On February 1, 2017 I interviewed Sergeant Jason Pace from Troop D of the Missouri Highway Patrol. Admittedly, this interview was somewhat nerve wracking because of the potential line of questioning. 2016 saw some truly horrific crimes, some involving police brutality and others involving brutality to police officers and this is why the interview was met with such apprehension. As the interview went on I began to feel more confident in my questions and his truly professional answers.
To start the interview I asked Sgt. Pace why he joined the force and he responded that he had grown up with police presence and that he actually earned a degree in business before starting his police career. He told me that he had always been interested in such a rewarding line of work that offered an incredible amount of opportunity within. Next, I asked him how long he had been in the police force and why he chose state over the rest of the available positions. Sgt. Pace conferred to me that he had been in police work for nearly 20 years and had actually worked his way up to state until he was eventually able to settle down in a specialty career, public information. (Pace, 2016)
Of course, my next question was about the typical day for an on-duty officer. To this, Sergeant Pace replied,
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Sergeant Pace was very open-minded and honest throughout the entire interview and gave me a lot to think about through the entirety of this course. Even though police brutality is such a controversial topic right now, I gained some raw discussion on what it’s like to be on the other side of these allegations. I also gained some knowledge in how the police community is working together to make better protocols and intervention methods when it comes to mental health. This interview was very informational for me and I am thankful that our police have the time to interview with college students and further the thinking process of
The Thompson Valley Police Service is seeking to double the number of police recruits over the next three years. In an attempt to attract more applicants, the newly appointed Police Commissioner, Commissioner Jason DeVillain is proposing two key changes to the current selection process. Firstly, Commissioner DeVillain is proposing to eliminate the requirement for partial or completed tertiary education. Secondly, it is being proposed that psychological testing should be removed from the selection process. As a research and policy officer for the Thompson Valley Police Service, the validity and likely impact of the above two proposed changes will be investigated thoroughly, followed by recommendations to Commissioner DeVillain to ensure the selection process is as effective as possible in selecting the most suitable candidates for the new police recruits. The role of a general duties police officer is broad in nature and requires the officer to be efficient in many areas, ranging from administrative duties to conflict resolution and problem solving. In addition to the recording and logging of all jobs attended while on duty, the officer may be required to prepare documents for court hearings, where written communication skills will also be
Clay grew up playing multiple sports and he felt like he could succeed in job that demands teamwork. Along with the influence of his family he chose to become a police officer. The major problem officers are placed with these days is the trend of the media using racism against officers. Clay believes this is becoming a constant issue in their department because it’s encouraged a lot of people to start challenging officers and fighting them. The problem is that “When one officer from wherever screws up or handles a situation poorly, it makes it like we are all bad and that’s not the case”. He believes that if social media and the news continues to put stories out here with false information it poses a threat to future officers and their ability to effectively do their jobs. Many police departments are starting to back off such as Baltimore City Police and possibly others due to severity of recent events like the Baltimore riot and the past history of the Rodney King case. Clay believes it has now become Cops versus the community and that’s not the case with his department. “People forget that officers, and many others that serve this country are human”. One bad person ruins the rep for thousands of others who are only trying to do their
I had the opportunity to conduct a phone interview with Caleb Justice; a corrections officer from the Federal correctional Institution in Terre Haute, Indiana. Caleb is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, where he served four years on active duty as a machine gunner. During his four years he deployed on a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) as well as to Nowzad and Musa Qala Afghanistan. After serving honorably Caleb decided to take his skill set to the civilian sector and began seeking employment in the Criminal Justice System.
I chose to do my ride along with the Lexington Police Department. The police officer that I got to ride along with was Officer Ernesti. Officer Ernesti has an associates degree in criminal justice. After high school he attended Southeast Community College in Lincoln. He says that he wished he chose a different field to study. The reason is was because he got in a fight with a suspect and injured his arm. He was afraid that he did something severe to his arm that he would not be able to perform any police duty. If he would have had a different degree he could have fallen back to something that does not relate to criminal justice. Before getting hired by the Lexington Police Department in January of 2014 he worked in Gosper County for two years. During his time at Gosper County he was a K-9 handler.
In the interviews Wood (2015) and Balko (2015), medically retired Police Officer and former Marine, Sargent Michael Wood discusses his time on the Baltimore Police Department and the driving factors to police corruption that is drawn from his experience. Sgt. Wood was a police officer for 11 years and for the first four years he was assigned to a majority black neighborhood. His second assignment was in a majority white neighborhood and during this assignment Sgt. Wood formulated an opinion on the police policies that drove corruption among good men and women (Wood, 2015). Although Sgt. Wood identifies many fascinating issues within the Baltimore Police Department, I will focus attention on his insight into the Baltimore police culture and
We see on T.V police brutality happening all the time. We see cops breaking people bones, throwing them on the ground, and even killing them. This documentary opened my eyes to see how bad it is. Seeing the random stops because of race, and the pushing and shoving of people who do not deserve it. Another thing I learned is how stressful being a police officer is, especially in a city like Newark. These officers face life threating situations daily. With this, I can understand the use of force when there is no immediate threat, because the situation could escalate and it is better to be safe than sorry. The documentary also showed me ways of improvement. Police officers should be required to have at least and Associates degree in Criminal Justice and receive extensive training. Seeing this documentary opened my eyes to what is happening in the Criminal Justice System
This semester, we talked about how important it is to keep a positive relationship present between the police officers and the community. This theme really starts to emerge in the book in the chapter called, Across the Racial Divide. “There are cities where “clearing corners” is an accepted administratively supported practice: Officers routinely roll up on groups of blacks in public and order everybody to leave” (Kennedy 2011:143). This contradicts the focused deterrence approach they were implementing in cities, and knowing who were committing crimes, and instead officers racially profiling citizens. Also, this correlates to investigatory traffic stops in Pulled Over. “People are especially likely to look beyond respectfulness when, as is true of African Americans, they are a stigmatized group that is commonly and repeatedly subjected to a process that disproportionately disadvantages members of the stigmatized group, and the members of this group have developed a share knowledge of these disparities and of the process that generates them” (Epp, Maynard-Moody, & Haider-Markey 2014:117). This shows that when one race group is always being questioned, or stopped by the police, then there will never be a good relationship between the community and the police. Also, when you had the focused deterrence approach in the cities that implemented in, and police was decreasing crime so that families and business owners can live in a safe place, the relationship will be
The two forum presentations on October 12th were both moving and inspiring but from a police perspective, the presentation given by Major Douglas Burig of the Pennsylvania State Police Department was most impactful to me. In October 2006, Major Burig, a sergeant at the time, was the officer in charge of the West Nickel Mines School shooting in Lancaster Pennsylvania. It was a call that all law enforcement officers understand they may be involved in but pray never happens. Major Burig discussed the police response, the decisions he made, the resulting changes to his department and other issues related to the incident. Major Burig described the scene in detail. He detailed the initial response of the officers, his reasoning for the decisions
He joined the department because he wanted something interesting and something new to do in his life. He was intrigued by the exciting job of a patrol officer. He decided to work as a policeman so he submitted an application to join the police department. He recalled that when he applied for the job he had to fill out a paper application, but nowadays the department only accepts online application. He passed the written test, background check as well as psychological and drug test which are required in order to be hired as a law enforcement officer. He believe...
By teaching police officers alternatives to shooting to kill, they experience higher risks with their lives. Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, said, “It would be "very difficult" to train officers to shoot to wound” (Jacobo, 2016). Police officers are viewed as “predators” and “an occupying army” rather than allies (Valey, 2016). This is a perception that needs to change because it counteracts the mission of police officers
Over the years, this country has witnessed many cases of police brutality. It has become a controversial topic among communities that have seen police brutality take place in front of their homes. Officers are faced with many threatening situations everyday forcing them to make split second decisions and to expect the worst and hope for the best. Police officers
At some point in our lives, everybody eventually comes in contact with a law enforcement officer, some people for different reasons. Law enforcement officers work around the clock to keep citizens safe. Many people do not know a lot of things about law enforcement, some of those will be discussed. Those topics are agency administration, issues with law enforcement in today’s society, and law enforcement history.
Most people, if asked would surely agree that being a police officer is not easy, but most probably do not realize that becoming one is just as difficult. During our field trip to the Warren County Police Department Major Bowles and officer Fields talked a little about the extensive process, similar to the process our textbook, Forensic Psychology describes, of being hired into the police department. After putting in their application and being selected to move forward in the program a future police officer must have a background check, complete a psychological screening, a polygraph test, several interviews, and a physical test. If they pass each of those they continue on to the police academy. In whole, the process takes over a year before
The Forensic interview technique is a result of the increasing awareness of child abuse and neglect cases in the United States in the last quarter of the 20th century (Newlin et al, 2015). Forensic interviewing has come a long way from when it was first being developed and has continuously evolved to have the best outcome for children. The purpose of Forensic interviewing is to be more child friendly, to consider the age and development of the child, and to be cognizant of a child’s trauma which is specified in the “Purpose of the Child Forensic Interview” and “Considerations Regarding the Child” sections of the Newlin article. Forensic interviewing has become more specialized and developed since it first began to be utilized. It has developed
First, I asked her to explain her educational background. She has an Undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice. Next, I asked her if she had a graduate degree. She explained that she has a Master’s degree in Forensic Psychology. Later, I asked her if she could explain why she decided to get a degree in Forensic Psychology. She explained that she really enjoyed learning more about the mind and being able to apply that knowledge to Forensics. Then, I asked her what is the name of her current position. She told me that she is currently a senior agent for parole and probation. I asked her how long as she held the current position. She mentioned that she has been holding that position for 4 years. I then asked her to explain her responsibilities and duties as a senior agent for parole and probation. She told me that her duties include effective community supervision of offenders placed on probation/parole this supervision process includes office and field contacts, court appearances, treatment referrals, drug testings, warrant and processing services, financial collection management, interviewing, counseling and investigation when required. Next, I asked her what is her what does she like the most about her job. She let me know that the thing that she likes most is the aspect of Public Safety. In addition, I asked what she dislikes about her job. She explained that one thing she dislikes is that as a probation agent, she is not