4 answers
jeberiah
Student
Vallejo, California
1
Question
Asked
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I am interested in becoming a police officer
#1: What are the values your company upholds that makes them employers that you want to work for?
#2: What values does a company look for in a person they are hiring?
#3: How do you stay motivated as a police officer day-by-day?
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4 answers
David Deshaies
Police Officer
15
Answers
Sanford, North Carolina
Updated
David’s Answer
1) Honesty, consistency and objectivity are probably the top-3 most important traits for me. If a supervisor lies to me and it's not handled, I would never work there (or be in the process of leaving as soon as possible). Consistency is key: if a discipline issue is handled one way with an employee and then the same issue is handled differently with me, it likely means there are a lot of problems in the agency. Objectivity is very important, as well. Many agencies spend far too long thinking about how things "look" and not how they "are." Factual, logical analysis is very important and applying it to most aspects of operations make working there much easier.
2) Most agencies look for positive character and sound decision making skills over other hiring criteria. For example, most agencies don't care if you experimented with drugs in the past but will not hire someone who stole even $10 worth of products. The theft shows a serious character flaw that is incompatible with law enforcement work.
3) I remind myself, on a daily basis, that I'm doing everything I can to help the victims of crimes I interact with. I care about my job and take pride in it, and I believe if I didn't do it, someone less capable or someone who cares less will answer that 911 call. I do everything I can to ensure a positive outcome; if someone else in the system fails, at least I did everything I could.
2) Most agencies look for positive character and sound decision making skills over other hiring criteria. For example, most agencies don't care if you experimented with drugs in the past but will not hire someone who stole even $10 worth of products. The theft shows a serious character flaw that is incompatible with law enforcement work.
3) I remind myself, on a daily basis, that I'm doing everything I can to help the victims of crimes I interact with. I care about my job and take pride in it, and I believe if I didn't do it, someone less capable or someone who cares less will answer that 911 call. I do everything I can to ensure a positive outcome; if someone else in the system fails, at least I did everything I could.
Cassiano Dusi
Officer
1
Answer
Ponta Grossa, PR
Updated
Cassiano’s Answer
Dear Jeberiah,
As a resident of another country, I cannot answer questions #1 and #2 with certainty. Regarding question #3, I think that motivation comes from the fact that every day there is a new opportunity to help someone. Often police help is the last resort people have, ie the police team is called in when other solutions have proved ineffective or in emergency cases. You must have good training and psychological support to withstand the most complicated situations, however, in any case, as I said, it is a career that allows you to help others and have social recognition of the importance of your work. Hope this helps.
As a resident of another country, I cannot answer questions #1 and #2 with certainty. Regarding question #3, I think that motivation comes from the fact that every day there is a new opportunity to help someone. Often police help is the last resort people have, ie the police team is called in when other solutions have proved ineffective or in emergency cases. You must have good training and psychological support to withstand the most complicated situations, however, in any case, as I said, it is a career that allows you to help others and have social recognition of the importance of your work. Hope this helps.
Racheal Noble, Ph.D., LMFT, LPC, NCC
Mental health, education, research, care coordinator
70
Answers
Oakland Park, Florida
Updated
Racheal’s Answer
Hello,
If it's possible, you can go to your local police station and ask to go on a shadow trip with them to see what a "day in life" would be like. Note, they day uou go shadowing will not be the same as when you start, there are variations.
With shadowing, you can learn more about what steps to take for applying, training and expectations during your first 3-5yrs.
Be confident and know that you have to develop relationships, understand the community you work in and use great judgement. You main priority is the ability to go home every day safely.
Hope this helps get you started.
If it's possible, you can go to your local police station and ask to go on a shadow trip with them to see what a "day in life" would be like. Note, they day uou go shadowing will not be the same as when you start, there are variations.
With shadowing, you can learn more about what steps to take for applying, training and expectations during your first 3-5yrs.
Be confident and know that you have to develop relationships, understand the community you work in and use great judgement. You main priority is the ability to go home every day safely.
Hope this helps get you started.
Mark Francis Ayoob
30+ years in law enforcement and military service roles
7
Answers
Texas, Texas
Updated
Mark Francis’s Answer
Hi Jeberiah. I’ll take a shot at answering your questions...
#1: What are the values your company upholds that makes them employers that you want to work for? Generally speaking, law enforcement entities (departments, agencies, units, etc) have their organization’s values documented within their own internal reference manuals and the such that are generally provided, say, in those agencies’ educational pipelines, say, at an academy, for the new employee to study and live by.
#2: What values does a company look for in a person they are hiring? Generally speaking, a law enforcement entity can determine during the recruitment and background investigation phases if an applicant for that law enforcement entity has been living a life in line with that law enforcement entity’s values.
#3: How do you stay motivated as a police officer day-by-day? Great question! As law enforcement officials, we have to develop an art that helps us filter out the negative noise (on social media for example) so that we can focus on what is important, what we swore to do; to serve and protect our fellow man. It’s that simple. Difficult sometimes, but it comes down to that. Hey, if being a cop was easy, everyone would be doing it. But they aren’t, so…
Jeberiah, I wish you all the best in your endeavors. I hope what I wrote was useful to you. Be safe.
Sincerely, Mark
#1: What are the values your company upholds that makes them employers that you want to work for? Generally speaking, law enforcement entities (departments, agencies, units, etc) have their organization’s values documented within their own internal reference manuals and the such that are generally provided, say, in those agencies’ educational pipelines, say, at an academy, for the new employee to study and live by.
#2: What values does a company look for in a person they are hiring? Generally speaking, a law enforcement entity can determine during the recruitment and background investigation phases if an applicant for that law enforcement entity has been living a life in line with that law enforcement entity’s values.
#3: How do you stay motivated as a police officer day-by-day? Great question! As law enforcement officials, we have to develop an art that helps us filter out the negative noise (on social media for example) so that we can focus on what is important, what we swore to do; to serve and protect our fellow man. It’s that simple. Difficult sometimes, but it comes down to that. Hey, if being a cop was easy, everyone would be doing it. But they aren’t, so…
Jeberiah, I wish you all the best in your endeavors. I hope what I wrote was useful to you. Be safe.
Sincerely, Mark