The Path to the Shield: A Blueprint For Entering The Policing Profession

By Matthew Jamison

The Path to the Shield is a comprehensive guide for those individuals who desire a career in police work or are, at least, strongly considering this career field. Whether a potential applicant is in high school, college, or already in the workforce, there are a set of basic guidelines to which one should adhere in order to ensure the best chances of a police employment offer. The Path to the Shield is up-to-date in terms of its content but also stresses the basic tenets of policing, which are timeless in nature. This work outlines the specific steps that interested individuals need to take in their journey toward a policing career, as well as listing those things that should be carefully avoided. The Path to the Shield is a self-help book designed to prepare potential police officer applicants for this critically important role in our society. The actions of police officers in our great nation are seldom heralded and are very often criticized. The daily newspapers published throughout our land always mention accounts of policing actions, as do television news segments every evening. Due to the vital nature of this career field, it is of utmost importance that the very finest individuals make the decision to answer the calling to law enforcement and are properly guided through the process of getting themselves hired. Perhaps most importantly, The Path to the Shield describes the nature of police work in detail, to help potential applicants make an informed decision as to whether or not to actually apply to a police department. The unpleasant aspects of the job are detailed in this work, as are the positive and rewarding benefits of a policing career. The personal motivation of persons seeking to become police officers is discussed, as one's motives should be rooted in serving society and giving of themselves in this guardian role. This book is highly recommended for anyone even remotely considering a career in policing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9781645697589

Book preview

1

Background and Upbringing

Each of us is a product of our environment and experiences. Coupled with these factors are one’s education and socialization during the formative years of life. Prior to developing the notion of joining the police force, we all play cops and robbers, watch police shows on television (and there are countless programs about this career field), and read books about law enforcement topics. Some of the movies and television shows about law enforcement are realistic, but many are not.

Recent years have been witness to a number of television series with a policing theme, which have taken great pains to make their programs as true to life as possible, and several in fact include cameras and reporters actually riding with the police officers. The key point here is that many persons outside law enforcement have a perspective on this field that is less than accurate. My mistaken impression, as a juvenile, was that police officers gave traffic tickets to bad drivers and broke up fights, which was a viewpoint I formed from watching television. The reality is that this career is probably much more than most of us think at present, unless we have a close relative or a number of good friends currently or very recently employed as police officers.

From the moment we enter this world, we have exposure to a family environment, and each of our respective families are different. You are born into your family, and it is a factor over which you have no control. If you are like most persons, you have some person(s) in your family who has had adverse interactions with police officials. It should be emphasized that having relatives who have issues should not cause you to conclude you will be unsuccessful in entering into a police career. As has been stated, you cannot control your family. It is critically important that you are honest in disclosing any such relatives at the time you apply for employment. Should you fail to do so, it could cause hiring officials to question why you were not completely candid. This topic will be discussed in greater depth later in this text.

One’s parents obviously have a tremendous impact upon a person’s development. From the time of birth, a baby, toddler, or child spends a great deal of time with and learns most (in almost all cases) from his or her parents. During this time and throughout the teenage years, personal values, traits, and habits (good and less than desirable) are passed down from parental figures to young people. There is simply no denying this fact. I personally credit my work ethic and my love of sports directly to my father. The point to be made here is that, again, our parental figures set the stage for our development. The sooner we realize that some of them have transferred to us, the easier it is to understand how we developed certain characteristics.

Over some of this process, we have control and can make decisions, such as our religious beliefs; but some of this transferal will occur, regardless of whether we want it to or not. In any case, it is a virtual guarantee that if your parents are still living, they will be interviewed as to your application to be a police officer. Any good investigator will visit their home since parents demonstrate something by way of the environment in which they live. From interviews with parents, background investigators learn something additional about the police applicant. This will include a question of exactly why they believe their son or daughter desires a career in police work.

If you are still in your school years (high school and college), it should be stressed that everyone you meet forms an opinion of you. In the community where you reside currently and/or where you grew up, your neighbors have formed an opinion of you. These opinions are based upon their observations of your behavior, as well as their interaction with you, however limited. When you apply for a police position, a background investigator may ask them what they think of you—what type of person you have been while they resided close to you. These are incredibly valuable observations, as these neighbors have had a close opportunity to observe you in many different settings. Some examples would be how you interact with their children (or other juveniles in the community), your driving habits, your care and respect for personal property, and many other factors. As a background investigator, I also found that interviewing direct neighbors of applicants was a valuable means of obtaining information about the character traits of the applicant.

As is the case with your neighbors and their children, you probably have close friends in your community and in neighboring communities. You should ask yourself what your friends would say about you and, likewise, what commentary their parents would provide about you. Each personal interaction creates a memory that could later influence those persons’ comments about your character and how you conduct yourself.

Many juveniles spend a significant portion of their youth in organizations such as the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts. Scouting provides an excellent outlet for young people who are seeking to belong to something and seeking to be part of a group of persons possessing similar interests. Within the scouting concept, discipline and organization are emphasized. Participating youth take part in group endeavors, which helps to build teamwork, and develops the social skills of those involved. Scouts work toward their merit badges, so accomplishment and achievement are highlighted. Many useful skills, such as outdoor survival training, are thereby developed via the scouting concept. The United States Service Academies, most notably West Point, have recognized the value of scouting, as many who enter that institution have been involved in Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.

The reason for mentioning this fact is that one’s successful involvement in such groups in their formative years is quite impressive. Furthermore, the attainment of various ranks and awards, most notably that of the prestigious Eagle Scout, are valued by hiring entities. I have often said to young police officers that anything which comes easily in your work (or in life as a whole) is probably not worth very much while the rewards most difficult to attain are often those of the highest value. Again, prolonged involvement in this type of organization shows that the participant can interact productively with others and demonstrates that he or she has the ability to work both individually and as a group toward defined goals.

Throughout the period of young adulthood, you may have been shy or, conversely, you may have been a very outgoing person. For those who are considered for police work, both shy and outgoing applicants are perfectly acceptable. The factors that separate good applicants from less-than-desirable candidates are whether you are polite, considerate, and have a true sense of empathy toward your close friends and acquaintances. If you have great difficulty in getting along with friends, you may have difficulty in later life working with others, and this will definitely cause you problems in police work.

Another consideration is how well you get along in social situations. In the realm of dating, it is worth considering how your former social companions would describe you. This would include the respect you showed for dates—or the lack thereof. This is not something that you can easily change. You are either kind and considerate or you are otherwise.

Police agencies, like college admissions officials, look for applicants who have been involved. It is not enough to attend school every day and go home thereafter. Those who are involved in activities and can balance their studies with other outside interests tend to be regarded as better candidates for hire than those with very limited exposure to sports, clubs, hobbies, and part-time work. These outside interests demonstrate an ability to manage several facets of life simultaneously, which is a beneficial characteristic in later adulthood, and is certainly a requirement of police work. The point to be made here is that it is better to be involved than to be idle.

Your personal faith or religion is not a factor in deciding your fitness for a police career. I say this because religion, or the lack thereof, cannot be considered in hiring decisions. Federal law, in fact, states that no person can be discriminated against on this basis. It is worth stating that your involvement in church (or organized religion, if you want to express it in those terms), can be a favorable consideration for reasons already stated—it demonstrates that you are involved and, hopefully, you are developing contacts who will speak highly of you in the future.

Young people typically complete driver’s education classes as a part of the typical high school curriculum or are trained by a certified driving instructor outside the school setting. Driving an automobile is a tremendous responsibility, and it sometimes is a life or death endeavor. The attainment of a driver’s license is one of the rites of passage for young people as they transition from teenagers to the early stages of adulthood. This stage, which has several portions, will say much about a young person.

There are several phases to the attainment of a driver’s license. The first phase is the preparation and training, which hopefully involves more hands-on driving than merely required of and provided by the actual driving teachers. There are also written tests involved in this portion of a driver’s development. Most young people—in fact, nearly all—are successful in the completion thereof. The next phase is going to the motor vehicle department in the state where you reside and actually completing the paperwork for your driver’s license. The final phase—and this is the most critical—is the initial year or two of physically driving an automobile. The inexperienced operator will make mistakes, but hopefully, they will not behave foolishly or irresponsibly behind the wheel of a car. The driving record of a person will be with them for their entire life.

While law enforcement and insurance companies—and hiring entities, for that matter—may concern themselves with only the most recent year or two of driving, your entire driving history is permanently recorded somewhere. It can be a consideration far into adulthood. Driving, then, is a part of your upbringing. As a young driver, it is important to be respectful on the roadway and to show courtesy to other operators.

While the misdeeds of young drivers, whether they are accidental or intentional, often go unobserved, bad habits result from not obeying the law and from not respecting other drivers. At some point, someone will observe poor driving. If a driver routinely disobeys the law, he will eventually get traffic tickets for which he or she will suffer consequences. These consequences can include fines, court appearances, suspension of one’s driver’s license, and increased automobile insurance rates. Furthermore, police agencies are very reluctant to employ persons having a poor driving history.

For those young people who do not get a driver’s license in their youth, the attainment thereof will be a requirement prior to joining a police agency. Additionally, this process will be complicated by virtue of not having a demonstrated driving history. For those young drivers who make the unfortunate decision to drink alcoholic beverages and drive, the ramifications are very severe. The saying goes that alcohol and gasoline do not mix, and this is particularly true for young operators who are immature and inexperienced. One bad decision to drink and drive can take away the opportunity for a police career before one ever reaches adulthood. A sustained charge of driving under the influence, incurred as a juvenile, will all but disqualify you from a career in police work. There are certainly exceptions to this statement, but they are few and far between.

It is worth noting that most young people have experimented with alcohol and/or illegal drugs, or they have improperly utilized prescription medication at some point. Police agencies—and all future employers, for that matter—are cognizant of this truth. My point in mentioning this now is that it is a part of one’s upbringing. Most parents tend to discourage illegal drug use as they are expected by law to do. There is a mixed school of thought when it comes to alcohol usage. Some parents allow use in the home, or allow limited use of alcohol, or turn a blind eye to using alcoholic beverages so long as the school grades and the overall behavior of the juvenile are not severely impacted. Any juvenile is curious in this regard, and again, all young people seek to be part of the group and to fit in. These realities are understood by police agencies, but they are certainly not accepted.

To be clear, there are dozens of crimes within the law books in every state which prohibit the use of alcohol by minors, forbid the sale to minors, and make it illegal to provide alcoholic beverages to underage persons. There is always the possibility one will be charged as a minor for some such offense, but such a charge should not be regarded as a disqualifying factor for entry into a policing career in adulthood. It will complicate the process; but, again, it will not bar the offender from becoming a police officer. Repeated instances of alcohol infractions will increase the probability that an agency will not take a chance on an applicant. The key point to remember here is that alcohol use should be limited, even for those who are of age.

As a police applicant, you will certainly be asked about your use of alcohol, and your friends will be similarly questioned about your drinking habits. If an applicant’s drinking habits are such that alcoholic beverages are used on a frequent basis and/or to excess, it will surely cause any agency to hesitate in hiring that person. If one engages in risky behavior while drinking, that is indicative of a drinking problem and will