Blog 18 - Answer 2

Experience and Training makes a difference in determining if a Police Officer dies or live on the line of duty 

1. What is your EQ?

• My essential question is, "How can a Police Officer make safe and ethical calls in high pressure situations?"

2. What is your first answer?

• My first answer to my essential question is, Training. It takes a lot of training for a Police Officer to be able to make safe and ethical calls in high pressure situations. Continuously training will help any police officer because they will always refer back to muscle memory and what they did or how to perform in certain situations. 

3. What is your second answer?

• The second answer to my essential question is, experience. It makes a huge difference when it comes to Police officer who has been working for 2-3 years in comparison to a Police Officer who has worked for 10 or more years. The more a Police Officer is exposed to the better because it will better prepare them for anything out of the ordinary and they will know how to react. 

4. List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

• If a Police officer who has worked for 2 years is involved in a shooting he or she may not know how to react to the situation because that is their first encounter to an active shooter. In the other hand, a Police Officer who has worked for 10 years and encounters and active shooter they will know how to better react to the situation due to the exposure they have had in the past and all the out of the ordinary encounters. 
• Experience may make or break a Police Officer because all Police Officers are human beings and if a newer Police Officer with little experience has to roll up to a high priority call and does not know what to do it will affect them greatly. It also places their life on the line or even other people's life on the line. The main duty of a Police Officer is to protect those in need and help in any situation where the individual feels like they cannot handle it themselves. If a Police Officer were to place others at risk then this may not be the best career for them. 
• Being a Police Officer takes a lot of courage, motivation and dedication. The process is difficult  and the goal takes time to achieve. For those newer Police Officer (Rookies) who graduated from the Police Academy and are starting their field training which is 6 months; go through so much such as stress under pressure, be able to do their duties, know how to talk on the radio, how to write reports, etc. If that rookie does not pass their 6 months of Field Training then they cannot be a Police Officer because after those 6 months are over they are on their own. A Police officer must be able to think fast as well as act fast and to make sure that all the calls they give are the right ones. one wrong move and their career may come to an end. Trainees are exposed to a lot of information during their field training but eventually understand the ropes.  In the city of Pomona which is known to have high crime rates, a Police Officer must always stay on the look out because in a split second their life can end due to an encounter of shots being fired. Another scenarios that may happen is a when a vehicle is stopped and the license of that vehicle comes back as "Stolen" then that traffic stop would then become as "high risk vehicle stop". So, commands must be given, the people in the vehicle have to come out and must be searched, and the vehicle must be searched; for any guns, weapons, drugs, or anything out of the ordinary like a kidnapped person. 

5. What printed source best supports your answer?

• Siegel, Robert. "'Be Guardians, Not Warriors': Training A New Generation Of Police." Npr. Npr, 21 May 2015. Web. 09 Sept. 2015. <http://www.npr.org/2015/05/21/408549702/be-guardians-not-warriors-training-a-new-generation-of-police>.
• <http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2015/06/30/distraught-people-deadly-results/>.
• Leland, Fred. "Critical Decision Making Under Pressure: The Complete Article." Law Enforcement and Security Consulting. Law Enforcement and Security Consulting, 03 Dec. 2008. Web. 13 Jan. 2016. <http://www.lesc.net/blog/critical-decision-making-under-pressure-complete-article>.
• Kasper, Jody. "10 Rookie Errors To Avoid." - Article. Police Magazine, 18 May 2013. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <http://www.policemag.com/channel/careers-training/articles/2010/05/10-rookie-errors-to-avoid.aspx>.
• Stoughton, Seth. "How Police Training Contributes to Avoidable Deaths." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 12 Dec. 2014. Web. 09 Feb. 2016. <http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/12/police-gun-shooting-training-ferguson/383681/>.

6. What other source supports your answer?

• Lowery Wesley Lowery, Kimberly Kindy, Keith L. Alexander, Wesley, Kimbrly Kindy, and Keith L. Alexander. "Distraught People, Deadly Results: Fatal Shootings by On-duty Police Officers." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 30 June 2015. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.
• Vickers, Joan N., and William Lewinski. "Performingunderpressure." Performingunderpressure. Force Science Institute Ltd., n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2016. <http://www.forcescience.org/performingunderpressure.html>.
• Davis, Kevin R. "Leadership in Police Special Operations." Law Officer. Pennwell Corporation, 13 Aug. 2015. Web. 08 Sept. 2015. <http://www.lawofficer.com/articles/print/volume-11/issue-7/features/leadership-in-police-special-operations.html>.    

7.  Tie this together with a concluding thought.

• In Law Enforcement it takes a lot of time and effort to master something or just be good at it. It is critical that one understands what they are getting themselves into because it will place their life on the line as well as others. Police Officers must be able to eliminate the threat at any time and anywhere. They will face several encounters where the situation escalates very fast and it does not give one enough time to think and process what to do or what just happened. Experience and the amount of training that a Police Officer has gone through will make a difference in the field because their chances of survival have just increased. Rather than a new Police Officer who is still learning how to complete several tasks. One must be able to think, act and plan under pressure of what they will be doing and how they are going to control the situation. It can be difficult to think under pressure because one wrong move and everything may go downhill from there. So, Police Officer must always keep in mind that at any moment they can be involved in a high priority call like an active shooter or a foot pursuit. One must expect the unexpected, prepare for the worse and hope for the best. 

On Friday, 2/26 for Advisory, you will be presenting what you have from this blog.  The presentation is more like a share-out and should not last longer than 2 minutes. You don't need a visual, and you should not read what you have written.