Learn about the life journey of being a police officer and the important tasks they carry out such as maintaining public order and investigating crimes.
Because of their dedication to serving the community, police officers have one of the most coveted professions in society. Some of the important tasks of a police officer include promoting and maintaining public order, investigating crimes, recognizing issues and circumstances that may lead to crime, upholding law and order, and much more.
However, becoming a police officer is not simple since there is a lot of stress. You will learn more about the life of a police officer later in the post.
A police officer may be assigned to a variety of jobs. Therefore, even a single day is not the same. An extensive department may have officers assigned to traffic enforcement, school safety or resource tasks, various investigative activities (detectives), crime scene processing, prisoner transport, and so on.
Sometimes a police officer is also assigned patrol duties. Further, this includes responding to roll calls to obtain the daily assignments, being informed on what happened on the previous shifts, and getting any updates, special assignments, etc. A "hot sheet" of recently stolen autos or sought local individuals fight.
Before a police officer hits the road, they always examine the patrol car to ensure that everything is in working order and that all necessary equipment is present. If there's damage to the automobile from the previous shift, they have to get it repaired before starting duty.
On the road, it's usually "regular patrol" until you receive a "call," whatever that may be. It might be anything, which is one of the appeals of policing. You never know what to anticipate, no matter how long you've been in the industry.
It may be a stolen child's bicycle or an armed robbery in the process. Or else it can be a modest fender bender or a multi-car accident.
Police officers are also given special duties. For the sake of a visiting dignitary, handle block traffic. Escort a school march and solve traffic complaints.
Police officers with patrol duties may occasionally (depending on the department) conduct follow-up investigations on previously completed reports.
Every crime and occurrence is required to be documented in some form or other. Therefore officers are required to document them. In some advanced agencies, officers utilize in-car computers for this, or they can call into the department's report-generating people, who take the officer's bare-bones information and fill up a report from it.
Alternatively, the officer may be required to go to the station and write the complete report using standard report-processing software.
For police officers, it is not a job or a profession; it is a way of life - how they look at individuals, where they sit in restaurants, scanning areas and people, interrogating their children and spouses. Moreover, they are suspicious and distrustful of others and hyper-vigilant about the safety and security of loved ones.
The pendulum will frequently "swing back" the other way, and they may experience moments of profound melancholy, isolation, and a sensation of being lost that they have never experienced before. Many officers, in essence, identify themselves by their jobs.
Even in the best of circumstances, transferring to civilian life is difficult. Some officers are happy when they retire from "work" for another life, while others are confused. They understand that a companionship career like few others would serve as a desire and nostalgic release for those bygone days. Everybody knows a fellowship in law enforcement lasts long after the tag, gun, and uniforms have been turned in. Nonetheless, they will be with them every step and breath they take.
Although Ex-police officers will still look at people suspiciously and see what others do not see (or choose to ignore), they will always look at the rest of the law enforcement world regarding what they do – accomplished only by a lifetime of knowing.