

I Think Leaders are built through peoples life experiences, so there's hope for everyone.
Finally, to be effective, leaders must understand the crucial importance between leadership and management. Though management skills are helpful in some aspects of the profession,  But policing needed more leadership from supervisors and others throughout the organization. In particular, effective leaders avoid micromanaging the actions of subordinates and coworkers. They set a proper tone, show how the job is to be done, and give others the freedom to find ways to complete assigned duties within those parameters.

Kelowna RCMP Brutality

Yesterday we had a "block training" session about ethics. The topic of ethics is a sticky one with officers, more so with the small things rather then the big issues.

Maybe small things in your mind, but where do you draw the line?
- Is it ethical to take that free coffee?
- Is it ethical to check up on your sisters boyfriend on the police system ?
- Is it ethical to give someone a ticket solely based on the drivers attitude ?
- Is it ethical to pull over that car to get a better look at it's hot driver ?

Those are the small ones that you may be able to sweep under the rug, the grey area maybe...

The story that the S/Sgt purposed to us was: You are a officer that rolls by a fellow officer on a traffic stop, as you pull up on scene, you see the officer has arrested the driver. S/he has the prisoner in handcuffs and s/he roughs up the prisoner (assaults him). What would you do?

If you are not a police officer think of this in the terms as the other officer being a family member, that will give you the feel of the  "blue line"

The S/Sgt wanted to know if you would have strong enough ethics to do what is right?  Even if you don't, will you do what you need to do to save your job?

What if down the road you find yourself in a Police Act complaint? what reason will you give the board for doing nothing? or even worse covering it up? Deceit will kill your career...

There is one big difference in policing in the past 10yrs ago. What is it? Now we are always being watched and that means being filmed on camera phones and being placed on YouTube for the world to judge you.

There's a video below, of an incident being caught on film. I choose not to judge other officers but I think the YouTube title gives it away. Now think if the officers tried to cover this up before they knew the video existed....