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POLICE OFFICER - Senior Sergeant Tim Hardiman Senior Sergeant
Regional Support Team, Priority Communities Division, Victoria Police Force
Introduction Policing is hard to explain as it takes in all sorts of things, especially after dark when most places have closed down, Police seem to get the call when people get stuck. On a basic level policing is about helping people and upholding the law. Police get to drive cars, ride bicycles and motor cycles, fly helicopters, drive boats, search and rescue, dive, and process offenders before attending court. You need to be cool headed, calm and decisive in your actions with a sense of empathy to those you often deal with in a time of crisis. You also need to be open minded and non-judgemental in order to achieve the best out come for all you deal with and your own peace of mind. Education I attended a technical school and reached Form 5 or Leaving [Year 11 nowadays. Students could leave school in Year 11] as it was in those days. I was an average student and had average marks in English and Mathematics, learning more on the job with all the typing and brief development and statement taking honing my skills each day. I applied and completed a number of extra courses during my career and this complimented my experience and approach to policing over the years.
There are also many
opportunities with each position attained to learn new skills that often if
you decide to leave policing are valued by the private and government
sectors.
The police academy give basics to everyone entering, life experiences are the best and should be gathered along the way before entering but there are still plenty to learn on the job.
Self defence, firearms training, maintaining a fitness level along with negotiation skills are invaluable in this occupation. Squad members assist each other and swap stories that help in other times and places. Training these days is alternated between time in the academy and time at a 24 hour station; its 'on the job' training and you soon know if you are cut out for it with long hours and varying incidents that test your resilience and nerve. Once out you get time to make up your mind if
traffic or crime is your preferred pathway; if its neither there are over 50
different positions available to choose from such as prosecuting, crime
scene analyst is or many others. The basic wage is pretty good these days for police and there is plenty of opportunities for increases with overtime and additional shifts, some rostered and some unexpected. Policing has a rank structure and so when you start you are at the bottom taking orders from everyone else. But it doesn't take long to get an extra strip or two and along with the responsibilities come extra pay. After 40 years in policing and an understanding wife, I have been able to raise my kids buy a house and set myself up for a comfortable retirement. There have been many of my friends that I joined with and didn't stay as long but have been able to obtain good jobs in the private and government sectors as a result of the years of experience gained from policing. Experiences & Opportunities I have had distant members of my family in policing but no one close to me. I did however enjoy watching people and seeing their reactions to certain situations and thought policing offered a variety of different opportunities on a daily basis for interaction with a wide range of people in different situations some often life threatening. There were a couple of policing TV shows around at the time and these affirmed my thoughts on the type of profession I wanted to enter; and it didn't let me down. I entered policing with an open mind but had a focus on investigations although you have to do time "on the beat'' learning the basics before you can become a detective. I attended traffic accidents some involving deaths, suicides, unexpected deaths, family violence incidents, industrial accidents, injured animals, neighbourhood disputes, signed legal documents, attended courts, managed prisoners in cells and transported them to prison. I learnt to type and compile briefs for the coroner's, magistrate, county and supreme courts and take witness statements. I conducted undercover operations involving the gathering of evidence, swearing of warrants and surveillance; before arresting charging and prosecuting the offenders. I prosecuted cases on behalf of the police in the magistrate and coroners court system. From time to time I applied for promotions and sat exams to obtain the next rank and also the important pay to went with it. I was also given opportunities to do extra studies in other qualified areas that would be a benefit to policing.
Links:
Neighbourhood
Watch Australian Curriculum General Capability: Personal and social capabilities
1. Neighbourhood Watch Australasia (NHWA) is an overarching Crime Prevention body: but appears to have only "oldies" as volunteers. Ask your parents or carers if you can attend a local Neighbourhood Watch meeting together to help the police with Crime Prevention within your community. 2. Set up a Neighbourhood Watch community within your school. What do you think you would report on? Would it be possible for you and your group of Neighbourhood Watchers to create a positive environment at school - by being more friendly. How would you go about this? 3. In this PDF : Local copy There are 14 pages of different activities to undertake. Look at the booklet and complete ONE activity [at least!].
Police Action Role Play Middle Secondary
Australian Curriculum General Capability: Intercultural Understanding Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking Cooperative Learning Activity
1. "You need to be cool headed, calm and decisive in your actions with a sense of empathy to those you often deal with in a time of crisis." [Said Tim above]. Form groups of 4 - 5 students. "As part of the process
of applying to become a police officer, various areas of your ability will
be tested and assessed. At your first interview, for example, aspects of
your personality will be assessed in order to determine whether you have the
right skills to become a police officer. 2. Set up a role play situation: a. two people are the Police Officers b. one person is the 'victim' or 'complainer' c. one person is the 'culprit' d. Your Teacher is the Assessor. 3. You will be given one of these roles and a scenario. You will be given 5 minutes to think about what you will say and interact. 4. Research on how to go about your role
Look at the following video: How to Pass the Police Officer Selection Process -
New Core Competencies 2014 UK (35 minutes)
5. Police Role Play: Tips and Advice
6. Police Role Play Scenario
A shop-owner has been caught distributing leaflets without a permit to do so and comes complaining to you. You will be playing the role of a police officer in charge of the security team who has stopped the shop-owner from doing so. He is very irate complaining that he has been running this shop for years without any trouble and now the security officers are giving him a hard time. You need to explain to him that it is indeed against the law to distribute this material at this time and place. This needs to be done in a sensitive and calm manner, keeping the shop-owners trust whilst at the same time not giving into his demands. (Source: How2Become)
7. The Scenarios
to Use a. You are called to make a report of an elderly lady who has dementia and who has gone missing while shopping. You will be required to interview her relative who was out for the day with her. (Source: How2Become)
b. On the day in question, the defendant Ms Jones was observed by store security acting suspiciously in the sporting good section of the store. The store security officer observed the Ms Jones enter a change room with the item in question and exit without it. They believed the shirt had been put on under other clothing in an attempt to hide it and followed Ms Jones out of the store. The defendant was spoken to and asked to return to the store where she was questioned about the shirt. Police were called and Ms Jones Co-operated/did not cooperate.
8.
Reflection a. Did you listen, truly listen to the member of the public? b. Did you remain calm and defuse the situation? c. How conifident and professional were you in your dealing with the situation? |
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