Police Officers have to be effective decision makers. They are often put in situations where there is imperfect information, where action is required. It is important to work well with partners to make sure that you resolve situations effectively. That being said there will be times when you are confused and will require support and advice from someone who is more senior such as a road sergeant or detective. When to go for this advice is often a matter for debate.

Scenario:
Trevor and Kalpesh had both been on the job for only a couple of years but found themselves being paired up to work together quite frequently. They both enjoyed this, as they were both hard working young officers on a shift that had several more senior officers who in their opinion would often let things slide. One night the received a radio call to attend an apartment building. There was a woman walking around the halls carrying two candles. Both the police and the fire department were dispatched.
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Police officers are going to find themselves in situations they do not want to be involved in. When you just think about the amount of driving that a police officer does, and what that means to your chance of becoming involved in a collision (minor or otherwise). The more you drive, the greater the chance of damaging a vehicle. Because police vehicles are driven almost 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, they experience a lot of wear and tear. The vehicles are often in pretty poor condition after a while.

Scenario
James and Mike had been working together as partners for almost a year. They were both hard workers, who had only about four years on the job each. They both enjoyed working with each and had become friends over the last year. They were assigned to patrol area 1406 quite often and as a result found themselves driving the vehicle 1406 which was quite an old vehicle, with many dents and scrapes on it.

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New police officers have to learn that there is a lot of discretion that police officers have when they are performing their duties. Because officers spend a great deal of time on their own (or with partners) they can make different decisions on how they choose to enforce laws, and serve the public. This can become a bit of an ethical question at times in many officers’ minds.

Scenario:
Linda Swan has only been on the job for a couple of weeks. She works for a regional police service that covers a very large area. So far she has loved the work, and found the advice from her coach officer Sean McDonald extremely beneficial. He has been on the job for about 10 years, seems to bring in very good arrests and seems to have a goal of going after the more serious offenders in society. Read the rest of this entry »

Domestic assault is a serious offence. As an officer I encountered it on a weekly, and unfortunately at times it seemed a daily basis. Victims and witnesses often don’t want police involved, as an arrest of a family member can cause obvious problems including financial hardship, destroyed relationships or potential escalation. Police have a duty to make an arrest if they believe an assault took place and there is evidence to support the charge. That being said, situations sometimes become confusing in the real world.

Scenario:
Amber and Paul had both been working as police officers for about three years and were partnered together one Saturday afternoon. They received a radio call to attend a domestic assault in progress. It was called in from a neighbour in an apartment complex who said a woman and man were fighting in their apartment and in the hallway. Read the rest of this entry »

Working nights as a police officer can be very difficult. In some divisions it is extremely busy, and the night will fly by, while in some divisions when it gets quiet, there is not a lot to do. During these times you can sometimes come across awkward moments involving other officers.

Scenario:
Sheldon has been working for about a year on the job and gets along very well with his shift. It is the last of seven nights in a row that the entire shift has to work. The preceding six nights had been extremely busy with a large number of calls and a couple of serious incidents that made a lot of officers work a great deal of overtime. Tonight it had been quite quiet, especially after 3:00 am when the officers had finished their lunch breaks. There had been no calls in a couple of hours, and officers had not reported any problems.

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Policing is a career that at times requires a great deal of creativity to get the job done. New recruits have to learn this quickly as once you are out on the road, you are often your own boss. This doesn’t mean that you can’t tap into a large number of available resources. There are lots of tools police have access to both within the organization and outside of it.

Scenario:
Wendy had been working as an officer for about 8 months at a busy downtown division. One late afternoon she received a call to attend to a disoriented older lady who was walking on a busy road in heavy traffic. When she arrived, she encountered an older woman who did not speak English carrying a purse with almost $4000 in it. The woman was confused, had no identification and seemed like she needed help. Wendy wasn’t certain what language she did speak, but was guessing an Eastern European one.
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Many police organizations are quite large, and as a new recruit, you are going to have to realize that with large organizations, there will inevitably be people that you have to work with that you just don’t get along with. This could be an even bigger problem in a smaller service, where there might be less room to avoid the officer you dislike. You will encounter conflicts with fellow officers and superiors. For some situations, it is difficult to determine what to do, especially if the conflicts are between other people and you find yourself caught in the middle.

Scenario:
Officer Jordan has been working for about a year in his division. He gets along well with his fellow officers and his supervisors. James is on a different platoon and often relieves Jordan at the end of his shift. James and Jordan went through training together and got along very well. Having spoken to James between shifts one day Jordan is aware that the sergeant of that shift is not well liked by the officers. The sergeant had apparently written up a number of the officers for what many people considered very frivolous citations and negative documentations. These citations would go into the permanent record of the officers.

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Once you are hired as a police officer, you are going to encounter many situations that will have multiple solutions. Depending on the officer and or sergeants involved, different approaches will be taken. You are going to have to make sure that you are comfortable with any decision you choose to make. These decisions will impact your personal morals as well as your relationships with fellow officers.

Scenario:
Officer Stuart has been working for about a year in primary response. He got along well with the officers as well as the detectives who were in charge of major cases. One night he was called to a robbery in progress. When he arrived on scene there was a young man running from the scene. Officer Stuart chased the male down and arrested him for robbery.

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If you are hired by a police service, and begin a career as a police officer, you are going to be put in situations that require strong decision-making skills. There are times when you will be the first officer on scene, and completely in charge of crime scenes or traffic collisions. Despite excellent training, testing, and hopefully a great experience with a coach officer, you are at times going to feel overwhelmed and confused. One piece of advice I could offer you is to prioritize quickly, make a decision and begin taking action. As you are working, on something, if there is a higher priority, or if you feel that you made a bad decision, correct and move on. Sometimes just taking the first step or two, even if they are in the wrong direction, will allow you to begin thinking more clearly and working towards resolving a crisis.

Scenario:
Office Achria was relatively new on the job. He had been working for almost a year, but was seconded to a traffic unit, which was responsible for patrolling the highways in a busy city. Achria didn’t have a lot of experience with traffic collisions, or traffic crimes as he handled a lot more criminal work with his training officer.
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