A Day in the Life of a Police Officer
A Day in the Life of a Police Officer
Introduction
If you want to become a police officer or if you have an interest in it, you must read this career summarize. In this career summary, you will learn everything you need to know about this profession such as what it is to be a police officer, what are their main duties, what their work environment looks like, what is their training, what is their salary, what are the dangers associated with this job, and much more.
What is it like to be a police officer?
Being a police officer is a wonderful job. Police officers are confronted to different situations every day and each intervention has its own particularities. In order to react properly to their interventions, they must adapt themselves to every situation. However, this profession involves many sacrifices. They must take risks that most people wouldn’t even take. Also, the career of a police officer is very challenging and difficult emotionally and physically because they never know what can happen.
What do police officers do?
Police officers have many tasks such as keeping public order and protecting lives and property. In order to prevent and repress crime, they need to patrol assigned areas and arrest those who commit crimes. Of course, they must always make sure to respect the rights of the citizens. Sometimes, they have to prepare evidence that could be used in court against people charged with crimes. Also, police officers need to complete detailed reports after each intervention. In a police department, there are several occupations to choose from. The majority of police officers begin their careers as patrol officers. After a couple of years working as patrol officers, they might go on to work as community officers, firearm trainers, dog handlers, or investigators.
What do police officers do on a typical day?
At the beginning of their shift, police officers need to meet at the police station to take part of a meeting in which the Sergeant will dispense the important information and the tasks to each agent. Then, they will go in their car with their partner to patrol the sector, so they can be easily seen by citizens to maintain order and public safety. Typical day to day main duties involve educating the public about the importance of following the law, writing tickets and apprehending criminals, answering emergency situations, and establishing community links in classrooms, with elderly, and in ethnic groups. However, each day is different from another because their interventions depend on the type of call they receive. For this reason, police officers never know what their day is going to look like and must be prepared for everything. Before the end of their shift, they must come back to the police station in order to complete their reports.
Where do police officers work?
Police officers work in diversify places. In fact, depending on the type of intervention they must do, they can work in the police station, outside or in vehicles. However, they spend most of their time with the population, outside of the police station.
How can I become a police officer?
To become a police officer in Quebec, you must follow some requirements such as having a good moral, not being guilty of a criminal offence and be a Canadian citizen. Also, you need to complete a three-years training in Police Technology at Cegep. After getting your college diploma, you must do a training at the École nationale de police du Québec (ENPQ) for fifteen weeks. When you have finished your studies at the Quebec police academy, you can apply at one or more police forces in the province.
How much money do police officers make?
The salary of a police officer depends on his grade and the police force. Also, it varies across regions. When they start, police officers who work for the SQ have an average salary of $48 386 per year. An agent with 6 months of experience can earn approximately $51 412 per year. For a third level agent, the salary is $54 625 per year. Finally, an agent with 5 years of experience makes about $84 366 per year. The salary is similar for a police officer who works for a municipal service, such as the SPVM.
What kinds of additional training do police officers need?
When a police officer gets hired by a police department, he will receive a training before he begins active duty. Each police force has its own hiring policies and requirements, so the training vary depending on the police service and his competencies. Also, police officers must receive additional training throughout their career, so they can adapt themselves to their work environment that is constantly in development. These training might be on different topics such as firearms, new laws, drugs, mental health, first aid and ethnic communities. In addition, if a police officer wants to be specialized in a certain domain during his career, he must do some extra training. They sometimes have to go to the university to obtain a higher rank.
What are the dangers of being a police officer?
Being a police officer is a dangerous job. In fact, police officers never know what their shift is going to be about. One of the most important risks is that they can get hurt physically. For example, they can get punch or stab by a suspect. Also, they can get psychological damage. This type of consequence often appears in the form of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), mental illness or depression, and results from traumatic events. Some situations can even lead to death. This could happen if they get involved in a physical intervention and get shot.
What are the chances that police officers will be replaced by robots soon?
The chances of police officers getting replaced by robots soon are very low because machines could never be able to replace the skills and expertise of a policeman. In fact, this profession is based on human interactions between police officers and the society. However, since robots don’t have emotions, they wouldn’t be able to substitute a police officer. Nevertheless, robots could be useful in the future to accomplish specific aspects of the job. In fact, using robots to control riots and in high-risk operations may help to avoid human deaths and injuries. In addition, robots could be a great alternative to help police officers by enhancing police database and prevention of criminality.
What age do police officers retire at?
Most of the time, police officers retired after 25 years or service or more. Usually, they are aged between 50 and 60 years old. After all these years of services, they will have acquired many essential skills such as active listening, communication, empathy, adaptability, etc.
Conclusion
To conclude, I have been studying Police Technology at Ahuntsic College for two years now. This program involves courses that teach us how to be well-prepared for the École Nationale de Police du Québec (ENPQ). In addition, something that I have learned studying this program is that if you want to be a police officer, you must like interactions and provide help. I hope this summary of the police officer career has enabled you to learn more information about this career path and perhaps undertake further studies in this profession.
More by this author
Introduction link: https://saraspoliceblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/about.html
Glossary link: https://saraspoliceblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/policing-glossary.html
Screencast link: https://saraspoliceblog.blogspot.com/2021/04/how-virtual-writing-tutor-can-be-useful.html
Sources and RADARS ratings
Source: http://www.enpq.qc.ca/en/les-incontournables/how-to-become-a-police-officer
Rationale: to inform or educate
Authority: government
Date: still relevant
Accuracy: probably true
Relevance: relevant for this document
Sources: no sources cited
Source: https://www.sq.gouv.qc.ca/recrutement/policier/
Rationale: to inform or educate
Authority: government
Date: recently published
Accuracy: probably true
Relevance: relevant for this document
Sources: cites sources
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