I’ve been writing quite a few of these stories, a lot based on my personal experience. If anyone has a story they would like to share, send it to us at info@policeprep.com. You can send us a brief idea and we will adapt a story, or publish one that you give us. People might be interested in commenting on a situation you might have found yourself in. Today I’m going to touch on a bit of a problem you may find on the job when you are hired. There are many apathetic officers out there who have been treated unfairly and feel discouraged working in the legal system. You have to decide the type of police officer you want to be when you put on the uniform. Are you going to simply respond to radio calls, or are you going to initiate investigations. If so, how are you going to learn?

Read the rest of this entry »

I was a serving police officer for four years and have worked in the training and education field, preparing police candidates for the testing and application process, for almost a decade now. I have worked with amazing police officers as colleagues, very dedicated teachers and staff at the colleges we service, highly professional recruiters and frankly, some inspiring applicants who dream of one day being an officer. I write these posts, not to sound pessimistic, or indicate that officers are corrupt, or evil, but to indicate that cops are human. We are all fallible, and as officers you are going to encounter some very tough choices and some morally challenging positions. Today’s scenario is tough, not in terms of right or wrong, but in terms of what actions you would or could take. I need to reiterate what I said above, that the vast majority of people employed in the policing field are of the very highest calibre.

Scenario:
Sean was a second year student at a police foundations program. He loved the program, was doing very well in his classes and got along with all of the students. He felt the calibre of the instructors was very high, with most of them being former police officers. The instructors were professional, shared real experiences with the students and kept the classrooms fun and engaging while maintaining a high level of professionalism. He was very excited to be where he was and was confident he would one day be hired as a police officer.
Read the rest of this entry »

As a serving police officer you have a lot of control over your day. On slow days with few radio calls, you have a lot of discretion on how you patrol and how you spend your time. If you are working with a partner, your day can be very enjoyable and rewarding or very frustrating. As a new recruit you are going to be placed with an experienced officer and you will have to learn to work with all types of people.

Scenario 1:

Jordan was a relatively new officer to the shift but had finished probation and was working with officers other than his coach officer. For the past couple of weeks he had been getting assigned to work with Officer Hayden who he really didn’t get along with. Officer Hayden was a senior constable with over 20 years on the job.

Read the rest of this entry »

Judgment and discretion are necessary tools police officers have to be able to use if they are going to perform their duties effectively. There are times when you pull people over for traffic offences where you might decide to issue a ticket, and there are times when you may choose to give a warning. It isn’t always easy to decide a course of action, and below are a couple of scenarios that may cause you to pause and think as a new police recruit.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m sure everybody remembers reading about legal cases where a company threw a party, an employee had too much to drink and got behind a wheel of a car. A situation like this may have already happened to you some point in life, either at work, or during school. Have you ever been at a party where you weren’t comfortable with what was going on? Have you ever seen friends acting inappropriately at parties, or drinking in areas where they shouldn’t be? Things can be a lot more complicated as a rookie or new cadet on the job.

Scenario:

During training while at the Police College, Dion remembered a lecture that was given by an Internal Affairs officer. The lecture centred on off-duty officers drinking at the end of shift in parking lots or parks before heading home. The Internal Affairs officer discussed how a lot of officers get into trouble with this type of behaviour. It leads to problems at home, incidents of cheating spouses, complaints from neighbours, drinking and driving of officers and internal investigations by them. The IA officers warned every new recruit not to get involved in this type of activity, and at the time Dion thought he made a lot of sense and wouldn’t want to be part of this.

Read the rest of this entry »

Policing is an interesting career and how much you enjoy your day often has a lot to do with whom you are sitting beside in your squad car. A great partner makes a great day, a partner you don’t get along with can be a nightmare though. It is important as a new police recruit to be diplomatic and realize you have a lot to learn from whoever is your partner or coach officer.

Scenario:

As a young recruit, Steve was working with a senior officer by the name of Mark. Steve enjoyed working with Mark, but felt he sometimes didn’t take the job too seriously. Steve respected Mark’s knowledge, and Mark was a senior officer on the platoon.

Read the rest of this entry »

Integrity can be a bitter pill to swallow sometimes. If you don’t have it, this job is not for you. Even if you consider yourself a person who has a high level of integrity, you will still encounter situations that will test you.

Scenario:

As a new police recruit Shawna was required to meet a specific standard in order to graduate with her class and be officially sworn in as a police officer. Part of the physical requirement was to run a mile and a half in under 13 minutes. Shawna had been having knee problems and was finding the run difficult, but had been improving her time and felt confident she would meet the standard even if she was one of the slowest in the class.

Read the rest of this entry »

We received a lot of positive feedback on the hypothetical scenarios from last week, so I decided to continue with some more. Some scenarios I write about are based on my own personal experiences, some from stories I’ve discussed with others, and some I have made up. Following up on last week’s situations, I’m going to discuss another issue that will unfortunately come up at some point as an officer or in some other life situation. There are going to be times when you are working with members of the public when you encounter bigotry and discrimination. I think it is a good idea for recruits and police candidates to consider how they would respond in these types of situations.

Scenario 1
A simple traffic collision where a middle aged Asian woman strikes middle aged white woman from behind while speaking on the phone. Both drivers are polite to you, but the white woman is angry at the situation. While speaking with the Asian lady alone, she admits that she was at fault, but is upset because the white woman made a derogatory racial slur at her. Is there anything you should do while investigating this situation? Should charges be laid? Even though you did not hear the statement should it be addressed? If so with whom?

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m going to do something a little different this week. I’m going to talk about issues that arise very quickly with young officers as they enter the police service. I think this is important to police applicants and new recruits as the decision you make will have a major impact on the type of career and life you will have once you are hired. Every now and then as a police officer you will be offered a favour while performing your job. It usually starts with a cup of coffee. I’m going to throw a couple of scenarios out and see how people would weigh in on the decision they would make in the particular circumstances.

Scenario 1
An officer walks into coffee house where a break and enter was committed several days ago. The coffee shop owner appreciates the work the officer did, and offers him a cup of coffee while they go over additional information.

Read the rest of this entry »