The duties of a municipal police officer may include law enforcement, crowd and traffic control, criminal investigations, communications, and specialties such as handwriting and fingerprint identification or chemical and microscopic analysis. All police officers are trained in first aid.
In a small community, police officers perform a wide variety of duties, while in a large city they may be assigned to one type, such as policing, traffic, canine patrol, accident prevention, or mounted and motorcycle patrols. Law enforcement is complex, and each police force is tailored to meet the particular problems of its own community. A city of any size that has heavy traffic congestion will need more police assigned to accident prevention and traffic control; a city with a high juvenile crime rate will use more officers in criminal investigation and youth aid services.
New, uniformed police officers usually begin a patrol duty with an experienced officer to become thoroughly familiar with the city and its law enforcement requirements. This probationary period can last from a few months to three years in some communities.
All police officers report to police headquarters at regular intervals by radio or telephone or through police call boxes. They also prepare written reports about their activities and may be called upon to testify in court on cases that they handle.
Detectives are plain-clothes police officers whose primary activity is to carry out investigative procedures. They are often assigned to a specific case, such as a murder investigation, or a particular type of case, such as illegal drugs. Detectives gather information and evidence to be used by police and prosecuting attorneys.
Places of Employment and Working Conditions
Police officers work throughout the country in communities of all sizes.
The usual workweek of a police officer is 40 hours, including shift work and weekend and evening hours. Payment for extra hours worked on some police forces takes the form of extra time off. Officers must often work outdoors in all kinds of weather and are subject to call at any time.
Police officers face the constant threat of injury or death in their work. The injury rate for police officers is higher than in many other occupations.
Qualifications, Education, and Training
A police officer should be honest, have a sense of responsibility and good judgment, and enjoy working with people and serving the public. Good health and physical stamina are also necessary.
High school courses should include English, U.S. history, and civics and government. Physical education and sports are very helpful in developing stamina and agility.
Local civil service regulations govern the appointment of police officers in most communities. Candidates must be at least 21 years old, be U.S. citizens, meet certain height and weight standards, and pass a rigorous physical examination. Character traits and backgrounds are investigated, and a personality test is sometimes administered. Applicants are usually interviewed by a senior police officer and, in some police departments, by a psychiatrist or psychologist.
An applicant's eligibility for appointment depends on his or her performance on a competitive examination. Applicants are listed according to their scores on the examination, and when a police department appoints new police officers, it hires the required number of recruits from the top of the list.
Most police departments require a high school education; a few cities re-quire some college training. More and more police departments are encouraging their officers to continue their education and to study subjects such as sociology, psychology, law enforcement, criminal justice, and foreign languages. These courses are available in junior and community colleges as well as four-year colleges and universities.
New police officers go through a training period. In small communities, this may consist of working with experienced officers. Large cities have more formal training programs that last from several weeks to a few months. Officers receive classroom instruction in constitutional law and civil rights, state and local ordinances, accident investigation, patrol, and traffic control. They learn to use a gun, defend themselves from attack, administer first aid, and deal with emergencies.
Experienced police officers improve their performance, keep up-to-date, and prepare for advancement by taking various training courses given at police department academies and colleges. [They study crowd-control techniques, civil defense, the latest legal developments that affect police work, and advances in law enforcement equipment.
In some large cities, high school graduates who are still in their teens may be hired as police cadets or trainees. They function as paid civilian employees and do clerical work while they attend training classes. If they have all the necessary qualifications, they may be appointed to the police force at age 21.
Potential and Advancement
All police departments are funded by local governments and, since police protection is considered essential, law enforcement expenses usually have a high priority in municipal budgets. As the population grows, the demand for police officers will also grow. Applicants with some college training in law enforcement will have the best job opportunities.
Advancement in police work depends on length of service, job performance, and written examinations. In some large departments, promotion may also allow a police officer to specialize in one type of police work, such as communications, traffic control, or working with juveniles.
Income
Higher rank brings a higher salary and the same periodic increases until maximum. The average salary for a police officer in 2012 was about $57,000, but this figure will increase or decrease depending on how much experience and education an officer has and where the officer is working, among other factors. For example, in California, average pay can increase by roughly 30% over the national average. On top of their base salaries, police officers are usually covered by liberal plans that allow them to retire after 20 or 25 years of service at half pay. Most police departments furnish revolvers, nightsticks, handcuffs, and other equipment and provide an allowance for uniforms.
Additional sources of information
Information is available online and from local police departments and civil service commissions.
