Case Scenario:
You have been employed as a law enforcement officer for over 5 years after graduating from the American Intercontinental University online campus. You served as a patrolman for the first 3 years, and since you graduated from AIU, the police chief asked you to head up the training department, which includes the police academy and annual training of the police officers. The police chief has asked you to give a class to every police officer concerning the following listed topics, but first, he wants to know your views on these topics and questions, so he has asked you to write a paper of 2 to 3 pages on these topics and questions.
The development of policing in America was greatly influenced by the developments of the London Metropolitan Police under the leadership of Robert Peel. During his tenure with the department, Robert Peel developed what he termed the principles of policing. Many of the original principles of policing that he developed are still important in contemporary policing. The following are two of these principles (A History of the Nine Principles of Policing, n.d.):
No quality is more indispensable to a policeman than a perfect command of temper; a quiet, determined manner has more effect than violent action.
The securing and training of proper persons is at the root of efficiency.
Now, the police chief would like for you to write a paper of 2 to 3 pages concerning the above listed two principles and how they pertain to the following listed questions:
- Why is the command of temper important to the demeanor of the typical police officer? What can be achieved with it, and what can happen without it?
- Has enough been done in law enforcement to develop the proper demeanor of law enforcement officers? Can you find research that suggests that demeanor training is a core part of law enforcement training, or is demeanor training needed to be included in law enforcement training?
- If you were the chief of police of a local law enforcement organization with the opportunity to establish guidelines on developing the demeanor of law enforcement officers, what methods would you utilize? The police chief is really interested in hearing your answers to these questions and principles as they are applied to each other. How would you know that the officers were developing in this area, and what would your metrics be?
- The selection and training of personnel is perhaps one of the most important areas of responsibility that a department has for its employees. Describe the areas in which you feel your officers would benefit the most from training, and explain briefly why you chose those areas of training.