Recruiting and selecting personnel are of great importance to successfully implement the community policing philosophy. Training is also critical for a successful transition to community policing. However, do not make training the spearhead of change. Among the most important areas to include in training are communication skills, problem-solving skills, and leadership skills. Create your own job description for the position of police officer. Include any basic requirements that you want your applicant to possess. For example, you may only require a high school diploma or an associate’s degree. Applicant’s may be required to conduct a physical agility test, written test, or other job requirements.
Note: I am not concerned about the format you choose to use for this assignment just as long as it is easy to read.
You are working speed enforcement one morning in a school zone in your community. The normal speed limit for this area is 45 mph, but during school zone hours, the speed reduces to 20 mph. A small four-door car approaches where you are sitting and your radar indicates the car’s speed to be 47 mph. As the vehicle passes you, you observe the driver as a female, and she is also on her cell phone. Cell phone use in a school zone is also a violation. You make the traffic stop and walk up to the driver’s side window where you ask her for her driver’s license and auto insurance. As she looks in the glove compartment for her insurance you notice that she is crying. As a veteran police officer, you have dealt with crying violators before, but something inside you suggests this is something different. You ask her if everything is ok and she begins to sob.
She tells you that she is a single mother working two jobs. She has three children, ages 16, 11, and 7. For her first job, the hours are 10p-6a. After getting off at 6 a.m., she goes home to see her children off to school. This is about the only time she gets to see them. She has to be at her second job at 7 a.m. Today, time got away from her as she visited her kids. She is an hourly employee and every minute counts when it comes to getting to work on time. Not only that but she needs her job. She was running late and this is why she was speeding. She never asks you for a warning. Her emotions of a difficult life; single mother, missing time with her children, trying to provide for her children, late for work, and now a traffic stop have come to a head.
Are you empathetic to her situation? Does having empathy for her affect your decision-making when it comes to how you will dispose of this traffic stop? Do you issue a citation for either violation? If so, why? If not, why?
