Exploring Careers in Law Enforcement: Police Activities and Police Department Structure (page 2)

There is always a need for highly trained and highly skilled law enforcement agents. Today too, all policing agencies are finding that rapidly changing technology not only provides law enforcement with new ways to investigate crime, but also provides criminals with new tools to commit crimes. As a result, law enforcement agencies are constantly seeking to hire and train new policing candidates who are able to work well with the public, maintain high ethical standards, work independently, use common sense, and act as a positive role model for the community.

To evaluate each candidate's potential for civilian law enforcement, agencies have developed an assortment of written, psychological, and physical tests. It is very possible, even encouraged, to prepare for the written portion of these tests. Once candidates are aware of the ability areas that the tests attempt to evaluate and the testing methods agencies typically use, they can begin to sharpen and improve the necessary skills.

If you are interested in a law enforcement career, you should begin by educating yourself on the various law enforcement agencies with which you may wish to seek employment. Factors such as the size of the agency, the area of the country, and the population density may all be important issues when you are determining what agency or agencies to apply to.

After choosing an agency or agencies, the second step is to prepare for the compulsory tests that every law enforcement agency uses to evaluate candidates. Candidates for police positions are expected to communicate well both verbally and in writing. These candidates are also expected to demonstrate an ability to perform basic mathematical processes, read and understand legal information, and reason through large amounts of seemingly unrelated information to find clues or connections. While the process of preparing for written law enforcement exams is not easy, it will seem well worth the effort when you are notified that you have been selected for an important and exciting career as a police officer.

Big City Police Departments

The entertainment and news media have created the impression that policing primarily occurs in very large municipalities, such as Los Angeles and New York City. While it is true that every state has one or more cities large enough to employ more than a hundred police officers, the vast majority of cities are small enough to require 25 or fewer officers. So, the majority of policing positions will be available in smaller police departments.

However, it should be recognized that big city police departments provide opportunities not usually available in smaller departments, such as the ability to specialize in a certain area of law enforcement.

The number of crimes that arise in larger police jurisdictions allow police departments in such cities to create areas of specialization, such as crime prevention, crimes involving children, community policing, crime scene investigation, and drug education. Very large departments like New York City, Kansas City, Denver, and Seattle are also able to have a few units specifically assigned to a single crime, such as their homicide units. Additionally, many of those knowledgeable about policing believe that the opportunities for promotion are greater in a big city department like New York as compared to a smaller department like Scarsdale, New York.

Small Community Police Departments

The majority of police agencies are categorized as small city or rural police departments, although the concept of small may be based on perception. For example, those individuals living in medium-sized cities such as Wichita, Kansas, may think their 500 member police department is big. However, that number of officers would seem small to residents of Los Angeles, California. Clearly, individual departments often define themselves as large or small depending upon the needs of their community, their proximity to other communities, and the size of the actual urban area in which they are located.

Generally, small police agencies do not have personnel to investigate homicides or other serious crimes. These agencies have to obtain assistance from the state police. Officers in small agencies often are not as well educated or trained as officers in bigger cities due to being exposed to less crime on a less regular basis.

However, the best reason for joining a smaller police department is that police officers in small departments know the citizens in their communities. They know most of the history and issues, both community-related and family-related, which evolve over time to require police intervention. They can settle complaints in an informal manner rather than through a more time consuming and costly criminal justice process.

The duties in smaller departments are often more varied and interesting that the limited areas assigned in larger departments. Often, small police departments encourage their officers to spend the majority of their time on patrol and interacting with the public. A typical day for an officer in a small police department may involve: controlling animals running at large, visiting with the kindergarteners about the role of police in their community, issuing a few traffic citations, taking a report of a theft from the local convenience store, and arresting an individual for domestic violence. While murder may be a rare event in small cities, protecting the health, safety, and welfare of citizens remains an important service to the community.