There have been ten years of research explaining that policing is one of the most stressful jobs you can do. Policing takes a toll not only on the body but also on the mind. Police officers suffer from high blood pressure, insomnia, depression, and suicide. These are the hidden dangers of policing that aren't always recognized. According to Reason Magazine, "police officers are about three times as likely to be killed on the job as the average American. It isn't among the top ten most dangerous professions, falling well behind logging, fishing, driving a cab, trash collecting, farming, and truck driving. Moreover, about half of police killed on the job are killed in traffic accidents, and most of those are not while in pursuit of a criminal or rushing to the scene of a crime"(Reason Magazine, 2011).
Officers are exposed to multiple types of dangers on a daily basis. They put their lives at risk every day with having to make arrests, being shot at in some more complicated situations, and also having the wear at least twenty pounds of gear which puts a toll on the body physically. Officers have to get out of their patrol cars multiple times a day with the heavy gear on which can cause extreme stress. Officers need to be aware of their environment at all times and need to prepare themselves for the worst at all-time which can potentially end in a hazardous life-threatening situation.
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It is an officer’s job to enter situations that are risky and to keep citizens safe and arrest the correct suspects at the same time. Officers are allowed to use force if necessary. Officers have to deal with situations that can all of a sudden explode into a bigger one, so it’s important they are always assessing their environment and how much force is needed for each different situation. Officers are encouraged to use less-than-lethal power to make sure that aggression isn't taken out of proportion. Less-than-lethal force could be raising their voice, changing body position. Less-than-lethal weapons are used to stun a suspect and stop a situation before it escalates into something far worse. Batons, stun guns and Tasers are used for the type of condition that can be controlled before it escalates. According to US Legal.com, "Less-Lethal weapons are weapons or any devices that are intended to be less likely to kill a living target than are traditional weapons. Such weapons are also termed as non-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons"(USLegal.com, 2011). These weapons include a wide variety of different types of weaponry. I have attached a list of links to specific descriptions. Police use not all of these weapons on the list, but many are.
Technology can cause some critical issues in policing as well. Thermal imaging is used in policing for enhancing an officer vision at night if looking for a fugitive that is trying to escape at night. Thermal imaging can also detect radiation. These devices range in price from fifteen thousand and twenty thousand dollars. Some people raise concerns about the use of thermal imaging because they feel as if it causes privacy concerns. Whether the officer is using thermal imaging to look for a fugitive or look for a dead body; it isn't being misused and was created for law enforcement use.
The Intelligence Profession and the Terrorism Prevention Act that was created in the year 2004 had the most significant impact on law enforcement agencies and police. This was designed because of the events of September 11, 2001. The act has created an interactive intelligence community from the FBI to the local and state police forces. Since the bill was designed a lot more jobs, have been available within the law enforcement, but this has also caused some leadership issues as the local police forces have reported. The government-funded Eighteen billion dollars for the act, which was used to create more security around our country. The police force has to produce more training for more specialized jobs to fit the demanding security purposes in our country. The transition has not been smooth and will take time in our globalized nation.
Police officers not only have each other to rely on, but they also have their weapons. Although most people think of a weapon as lethal, there are lots of less the deadly weapons that police officers use. Most common among police officer is a chemical agent. The most common form is OC ( Oleoresin Capsicum ) of CS gas. While this less the lethal option reasonably simple to use, you still need to find the right balance. You want to incapacitate the subject. But you also don't want to incapacitate them for too long because they will have to be handled and transported. If you use too much of a chemical agent, it can affect the transporting officer and even linger on into the booking process. Another less than lethal option is the Taser. The Taser a Conducted Electrical Weapon. The Taser has two features: (1) you can shoot prongs connected by wires into a subject, which will allow an electrical current to flow into the question for a set period. The theme and only the subject will feel the current. (2) The second feature is the stun. After a cartridge has been expended, it can be removed, and the Taser can be used as a stun gun. Another option for less the lethal is projectile weapons. The most commonly used weapon to fire a projectile is a shotgun. The most common round is either a beanbag round or rubber bullet of some kind. The problem with these types of less the lethal cartridges is that they might not take the subject down right away.
With the advancements in technology, safety and equipment are getting better for police officers. Body armor is a key to police officer safety. Improvement with technology is the camera. There are not only cameras mounted in cars, but also a body-mounted camera. While car-mounted cameras have been in use for a while, body mounted is a new thing. The need for such a camera has arisen with the increasing complaints against the officer. While this technology is still new to the force, it has already proven very affected.
Conclusively, While local and state level law enforcement has been around for decades, department of homeland security or DHS has only been around since 2012 when Congress approved of its creation (Grant & Terry, 2012). The relationships between these government agencies are critical. Without cooperation among the various departments, many crimes would never get solved. Each branch has a specific skill set that is needed for different areas or offense. The job of a police officer is already dangerous enough without having a mistrust of bitterness between agencies. With the advancement in technology, not only does that benefits law enforcement but also the criminals. Keeping the relationships between the various departments is a must. It is not just for solving crimes, but also for the safety of the law enforcement officers.
Reference
Zink, R. (2008). Hidden Dangers of Policing. Retrieved from http://www.nycpba.org/
National Institute of Justice. (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/technology/Pages/welcome.aspx
Homeland Security. (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.dhs.gov/topic/law-enforcement-partnerships .
Grant, H.B. & Terry, K.J. (2012). Law enforcement in the 21st century (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson/Prentice Hall. Homeland Security. (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.dhs.gov/topic/law-enforcement-partnerships .
The police chief. (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=1527&issue_id=62008
Life of a police officer. (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/193001/life,_fear_&_attitude/the_life_of_a_police_officer.html
Walker, S., & Katz, C. (2011). The police in America: An introduction (7th ed.). Retrieved from: The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.
