Remember that the research paper will run between 8-10 pages, will integrate sources from a diverse array of resources using MLA style, will have a clear thesis/research question as the backbone of the paper, will avoid fallacious rhetoric, and will construct logical arguments to advance the ideas in the paper.
Police Officers Setting Themselves Up For Failure
Phillip Harding
English 102
Tammilyn Gee
12/1/2014
Are Police Officers Setting Themselves Up For Failure
Law Enforcement officers have one of the most dangerous and physically demanding careers but often times an officer is not prepared to come to work. Officers were trained day after day and week after week during their academy experience on what to do to get the job done but once they are finished they think that they do not need to continue with their physical fitness or stress testing although it is imperative for their success in their professions. Officers demonstrate poor judgment once they leave the academy and often times get into the mindset that now that they have training they can conquer any challenge that comes their way. But what if the challenge is themselves?
When I was growing up I had a police officer father who was always physically fit and prided himself in his profession. He would continually train in cardio, weight lifting and self-defense classes. He would come home and practice the techniques that he learned on me and my four brothers. In my mind, police officers were always fit and ready for situations in which they could possibly be faced. Now that I have taken the same route as my father and become a law enforcement officer it disgusts me at how out of shape officers are. I have been able to see first-hand the lack of preparation and excitement of staying physically fit. The over confidence of some officers due to them being able to shoot a gun well or drive a car has overcome the desire to stay in shape so they can conduct their other business and affairs when driving and shooting are not the best option. "Studies found that officers often neglect their own safety when performing their duties: 1. Fail to follow all the rules, especially in regard to arrests, confrontations with prisoners, traffic stops, and waiting for backup when backup is available. 2. Feel they can "read" others/situations and will drop their guard as a result." (Violent Encounters, 2)
A law enforcement career is always uncertain. When officers go to work they are faced with many complications that could hinder them from staying in shape. They have hours that have the propensity of changing at a moments notice. When they think they are arriving to work a 10 hour shift they might end up taking a call that could drive them past their normal shift by many hours. They constantly face shift changes from nights to days, weekends to weekdays and so on. Attempting to work these shifts with a schedule for home life can make the job of staying fit a very hard. There is nothing worse than working a longer shift and knowing you should still go home and exercise to maintain your physical discipline.
If you have ever worked a job where you were always on the run you will understand the need to eat on the run as well. You never know where you might eat and that's if you have the chance to do so. Officers do not always have the best choices available at their disposal. Most places that offer "fast food" do not provide a healthier choice to their regular menu. So imagine yourself grabbing a meal on the run and then rushing back to a vehicle where you will sit and drive to a call where you might have to stand, run or possibly fight. Would you be ready? Police officers do not have to eat out all the time. If they think ahead they could pack and plan out their meals in advance so they have that healthier alternative. They can also learn their areas and know where there is a healthier food option if they plan on eating on the run. According to The Impact of Stress and Fatigue on Law Enforcement Officers and Steps to Control It, "not eating properly in order to fuel the body can increase the effects of fatigue."
Have you ever stood on your feet all day or had to go on a long trip that lasted many hours? Now imagine doing that every day that you go to work. An officer working traffic could be asked to stand outside for hours on end in the hot sun and direct traffic with little to no breaks. If they are working enforcement actions they could be getting in and out of a vehicle approximately 40-50 times per shift all the while they are typing on a computer which sits to their right that forces them to twist their backs. As you can imagine, all these activities play a big toll on an officers' body. To prevent some of the major issues that could occur from these activities an officer should make sure they are stretching out their muscles before, during and after their shift. If they take the preventative maintenance precautions they can save themselves a lot of pain in the future.
When an officer goes through the academy they are required to participate in force on force scenarios. This allows them to be ready for the real life scenarios in which they are going to have to fight to defend themselves or others. Many times officers have to do a foot pursuit prior to fighting. This brings on unique dynamics to the body which combines both cardio and muscular training. The academy provides both of these situations for the recruit officer and they tend to get sick of it quickly due to it being a requirement. When an officer graduates, if they continue with a workout routine they tend to go for one or the other but not both. Most do not lean towards the cardio due to all the painful memories of discipline while in the academy and they think it is more boring than lifting weights. According to the article Cardio Exercise and Resistance Exercise: Which to do First states, "An overall health goal will consist of fat reduction, lean muscle mass gains, and cardio vascular function. So, you need to do both aerobic activity like walking or running and anaerobic activity like weight lifting and calisthenics." Which means for an officer to stay in his optimal health peak they must conduct weight lifting and cardio exercises. This maintains not only the body mass but the article goes on to state that doing both will "...OPTIMIZE your health performance and improve / prevent illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and other illnesses"
There are normal lifting and cardio exercises but there are others that could benefit an officer as well. They are constantly engaging in violent encounters when they are forced to fight with an assailant that does not want to go to jail or just has the intent of hurting someone that day. An officer can benefit from self-defense and offense techniques when it comes to fighting. Of course there are many different styles and classes they can take to better themselves and stay up to date on the latest trend but which one do they choose. Officers are prone to not want their identity known when they are not at work. If they go to a self-defense class that is offered to the public they might be recognized and to a regular citizen this might not sound like a bad thing but to an officer it can be devastating. How would it feel to go to a class where you are just trying to better yourself and you run into someone that would like to "put a hurting" on an officer because of something that happened in their lives. It happens every day.
Physical fitness is not the only thing that can cause issues for an officer. Stress levels affect physical, mental and emotional aspects of a persons life. To say an officer can get stressed out is an understatement. With the constant changes in their careers due to shifts, income, coverage and other issues and officer can become overwhelmed quickly. Law enforcement is a distinct profession in which you might be applauded for an outstanding job in which you performed while in the next moment you could be faced with a fight over even taking a persons' life that is attempting to harm you or others. You never know what you are going to face which makes for a very unsettling day. Officers are trained to be observant and to remain on edge which does not usually allow them to settle down or calm their nerves whether on duty or at home. An officers' job has its perks for someone that wants to make a difference and help others it is a wonderful job to have. At other times it is not envious. Officers have seen some of the greatest events in history some good and some bad. A normal shift for an officer could consist of writing a traffic ticket, responding to a call of a barking dog, responding to child or domestic abuse, a fight in progress or a collision which involves several hurt or even dead subjects. These are all items that weigh heavily on a mind, are not easily forgettable and cause a lot of stress that is hard to let go of. "What many officers might not be aware of is the long-term effects of chronic fatigue and the relationship between stress and fatigue... Being fatigued on-duty causes many issues such as poor decision making and other cognitive task difficulties." (Bond). You do not want to go to work where you are required to drive fast, overcome physical resistance, take a persons' freedom or shoot someone and be on the verge of fatigue. "When stress is preventing normal sleep times (6 to 8 hours, recommended), an officer can quickly encounter sleep deprivation which compare to excessive drinking of alcohol and found the effects on a driver were very similar. (Bond).
Speaking of stress on a mind there are also stress points for an officers' body. They carry a lot of gear every single shift that can weigh anywhere from 15-75 pounds depending on their functions and capacities. They have heavy boots, bullet proof vests and a duty belt equipped with Tasers, batons, handcuffs, magazines full of ammunition and firearms. They are required to perform all their functions with all these inconveniences strapped to them. If an officer is in a specialty unit such as SWAT they can be required to wear a lot more body armor in order to protect them during breaching of homes and clearing of buildings. To go from a pair of gym shoes, running shorts and a t-shirt to this gear it requires a lot more mental toughness and preparedness. You can't just decide one day to grab it all and start running and working out. You need to work up to it and have your body in decent shape before applying all the other required items. Once you have developed a proper routine for yourself you can start putting on more weight and push yourself to a new limit.
The world of a police officer is always changing and evolving. Take the equipment they wear and place them into a vehicle. It is cramped and difficult to control as you have to maneuver not only around traffic but around the gear that is strapped to your body. As you go throughout your day you are required to use all the equipment inside your vehicle. It is very difficult to type on a computer that is placed 45 degrees to your right while strapped into a car with a heavy vest on but it is required to be done. An experienced officer would tell you if you are required to complete your reports in your "mobile office" you will want to buy a spare keyboard so you can type directly in front of you and not be angled. Not doing so will hurt your back quickly and cause a lot of undue stress on your body that you don't need.
There are a lot of trainings that an officer could attend if they would just open their mind and drop some pride. Most don't want to admit that they could use some help but there is training for most situations that an officer can come across in their careers. For instance if an officer is wanting to better him or herself in defensive tactics there is a training they could attend that would be free or little cost. Most don't want to go through it because they would be required to help train others around them and they don't want the extra liability that would be thrust upon them. In another regard they could attend training that could help with "verbal judo" that would benefit them in talking to people and allowing them to calm a person down that is in a heightened state which would also assist them in overcoming a fight before it began. Others could include how to cope with stressful situations, how to drive under stressful situations, nutrition and how to combat breathe after physical requirements. The key to these trainings is to see a need within oneself and find the training that would apply.
It is apparent that there are many things can affect your life while you are at work. The hardest problem with work is it is extremely difficult to separate work life from your home life. One of the best things that could help you is to have an understanding family or partner to assist in the transition. Not having an understanding family could make things worse before they can become better. At times the only thing someone needs is time to relieve the stress when they get home. If they had a set time to relax before being thrown back into the home and family life a person can many times can be distressed in this gap period.
The training that an officer goes through begins to change their thoughts and ways of life. They constantly live on edge wondering when the next bad thing is going to happen and how they are going to fix it when they face it. They are constantly on the look-out for the time they were told someone was going to attack them or their family at home or at the store. With all this training they go through they begin to act different and they begin to separate themselves from their family. The family sees the changes that are happening with their loved one but are uncertain on how to fix or cope with it. A study was conducted on officers that were involved with the World Trade Center attacks in which they examined why some officers developed PTSD and why others did not. "...Officers who experienced greater dissociation and emotional distress during the incident and had greater negative life events and less social support afterward, were the most at risk." (I love a Cop, page 102). If there was a family member or friend that was there to talk with the officer it would allow them to cope or adjust. When an officer arrives home they have a lot of thoughts and things rolling around in their heads from the hustle and bustle of work and they do need an outlet in order to clear their heads and put their lives back in order and on track.
Not everything can be blamed on the job though. "...perhaps the most damaging factor is that police work provides a ready-made scapegoat for a troubled marriage and an easy out for avoiding the task of managing differences with loved ones and learning positive ways to build, strengthen and maintain a family." (I love a Cop, page 4) This rings true on many different levels. A police officer typically has a type "A" personality which means they always want to be in charge and control. It also means that they have a hard time sharing their feelings due to it making them appear weak or too sensitive. If an officer can be allowed and allow themselves to open they can control a lot of the emotions that are flowing inside of them. When an officer shuts himself out from the rest of the world thinking he can handle it on his own or just close it up somewhere, they are absolutely wrong. When an officer shuts out family they are indeed shutting down the way to cope and it causes a sense of frustration with the people that love them and want to help them the most. "Studies have shown that law enforcement officers who experience ongoing stress are more likely to display anger, distance themselves from their family members, and have unsatisfactory marriage and family relationships. In addition, domestic stress and crises often affect the job performance of first responders." (Westphal)
Divorce rates among officer families is among the highest in the nation due to the inherent issues with officers and their unsteady professions. "...48 percent of marriages fail in the United States. Past studies have indicated that law enforcement officers have one of the highest divorce rates when compared with other groups of professionals." (Westphal) Due to these inherent issues that could be faced there are officers that have issues getting married due to their choice in profession. Knowledge of this should force an officer to make the appropriate precautions and deal with the stress accordingly.
I have trained officers with the need for all the above mentioned things. They know they need help but they lack the courage or desire to change the habits they have developed. Due to their mediocrity they continue to work in a way that puts their lives and the lives of those around them in trouble as well. They might do it out of laziness but it could also be out of not knowing they have resources available to them but once they have determined there is a problem they need to ensure they take the problem to the forefront of their minds and make sure they take care of the issue as if it was a disease.
The people that go into this profession are among the strongest and most determined. All they need is the training they, the understanding and knowledge of how to succeed and a support group to keep them going. Not at one point did anyone say this job was easy but it is most definitely worth it.
Categories for improvement
1. Transitions- I'm not the most confident when it comes to making sure I move fluidly from one to the other.
2. Organization- I have all the knowledge in my head but I have a hard time organizing it even though I did the sentences outline.
3. Staying on Topic- ensuring that I stay on topic and make common sense sentences while writing.
Works Cited
Bond, Mark. The Impact of Stress and Fatigue on Law Enforcement Officers and Steps to Control It. Public Safety, 2014. Web. 01 December 2014.
Davis, Edward, Anthony Pinizotto, Charles Miller III, United Stated Department of Justice. Violent Encounters. New York: U.S. Dept. of Justice, 2006. Print.
Kirschman, Ellen. I love a Cop. New York. 2007. Print
Smith, Stew. Cardio Exercise and Resistance Exercise: Which to do First. Police Link Magazine. 2012. Web. 01 December 2014.
Westphal, Gary. Police Chief Magazine: Law Enforcement Healthy Marriage and Marriage Project. Police Chief Magazine, 2009. Web. 01 December 2014.
