Careers in Law Enforcement free essay sample

Choosing a Career In Law Enforcement Law Enforcement Careers This paper is an exploration into a career in law enforcement. It briefly summarizes the history of policemen in the United States. It will also convey different types of careers in law enforcement and provide salary information. There is information concerning requirements to become local, state and federal officers. Everyone has dreams and aspirations. For me, as a child, I always thought that I would have a law enforcement. Growing up, my great uncle was always some sort of law enforcement officer and was my idol. In later years, there was a fascination with federal law enforcement. Most recently, my fascination has been in police forensics, no doubt inspired by the litany of television shows. There is a vast array of specialties in law enforcement and the criminal sciences. To start in this career field, it is important to understand its origins. We will write a custom essay sample on Careers in Law Enforcement or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Policing is an old and noble profession, predating the Norman conquest around 1066. As the colonies were settled, it was yet another British idea that was adopted by the colonists. Initially, policing was the job of a Justice Of the Peace. With the organization of the colonies and growing cities and towns, there was an apparant need for an organized and paid police force. Boston founded a Night Watch in 1636. In 1651, New York City established the Shout and Rattle Watch. As the larger cities continued to grow, Philadelphia divided the city into ten patrol areas in 1705. Philadelphia also led the way by establishing a 24-hour police force in 1833. New York ran two separate police forces, a day and a night watch, in 1844. Police Chiefs typically had ties to politicians and corruption was commonplace. Police departments today are highly specialized with Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Teams, internal crime labs, multiple departments such as vice and homicide, and even numerous sub stations or precincts. Many police departments rely heavily on community outreach as well. There are law enforcement explorer organizations and neighborhood crime watches in most major metropolitan areas. Some localities even have citizen police academies. This offers many opportunities to be something other than a â€Å"beat cop† and peaks public interest in law enforcement careers. Many opportunities in the nation’s leading departments and most in federal law enforcement agencies require college degrees. Universities and colleges offer degrees in criminal and forensic science, computer crimes, and criminal justice, to name a few. This shows how law enforcement has evolved from simply deterring crime and chasing criminals. Competition in these jobs is hard and a degree could be just what puts you in the running for an open position. A law enforcement career is not for becoming rich. The national average salary is fifty thousand dollars. That is actually a big part of the attraction. To know that you are putting yourself in harm’s way daily, protecting and serving your community for such little monetary benefit is very honorable. Wanting to be a cop starts with knowing what kind of cop you want to be. You could be a city policeman, a sheriff, a highway patrolman or a federal agent. Non-federal jobs, though hard, are easier to obtain. Typically to become a municipal officer, sheriff or highway patrol officer, you must be 21 years of age, possess a high school diploma, be physically fit, be a U. S. citizen and have clean driving and credit records (Smith, 2011). After passing an examination, you would be enrolled in a law enforcement academy. Federal agencies normally require at least a bachelor’s degree. To join the FBI, you must have a four year-degree (FBI Careers, 2011) in addition to the requirements above. Also, you need three years of professional work experience and to have never defaulted on a student loan. A CSI (Crime Scene Investigator) is the profession that most of us are in love with at the moment. Do you suppose kids play CSI and robbers instead of cops and robbers? Television shows like the CSI franchise have introduced us to this line of work which is often behind the scenes. It involves gathering, testing and analyzing evidence to help solve a crime and or build a case against a suspect. Some people in this line of work are not even sworn officers. Most are sworn officers but not all (International Crime Scene Investigators Association, 2006) The difference is arrest powers and most often salary. Salary ranges from twenty to fifty thousand dollars. In a small rural police department you may or may not need a degree. Though steeped in history, being a public servant and protector of the people is quite noble, but not necessarily financially rewarding at the entry level, though a seasoned officer can make a decent living. One must know and understand the different types of law enforcement officer to make an informed choice so that they feel rewarded and satisfied with their decision. You also need to live a somewhat moral and virtuous life without any â€Å"skeletons† in your closet.

After Blenheim by Robert Southey and Drummer Hodge by Thomas Hardy Essay Example

After Blenheim by Robert Southey and Drummer Hodge by Thomas Hardy Essay Example After Blenheim by Robert Southey and Drummer Hodge by Thomas Hardy Paper After Blenheim by Robert Southey and Drummer Hodge by Thomas Hardy Paper Essay Topic: Burial Rites Poetry Thomas Hardy Poems After Blenheim is a poem written by Robert Southey in 1798. It is about an old man named Kasper. Kasper is telling his grandchildren, Peterkin and Wilhelmine, about the Battle of Blenheim (1704) during the Franco Prussian War. It was written to give an anti-war message because of the situation between England and France. Hardy wrote Drummer Hodge in 1899 during the Boer War. It is about a young drummer boy who is in an unknown place. It was written to give Hardys point of view on the war between England and the Boers. The story was chosen to give a message of war and experience for young men. Hardy wrote it because he believed it was strange that a young boy should leave his home in Wessex to enter the war and end his life dead in Africa, a country that he knows nothing of and is forever lost. After Blenheim is a very suitable title telling the reader that the poem is about the Battle of Blenheim. It begins in a narrative form, at Old Kaspers farm. It starts oddly with a description of a warm evening. The discovery of a skull leads to his grandchildren asking him about the war. Kasper recalls how his father lived in Blenheim and how his dwelling was burnt down and with his wife and child he fled. The poem goes on to describe children dying. This was to give the disgusting picture of what war is really like. However, Kasper doesnt sound surprised by this and only thinks that its natural, in a war, that lives are sacrificed for a famous victory. Then Kasper explains the image of the aftermath. Bodies here lay rotting in the sun gives a picture of mounds of dead bodies piled together. The reader notices his story on Blenheim progresses poorer until the Duke and Price Eugene are mentioned. But, one may notice that when Wilhelmine says it was a very wicked thing Kasper hesitates but can only reply with Nay ay. This may be interpreted as Kasper having doubts on what the government and propaganda has taught him. The rhyme scheme in After Blenheim is ABCBDD. This gives the war poem a very childish, nursery-rhyme effect and is insistent. The rhythm of the poem assists this view. Because it gives it more support as a childrens poem. Drummer Hodge is a title telling the reader that the poem is based on one boy from a war. However, one doesnt notice at first, that it is very sarcastic; that Hodge is a derogatory name given to uncomplicated people from the countryside, by city folk. The story is based upon a young drummer boy sent into the Boer War. Hes just died and the poem begins with a scene of hundreds of bodies being thrown into a heap, with no funeral or procession. It is considered very heartbreaking that the boy has died lost, in an unknown place. Unfamiliar people and sounds surround him and foreign constellations mark the stars that signify the boys resting place although they are unknown stars to him. The second verse describes how he was born in Wessex and died in a strange place. The poem then goes on to tell the reader about the boys burial spot means his body will grow with a Southern tree although he was born with a Northern breast and brain. And the ending of the poem explains how he is eternally where he doesnt belong. The ending is considered very ironic because he will forever be with outlandish scenery. It is also very ironic that the drummer boy was killed although it is only the soldiers jobs to kill, the young boy doesnt kill others. Although the rhyme scheme is very similar to that of After Blenheim, this poem has a different effect. This is possibly because it has a more advanced vocabulary and is not for the faint of heart. After Blenheim and Drummer Hodge have some similarities, which make them good poems to compare. Firstly, they are both about war and both convey the poets feelings on war as useless and un-resolving. Also, both poets seem to feel sorry for the boys and men that died in the war because Hardy writes bluntly, how the boy is uncoffined just as found. I think Southey uses an underlying theme of wars pointlessness and how it cost lives although no one ever knew why. The rhythm and rhyme of the two poems are fairly similar and can both be considered based upon the average nursery rhyme. The tones of both are very depressing because, in After Blenheim he talks about mother then and new-born baby died. Both poets begin the poems peacefully. Drummer Hodge begins with the burial of a boy. This is sad, but peaceful. After Blenheim starts with the grandfather resting after working. Hardy and Southeys poems are very different in many ways. Drummer Hodge was written at the time of the war however, After Blenheim was written long after the Battle of Blenheim. Also, Hardys poem is about South Africa, but After Blenheim is about England. The two poems are based on very diverse people. After Blenheim is concerning an old man but Drummer Hodge relates to a young boy. Hardys poem is mature and isnt for the faint of heart, but the other poem is much more childish and simple. After Blenheim is a story of someone who lived through the war and is therefore less depressing than Drummer Hodge, which is about a boy who died during the Boer War. Also, Drummer Hodge makes the reader sympathize with the boy, but After Blenheim makes you pity Kasper and feel sorry for the civilians who died. Overall, After Blenheim can be taken as a childrens poem because of the rhyming and rhythm. However, I think that those who truly read into the poem, between the lines, discover the underlying theme. Therefore, it is rather complicated and may be approached as a childrens poem, but is for older readers. Drummer Hodge is definitely not for younger individuals because it is very detailed and is more sophisticated with vocabulary more advanced, and including Afrikaans. I think both poets put across their views on war very clearly and very well.