Being a police officer in today’s society comes with a heavy price to pay. The external pressures police face prevent them from being able to do their job safely and effectively. There is no other job that faces such criticism and sometimes deadly consequences more than being a police officer. Every which way they turn there are social, political, and economic pressures that force them to adjust their way of working. Fear of losing their job or life prohibits them from adequately and safely doing their job. As pressures increase, so does the stress and safety of their job. Police officers cannot do their job in a manner in which would not receive such backlash or criticism. In today’s society, they cannot do anything right and when they do
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Basing a police officer’s work off of a political agenda endangers not only the officer’s life but the general publics. “The police must maintain the status quo (whatever it may be) until it is changed by legitimate political authorities” (Beare, n.d.p.7). The acting legal authority of police officers is the government which serves the people. Changing policy by undue pressure, without truly understanding the actions behind police officer procedures, can result in some unintended consequences. Police officers are to enforce the current political stance, but must also be able to enforce new changes as political views often change, all while staying politically objective (Beare, n.d.p.7). The ever-changing policies enacted by the government involves policing to abide by and enforce political related decisions with minimal political interaction (Beare, n.dp.7.). While government listens to the outcries of the public, there is a naivety of what police officers deal with on a daily basis. They have to make life altering decisions within seconds. This kind of pressure puts them in a category to be scrutinized. It is easy for a governor to implement a policy from the safety of his office, not facing a life or death situation where one needs to make a quick decision on how to proceed. Such policies can put many at risk, including the officer. If an officer must second guess their …show more content…
Economic pressures do not stem so much from a police officer’s own economics as much as the people they come into contact with. Those in the lower class are most likely to be incarcerated, charged, convicted, and sentenced to prison with longer prison terms (Perez, 2010, p.1). These reasons are what drive the economic external pressures for law enforcement. Police officers come into contact with minorities and lower class more than other socioeconomic classes. This creates a large divide among the public and the officers. It would seem as though officers target the lower income, but officers go to where the crime is. A large fraction of society believes that officers profile and purposefully look to arrest the lower class. Due to other external pressures and the uneducated, it looks as though the police have targeted them. Economic pressure is the driving force in which other pressures get their steam from. If all one knows about the police is what the media shows and what they see around them in their low income neighborhood, then it is completely plausible that their perspective seem rational to
Basing a police officer’s work off of a political agenda endangers not only the officer’s life but the general publics. “The police must maintain the status quo (whatever it may be) until it is changed by legitimate political authorities” (Beare, n.d.p.7). The acting legal authority of police officers is the government which serves the people. Changing policy by undue pressure, without truly understanding the actions behind police officer procedures, can result in some unintended consequences. Police officers are to enforce the current political stance, but must also be able to enforce new changes as political views often change, all while staying politically objective (Beare, n.d.p.7). The ever-changing policies enacted by the government involves policing to abide by and enforce political related decisions with minimal political interaction (Beare, n.dp.7.). While government listens to the outcries of the public, there is a naivety of what police officers deal with on a daily basis. They have to make life altering decisions within seconds. This kind of pressure puts them in a category to be scrutinized. It is easy for a governor to implement a policy from the safety of his office, not facing a life or death situation where one needs to make a quick decision on how to proceed. Such policies can put many at risk, including the officer. If an officer must second guess their …show more content…
Economic pressures do not stem so much from a police officer’s own economics as much as the people they come into contact with. Those in the lower class are most likely to be incarcerated, charged, convicted, and sentenced to prison with longer prison terms (Perez, 2010, p.1). These reasons are what drive the economic external pressures for law enforcement. Police officers come into contact with minorities and lower class more than other socioeconomic classes. This creates a large divide among the public and the officers. It would seem as though officers target the lower income, but officers go to where the crime is. A large fraction of society believes that officers profile and purposefully look to arrest the lower class. Due to other external pressures and the uneducated, it looks as though the police have targeted them. Economic pressure is the driving force in which other pressures get their steam from. If all one knows about the police is what the media shows and what they see around them in their low income neighborhood, then it is completely plausible that their perspective seem rational to