Dangers of Police Work, Essay Example

Police work is both a dangerous and rewarding career. It appeals to those who like variety in their daily work life and enjoy helping people. Police have to deal with stressful situations and as such need to be both mentally and physically fit. The media view of police officers is not really representative o9f reality and tends to deal with the more sensationalist aspect of the jobs routines. Police have to work long hours and in all weather conditions.  For sing police officers the duty becomes before social life considerations and equally imposes similar strains on the married officers.  Police work as a tightly knit unit and as such there is a strong bonding between them. The pay levels and benefits for are considered below average in contrast to the role and responsibilities of the job.

Popular modern views of the police officer, for the law abiding citizen, see them as an important part of shaping the stability of society security and safety.  It is a far cry from the older days of using law enforcement agencies as strike busters as depicted by Meister in his review of ‘ the bloody homeland strike’ (Meister, 2009).  ” Today policing has become a much more specialized business ” Police agencies are increasing their scope of services to deal with global threats such as terrorism and technology crimes such as Internet fraud and online predators. ‘These new issues have increased the need for knowledge and training in areas that we would not have dealt with 10 years ago,’ says Alexander. The jack-of-all-trades is a thing of the past. Law enforcement has become highly specialized.” (LeBlanc, 2006)

A number of researchers have suggested that the media and police benefit from a symbiotic relationship i.e. the police and media benefit from a mutually beneficial relationship. The media the police to get up to date reliable and accurate information whereas the police have a vested interest in “maintaining a positive public image”  (Dowler, 2003).

The stress of policing work has lead to both drug and alcohol abuse.  ” Similar to military combat veterans, law enforcement officers experience a plethora of treacherous, violent stresses on a daily basis. The psychological aftermath of such experiences can be either acute or chronic and can emerge or reoccur across broad temporal scales.”  (Chad L. Cross, 2004).

Works Cited

Chad L. Cross, L. A. (2004, 10). Police trauma and addiction: coping with the dangers of the job. Retrieved 6 22, 2010, from FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2194/is_10_73/ai_n7577586/

Dowler, K. (2003). Media consulption and public attitudes towards crime and justice:. Bakersfield CA: Dept of Criminal Justice, California State University.

LeBlanc, K. (2006). Three Essential Traits of a Modern Law Enforcement Training Facility. The Police Chief , 73, no. 11.

Meister, D. (2009, 4 26). Labor – And A Whole Lot More. Retrieved 6 22, 2009, from The bloody homeland Strike: http://www.dickmeister.com/id86.html