How to Become a Police Officer, Essay Example

When I was a child we use to play cop and robbers. I would always want to be the cop. At night I would dream of becoming a cop. I would always tell people that when I grow up I would become a cop.  Needless to say, once I was old enough to become a cop, I made a few calls and found out the process of becoming a police officer, which included an application process, a written exam, figure printing, a psychological exam, a physical exam and an interview process. Back at the time, when I was applying for the position of a police officer, lie detector exams were also applied. A decision to become a police officer is not an easy one. Not only because it involves a lot of risky and dangerous situations, but because it puts a great responsibility on you. Being a police officer is not just a job, even though it implies salary. It grants you an enormous power that is comparable to only few other government officials’ authority.  If you make it through the selective processes, you face the difficulties of the police academy. The entire process takes approximately six to nine months. The graduation day becomes your first day of being a police officer. In this paper I will do my best to describe the whole process of becoming a cop, using my own experience and the information found on the Philadelphia Government web site.

First there is an application process. “The City of Philadelphia will require that applicants for open competitive examinations for Civil Service positions submit an application fee of $35.00, via check or money order, to cover the cost of processing the application” (Philadelphia Police Department). You have to fill out the application and wait for a response. As soon as your application is received, you have to pass a written test, in order for the police representatives to examine your ability of conducting the duties of the profession. To proceed, you must pass this test with an eighty or better. Before the test is conducted, you are given a booklet to help you pass the examination. However, you only get forty five minutes to get acquainted with the information. If you pass the exam, you receive a letter with a date to go to the police academy. Once there you must show your driver’s license, high school diploma and get finger printed. At this time there is about five thousand people and once this process is finished, there is only about one thousand people left.  Moreover, you are interviewed by the review board which consists of four police personnel and two civilian personnel.

The second step includes a physical exam, a psychological exam, and an oral exam. “Before the test, applicants will be required to undergo a brief medical examination to insure they are healthy enough to perform the test” (Philadelphia Police Department). The physical exam consists of weights, running and sit ups. In order to pass the run, you must have to run a mile and a half in twelve minutes. For every minute over the twelve minutes ten points will be taken off. The least you can score is seventy five. Next are the sit-ups. You must do sixty sit ups in one minute to get one hundred on this test. The weight test you had to be able to bench press your body weight plus twenty five pounds. The psychological exam includes a computer test and an interview with a psychologist. Both of these are either pass or fail. The computer test has five hundred questions on the test, concerning your background, parents, and other personal information. While you are taking the test, the light in the room goes off and on constantly. In the actual interview, the psychologist approaches a candidate with questions from the test and personal questions about the candidate’s life.

The final step is attending the police academy. “If notified that you have been selected to attend the Police Academy, you will undergo thirty (30) weeks of intensive training designed to produce the best police officers in the country” (Philadelphia Police Department). Once you are in the academy you are trained and educated on how to become a police officer, given the tools you need to do the job to the best of your ability as a Philadelphia Police officer.  It is well known that many young people’s police officer carriers end soon after they get started. Therefore, one has to study hard, learn, and use his/her potential at its fullest to become a professional, educated, loyal, and experienced police officer.

Works Cited

Philadelphia Police Department. 11 Sept. 2001. 12 March 2009. < http://www.ppdonline.org/career/career_hire.php>