Police Officers

A police officer's duty is to maintain public order, preventing, and detecting crime. The concept of police officers, also known as cops, and law enforcement has been around ever since the ancient Romans had a theory that an organization of "peacekeepers" would reduce the crime and violence being committed. This theory stuck with society and is still around today. People of law enforcement have a mission when they step into their police car, that mission is to enforce the rules of conduct or law. Of course, accomplishing this mission can be dangerous. Often when a cop leaves his or her house to go to work worries start to set it, such as "will I be coming back home when my day is over" or "will a simple traffic stop go sour and someone ends up dead?" These thoughts are apart of the stress that comes with the job and most people are trained to deal with this stress.

Speaking of training, there are classes that a high school student can take to prepare for a career in law enforcement. Psychology, sociology, foreign languages, and computer courses are recommended for those students who plan to take criminal justice as their higher education major. Participating in sports can improve your chances on becoming an officer of law because it improves strength and endurance. Other student activities can be helpful in this career because they help to improve leadership skills and other publications. Every law enforcement agency has different requirements for qualification; however, almost all of them require a college degree. You can either have a degree in police science, administration of justice, public administration, or criminal justice to qualify for employment. English, Sociology, Psychology, Personal Computer Operations, Survey of Criminal Justice, and Principles of Criminology are classes that need to be taken to complete a criminal justice major. Almost every college nationwide offers these classes. ("Police and Detectives").

There are many colleges that offer either an Associate's degree or a Bachelor's in criminal justice or any other type of law enforcement class. However, the decision is whether to attend a two-year community college and receive an Associate's degree or whether to attend a four-year community or state college to receive a Bachelor's degree. Some colleges that offer an Associate's degree in criminal justice are Delaware Technical and Community College, Gibbs College, and Hagerstown Business College. Some colleges that offer a Bachelor's degree in criminal justice are Wilmington College, Brown College, and Parks College. All of these colleges require a high school diploma or a GED for admission. ("Criminal").

In the United States, on average a police officer makes an annual income of $39,790. The salary range for a police officer ranges anywhere from $31,410 to $43,450, not including the overtime pay. This salary range grows as more years are put into the job and promotions are granted. For example, if a police officer gets promoted to police chief their salary range becomes anywhere from $62,640 to $78,580. These ranges do not include the overtime pay which many officers participate in and can lead to thousands of extra dollars. The benefits that are given to an officer of law are medical insurance, life insurance, paid vacations, and sick leave. Although an average police officer does not make the highest income, they are covered by a liberal pension plan in which when a police officer retires after 20 or 25 years of service they still receive half of their pay they made. ("Police and Detectives") and ("Delaware").

No matter how many promotions a police officer gets or how much they make their goal is always the same, to serve and protect the community. On an everyday schedule a police officer would first report to the office and talk with the police chief. Then he or she would enter their patrol car and head out on the road to witness traffic violations, attend to robberies and other criminal acts. According to my interview with police officer Ted Wheatley on an average Friday night they pull over about 10 citizens who have been drinking. Out of these 10 citizens who were taken away and charged with DUI, about 4 of them were underage. However, on a holiday such as New Year's Eve, law enforcement would pull over an average of 35 people who are charged with a DUI or a DWI. Robberies do not usually happen on a daily basis and shootouts that you see on television almost rarely happen. On an average schedule a police officer will work more than the usual 8 hour work day, some police officers work a shift of 12 hours because they are on call most of the time. ("Police Officer- A Day in the Life").

Pursuing a career in law enforcement is probably one of the most rewarding and stable conditions available. Since crime will always be around and continue to grow, the demand for officers of law will continue to grow with it. Currently, the number of qualified candidates exceeds the amount of openings available which is resulting in higher standards for employment and more selectivity by the employers. However, the demand for police officers is expected to grow at a fast pace by the year 2010 because of the concern of drug related crimes and the concerns of society. This is good news to young adults who are just starting their college career and plans on becoming a police officer. On the other hand, this growth of demand cannot be certain because the employment of police officers depends on the level of government spending and an officer could lose his or her job if the budget is cut. ("Police and Detctives").

In pursuing any career there are risks such as whether the job will be available or even exist in years to come. Having a job as a police officer not only has a reasonable pay with good benefits but it also seems like an exciting job full of surprises. I think this is the reason why so many people are looking into having a career in law enforcement. Unlike any other job, police officers have to have camaraderie with the other officers in order to have their goals met. Unlike any other job, if this camaraderie is broken someone could get hurt. Can you imagine life without police officers? I picture complete chaos around the world and probably no one would survive it. I'm glad that we have police officers and other officers of law enforcement around to protect the people and make life a little bit safer.

Interview with New Castle County Police Officer Ted Wheatley

Krystina: "When did you first start thinking about pursuing a career as a police officer?"

Officer Ted: "Well my