An Interview With a Local Police Officer
This interview with a police officer from Richmond County Sheriff’s Office was conducted to research the aspects of police operations’ performance. This questioning aims to understand policemen’s duties and the approaches they employ while fulfilling their work responsibilities. It is significant to note that the officer has not retired and is still working in the department. Overall, the police officer, Jonas Blue, answered five questions to assist in the exploration of the local operations’ styles and the tools he employs at work.
To begin with, it is highly crucial for the police departments to separate the roles between employees so that everyone is focused on fulfilling one’s own responsibilities without being distracted by other tasks. For instance, Jonas Blue stated his primary responsibilities included investigating and controlling the crimes, whereas his colleagues were assigned to the following strategies: community policing and problem-solving. The idea of employment in both roles, crime-fighting and order maintenance, ensures that the local public is not vulnerable and less likely to suffer from criminal attacks, thieves, and maniacs. Besides, it helps establish a fruitful cooperation between the police department and community which assists workers in seeking criminals and solving the cases.
As for the styles of policing, Jonas Blue mentioned that Richmond County Sheriff’s Office based its operations on investigating severe crimes and maintaining public order. According to Siegel and Senna (2007), styles of policing also include the following: social agents performing activities without being connected to law enforcement and law enforcers who follow the rules while maintaining the local order. To be more exact, Jonas Blue’s primary responsibility is to investigate the crimes and employ various tools while seeking evidence to determine the identity of the criminals. Moreover, one was responsible for questioning and apprehending criminals to ensure that the police department captured the guilty person.
Furthermore, police officers tend to follow different operational styles based on the department’s aims and beliefs. Thus, John Broderick (1986) identified four types of performance: enforcers, idealists, realists, and optimists. To be more particular, enforcers’ tasks are to maintain orders and keep the public safe by seeking criminals, whereas idealists opt for focusing more on individual rights (John Broderick, 1986).
The realists base their performance on police loyalty and form strong bonds with their colleagues, while optimists orient their jobs toward protecting the local community at all costs (John Broderick, 1986). In fact, Jonas Blue claimed that he related himself the most to the enforcer style of operations, considering that his responsibilities were related to fighting injustice and establishing safe settings for people by seeking criminals. Still, the police officer stated that his colleagues also tended to follow idealistic and optimistic types of performance based on their sort of duties.
Nevertheless, police officers’ work can also be identified by the types of crimes they investigate. James Q. Wilson (1971) claimed that the policemen’s behaviors could be separated into three primary groups: watchmen, legalistic, and service styles. The first type of operational style is strongly connected to maintaining public order by controlling illegal activities, such as minor violations (Wilson, 1971).
Legalistic manner is identified by officers who concentrate on investigating misdemeanor crimes (Wilson, 1971). In contrast, the service style is based on the emphasis on the community’s needs and, therefore, the policemen consider themselves as helpers and not law officers (Wilson, 1971). After conducting the interview with Jonas Blue, it became clear that he was following the watchmen style of policing. He aimed at ensuring the community’s safety by seeking the criminals to reduce the risks for the locals’ well-being.
In addition, Jonas Blue elaborated on the specifics of his behavior that influenced his decision-making process when investigating the cases. The police officer stated that his main aim was to keep the public safe without risking locals’ lives when studying the crimes and seeking evidence. Furthermore, one mentioned that it was incredibly crucial for police officers to be attentive and brave to be able to avert repercussions on the people when seeking the criminals. However, as for stopping lawbreakers, Jonas Blue tended to employ his quick reflexes as the offenders could do something unexpected and, therefore, put him and the local community at risk. Additionally, the policeman stated that his main fear was to summon and further arrest the wrong person, so he studied psychology thoroughly to analyze the people and make sure that one is guilty of the crime. As a matter of fact, Jonas Blue also devoted considerable time to the questioning procedure to ensure that the right person had been captured.
In conclusion, police officers tend to employ various operational styles to narrow their scope of tasks and ensure outstanding performance at work. The interview with Jonas Blue considerably assisted in realizing the aspects of Richmond County Sheriff’s Office’s strategies to maintain the public order and ensure the locals’ safety. Besides, the decision-making processes seem to play a pivotal role for the officers that follow the watchmen or idealistic styles of policing.
References
Broderick, J. J. (1986). Police in a time of change. Waveland Press.
Siegel, L. J., & Senna, J. J. (2007). Introduction to criminal justice (9th ed.). Wadsworth Publishing.
Wilson, J. Q. (1971). Varieties of police behavior (College Edition). Atheneum Publishers.