Cja 214 - Police Operations

Police Operations

name

CJA/214

February 16, 2011

Santos Ramos

Police Operations

Police officers have a job that is neither specific nor well defined. Officers employ a wide variety of tools, technology, and tactics to make their jobs as controllable and safe as possible. Much advancement in technology such as less than lethal weapons and communications have paved the way to make the lifestyle of an officer not only more survivable but more efficient. However, the job itself is not without its dangers that will never go away no matter what the advancements are.

Some of the dangers that face law enforcement face may not even come from the criminals that they pursue. Every time that an officer pulls someone over whether it be on a road or a freeway there is an inherent danger that the officer could be killed by a passing vehicle. And the odds are severely against the officers’ safety when performing even mundane tasks such as the one listed above from the person driving the vehicle. Yes we provide officers with advancements such as Kevlar but when you’re taking that short walk to that vehicles driver side you never know what will be waiting for you; an innocent average citizen or someone with a gun and a vendetta or nothing to lose. In 2008, 38 officers nationwide were shot and killed in the line of duty. In 2009, those numbers went up 24 percent to 47 (The Associated Press, 2009) Even with all the advancements given to officers to even the odds, the numbers still rose higher! Even with these numbers there have been several advancements that have been proven to successfully assist officers.

Less than lethal weapons have been in officers hands since the 1980’s. There are several options available to officers such as beanbag rounds, OC spray, and Tasers and more recently in the late 90’s pepper spray paintball style rounds. These rounds contain either liquid or a powdered version of oleoresin capsicum which is the primary active ingredient in pepper spray. Tasers on the other hand have been adopted by police forces in May of 2003. They are made by Taser International and are used by law enforcement when deadly force is either not an option or not practical for the circumstances that the officer is in. Beanbag or “flexible baton rounds” have been around as early as the 1970’s. They are designed to incapacitate the victim and are primarily used on suspect that either have a knife or that are suicidal.

Various forms of technology have aided the ever evolving police officer to be able to better analyze and deal with emerging threats. These range from the creation of a 911 based system started and maintained by AT&T in 1968, to