What is the gender make up of American law enforcement?
According to the newsletter of the COPS office in July 2013, women in law enforcement make up only 13 percent of the force which is already a great improvement from 1970’s figure of two percent.Is it a male-dominated field?
In law enforcement, women are perceived to be “too emotional, too passive, or too physically weak for the job”. Women in the force are better received now because compared to men, women are less likely to be involved in citizens’ complaints regarding excessive use of force; thus, there will be less civil actions in the police departments. Women in law enforcement are often watched more closely because they are expected to do something wrong. However, there are also instances when policewomen are treated with more respect because men are taught to respect their mothers. The discrimination has already decreased but it still exists and will hopefully improve for the better. As Chief Patrick O’Rourke of Derry Twp states, “You can’t survive in law enforcement today without female officers. Their skill set is just as good if not better than male officers.” .
How are rookies perceived, received, and treated by older fellow officers?
Rookies are perceived to be lacking in experience and relying only on their training. Depending on the personality of the older fellow officers, a rookie may either be treated in a fair or unfair manner. Some older training officers may treat a rookie fairly because it is a reflection on his performance as a training officer; thus, he wants the rookie to succeed. Other older fellow officers are more than willing to give advices to rookies. On the other hand, there are also some older officers who would treat rookies as though they were garbage. Some older officers receive rookies as an apprentice to whom they can exercise their payback time, that is, letting them feel what they have experienced when they were rookies.How the arrogant, college graduate, rookie law enforcement officer might be perceived, received, and treated by the older officers in his or her agency (especially by those older officers who might not hold college degrees)?
Arrogant, college graduate rookies are perceived to be over confident. Some older officers, especially those without college degrees are intimidated by arrogant, college graduate rookies. They sometimes give them a hard time to prove to them that there is nothing like experience in law enforcement, that there are things one learns on the streets and not in schools. As one chief of police said, “Too many young police officers want to move on and up before they really have a good foundation. They think that because they have graduated from the academy and completed the field training program, they know the job. They have only begun to know the job. The lack of a solid foundation will come to hurt these new officers in the long run.”.How does humility play a role into being accepted into the closed culture of law enforcement, or are rookies immediately accepted?
Humility plays a major role into being accepted into the closed culture of law enforcement. Rookies should not act as though they know it all just to impress their training officers. Field training officers expect rookies to ask questions. They do not like rookies who think that they know everything. Rookies should be humble enough to know that they need to respect the police hierarchy even if his trainer has a different policing style from his.
References
Crooke, C. (2013, July). Women in law enforcement. Retrieved from cops.usdoj.gov: http://cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/07-2013/women_in_law_enforcement.asp
Forzano, N. (2011, January 20). A rookie's guide to becoming a top cop. Retrieved from policeone.com: http://www.policeone.com/police-jobs-and-careers/articles/3201449-A-rookies-guide-to-becoming-a-top-cop/
Kasper, J. (2010, May 18). 10 Rookie errors to avoid. Retrieved from policemag.com: http://www.policemag.com/channel/careers-training/articles/2010/05/10-rookie-errors-to-avoid.aspx
Miller, B. (2012, December 8). Female police officers are rare but sought after for unique skills. Retrieved from pennlive.com: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/12/female_police_officers.html
Pierce, J. (2012, June 20). Tactics - Veterans and rookies. Retrieved from lawenforcementtoday.com : http://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/2012/06/20/tactics-veterans-rookies/
Policeemployment.com. (2008, May 21). Women in law enforcement. Retrieved from policeemployment.com: http://www.policeemployment.com/resources/articles/women-law-enforcement
Scoville, D., & Harvey, W. L. (2008, May 1). How to survive probation. Retrieved from policemag.com: http://www.policemag.com/channel/careers-training/articles/2008/05/how-to-survive-probation.aspx
