Police Officer Profession

Regardless of who you are, any human being may be persuaded, even those who consider themselves an expert in a particular field. Often police officers have a confidence or feeling of imperviousness, especially those who have been in law enforcement for longer periods of time, within an organization. This confidence, on one hand, can keep an edge that is required in a line of work such as law enforcement. On the other hand, this confidence comes with a healthy dose of invulnerability, or the feeling of being able to see through rhetoric, persuasion, influence, or any type of tactic used to convince, as transparent. This is a handy skill when talking to deceptive people. The truth of the matter is, even those who deal with deception on a daily
In the daily life of police officers, the day can begin with abject boredom and transform into harrowing danger. There is never a pattern to what may occur. Many come into a police career with the desire to help others and make a difference in their community or even the world. During the time when I began my career as an officer, there was a push for professionalism and a return to protecting and serving of the public. This came from the decades of racism, enforcement of white supremacy, and using officers as a way to take civil liberties. During the latter portion of the eighties and early nineties, professional police service was the work ethic being installed into new police officers. Throughout my career, I have witnessed a change from professional teachings, to more militarized elitist teachings. This has been particularly evident in the past ten years. In past studies, researchers have found attitudes toward police have been mainly cultivated through officer interaction with people, and through media effects (Mazerolle, et al., 2013, Avdija & Giever, 2010). However, it is my belief that things have significantly changed with regards
The roles assigned to them by the public generate how they appear to the public; it is all in the perception. With the latest trend of the media, officers are staying with their own ingroup and building their alliance by buying into their own rhetoric. I was inspired to write this paper after an officer came into my office shortly after our class discussion on persuasive techniques. The conversation included a colorful discussion by the officer who was trying to convince me to understand why he was wearing his tactical vest outside his uniform. I asked him why he had been wearing this uniform in this manner recently. He began explaining to me how we could only rely on ourselves, and when I attempted to explain how his perception was flawed, he literally said to me, “Lisa, would you trust me if something went down? Tell me why you would trust me? Would you trust someone else? Would you trust a citizen? Tell me why you would trust me and not them?” As I sat there in stunned silence, he again asked, “Tell me why you would trust me and not them?” I actually began laughing, thinking of the class the night before, at his bewildered look, I explained to him what and how persuasion works. This began a debate for the next while which included his next approach, social