Being a correctional officer is something that takes a lot of dedication, along with very thick skin. As stated in past article, interviews and various publications correctional officers are usually called every name in the book except for their name. A lot of times dealing with criminals is a very difficult thing. In the mind of many criminals they have nothing to lose, as everything has already been taken away from them. Now with that, what do you do? Some people choose this line of work because of the pay, the benefits and many other examples that go along with it. Now you can see many men dealing with this sort of thing, imagine what a woman goes through when it comes to the same position. In essence many women are not as strong physically as a man is. With that said, it can be argued both ways when it comes to their mental capacity. Some will say men can usually take verbal abuse a lot better than men. Either way, women working in the correctional capacity take a unique woman. However, just because they are women what says they should be targeted easier for sexual crimes and other various abuses. Either way, it’s very prevalent that this occurs a lot more to women then male officers. Because of this Britton suggests more protection and training for these officers. Either way, it’s a known problem that congress seems to not be paying much attention to. Since this is the case what do you do? Officers are promoting more and more to make sure they work as one solid team and to have each other’s back. Watching out for your partner is right now the best form of protection available out there for these officers. We all know the conditions are not always the best in our jails, however, with a lack of funding so jails distribute what the bare minimum of training is for their officers and then put them out into the jail blocks. Either way, you can consider some of the officers fully trained while other may not be all the way up to par. Yet, what do you do right?
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Saturday, November 7, 2009
Blog Number 20
The longest hostage situation of all time was sadly in our own backyard 5 years ago. With that, it’s something that has paved the way of quite an overhaul of our prison system. However, what happens when you have women as the prison director then a good ol’ cowboy or more commonly referred to John Wayne? Well you get additional scrutiny from the media, and the additional in-depth wasted tax payer funds that many people think occurred since they had one major goal. That goal was to get the hostage out of there alive. Usually in the past there were times when we would just go for the barge in shoot to kill type scenario, or the sniper shot from many feet away. Either way, the director of Department of Corrections was not going to go that way. With that, no one was hurt and all came out alive.
Britton’s study shows that there are a lot of issues in our prison system with the proactive approach to these sorts of things if they were to occur. This particular situation is a very good example of that statement being something that prisons need to take into consideration. Why is that you say? Well, once the hostage took control, the director, and those involved did not have any maps, layouts, or documents available in regards to the layout of this tower. Because of that, it made things a lot more difficult in regards to trying to save this prison guard. Either way, they did learn from the situation and have already taken measures needed to make sure they have them now.
Now we all know the definition of Affirmative Action, and that with that sort of thing, we have to make sure we do not gender discriminate when it comes to placing guards into different towers, housing units, just based on their gender. If there are female officers that want to work the max security unit if they are properly trained then under A.A. we must give them the same opportunity as any other officer in this unit. However, a lot of times some female officers feel a bit of resentment when it comes to trying to prove that they can perform jobs in these areas. Either way, the officers can work this sort of thing very easily.
With the hostage situation of 2004 it showed the higher up’s that there were a lot of training gaps that were not met in the prison system of DOC. Once this whole situation was over there were test administered to the DOC officers who in turn discovered that there were many officers who were not passing proficiency standards for the department. Instead of firing these individuals additional training was administered and in turn after the program completed all officers are now passing on the proficiency levels needed and required for federal funding of the prisons. Training for the prisons of DOC have also been overhauled and are now looked at being more important than it may have been in the past and looked to more often for making sure officers are prepared and trained for anything.
Britton’s opinion of the correctional officer being a danged position is something that can be portrayed often as something that is very dangerous position. However, what occurs when you have these officers not trained correctly? They become a very big risk not only to other officers, to the department, inmates, and most importantly themselves. With that, they have to make sure get the proper training that is needed to make sure that they can be protected. Being in this position is something that is very dangerous, and with that they are an endangerment to those around them if they do not keep the risk of their job in the back of their mind.
` Overall the hostage takeover of 2004 was something that everyone learned from. With that, you have to take the lessons learned from the longest standoff in the history of the United States, and make the improvements necessary to make sure that you do not have this sort of thing ever happen in your jail again. You also have to think about the preventative maintenance needed to make sure that your jail does not have any other sort of criminal problems. Now, if DOC would have taken some of the recommendations that were described from Britton, it makes me wonder if this hostage situation would have occurred in the first place. However, its something that did in fact happen, so like I said earlier. Take the unfortunate situation, and make sure you do not have something like that happen again in your jail.
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Britton’s study shows that there are a lot of issues in our prison system with the proactive approach to these sorts of things if they were to occur. This particular situation is a very good example of that statement being something that prisons need to take into consideration. Why is that you say? Well, once the hostage took control, the director, and those involved did not have any maps, layouts, or documents available in regards to the layout of this tower. Because of that, it made things a lot more difficult in regards to trying to save this prison guard. Either way, they did learn from the situation and have already taken measures needed to make sure they have them now.
Now we all know the definition of Affirmative Action, and that with that sort of thing, we have to make sure we do not gender discriminate when it comes to placing guards into different towers, housing units, just based on their gender. If there are female officers that want to work the max security unit if they are properly trained then under A.A. we must give them the same opportunity as any other officer in this unit. However, a lot of times some female officers feel a bit of resentment when it comes to trying to prove that they can perform jobs in these areas. Either way, the officers can work this sort of thing very easily.
With the hostage situation of 2004 it showed the higher up’s that there were a lot of training gaps that were not met in the prison system of DOC. Once this whole situation was over there were test administered to the DOC officers who in turn discovered that there were many officers who were not passing proficiency standards for the department. Instead of firing these individuals additional training was administered and in turn after the program completed all officers are now passing on the proficiency levels needed and required for federal funding of the prisons. Training for the prisons of DOC have also been overhauled and are now looked at being more important than it may have been in the past and looked to more often for making sure officers are prepared and trained for anything.
Britton’s opinion of the correctional officer being a danged position is something that can be portrayed often as something that is very dangerous position. However, what occurs when you have these officers not trained correctly? They become a very big risk not only to other officers, to the department, inmates, and most importantly themselves. With that, they have to make sure get the proper training that is needed to make sure that they can be protected. Being in this position is something that is very dangerous, and with that they are an endangerment to those around them if they do not keep the risk of their job in the back of their mind.
` Overall the hostage takeover of 2004 was something that everyone learned from. With that, you have to take the lessons learned from the longest standoff in the history of the United States, and make the improvements necessary to make sure that you do not have this sort of thing ever happen in your jail again. You also have to think about the preventative maintenance needed to make sure that your jail does not have any other sort of criminal problems. Now, if DOC would have taken some of the recommendations that were described from Britton, it makes me wonder if this hostage situation would have occurred in the first place. However, its something that did in fact happen, so like I said earlier. Take the unfortunate situation, and make sure you do not have something like that happen again in your jail.
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Blog Number 19
Media depiction is something that in my opinion has destroyed America. In this day and age where everyone is so busy, we no longer require out children to go outside and play. It seems that the easiest way to keep them occupied is to sit them in front of the television. With that, kids are now being consumed by false imagines and portrayals of what life should be crammed into a 30 minute show. You and I both know that this is not the case. There are a lot of things that go on in life that T.V. could never properly depict. Something that Geena Davis said that really took me for a spin was the statistical data that she was able to provide. The fact that 1/3 of all 3rd graders have been on a diet is just asinine. How in the world could you honestly expect a 3rd grader to be on a diet? Just the fact that these young children need to be on a diet is disgusting. Shame on the parents of those children; I saw that for a few reasons. As a parent you have the responsibility to make sure that your children grow up healthy and active. This obviously is not something that you as a parent have provided your child if they need to be on a diet by the time they are in 3rd grade.
Another interesting aspect of this section was women who are in high level positions that are normally held by men. This is something that we are seeing more and more these days, however, its also something that the older individuals in those positions are having a hard time with. Either way its something that I hope we continue to see. For a few different reasons, women can bring more of a peaceful approach to things that in some positions might be needed. For example, placing women into a commanding position in a jail may be a good thing as they may look for other approached that can be used instead of physical force; since this is something that we are seeing all too often when it comes to inmate confrontations.
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Another interesting aspect of this section was women who are in high level positions that are normally held by men. This is something that we are seeing more and more these days, however, its also something that the older individuals in those positions are having a hard time with. Either way its something that I hope we continue to see. For a few different reasons, women can bring more of a peaceful approach to things that in some positions might be needed. For example, placing women into a commanding position in a jail may be a good thing as they may look for other approached that can be used instead of physical force; since this is something that we are seeing all too often when it comes to inmate confrontations.
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Blog Number 18
When getting into law enforcement or correctional employment it is standard for you to go through a training academy. After the academy you will then enter into on the job training. A lot of times officers will say that they learn way more during this phase of their training then they do during their academy training. Why is this? Well, it gives the officer time to actually experience the job in a true like setting. The position of being a correctional officer can bring something new every single day. However, it’s something that will allow for the officers to always learn something new wither it be training or a new trend that is going on in the jail. With that, a lot of officers express that they are able to utilize past job experiences quite often when it comes to working with the prisoners. Male officers felt that being able to utilize their military experience helped quite a bit, while on the flipside a majority of women who were come from clerical roles felt that their prior work experience had no benefit to them in their new role. Again, I think this is something that shows this job is one that more women have a difficult time getting into as something like this is just another barrier that they have to overcome. Further on in Britton’s study it was discussed as to the difference of male prison to female prisons. Of the guards that were interviewed many of them stated that they would have preferred to have work in the male prisons. Theoretically you would think working in the women prison would be an easier task. However, both male and female guards expressed that they felt better trained and more equipped to handle physical violence, which is what usually occurs in male prisons. Compared to emotional breakdowns or violence when usually occurs in the female prisons. Either way, both expressed that this sort of thing happens more in the female prisons then it does in the male prisons. One of the thoughts of why this occurs more in the female prisons is because they have a little more freedom then the male population has in their environment.
Work Count (366)
Work Count (366)
Blog Number 17
As we have come to see life behind the bars is nothing fun. The harsher the crime the more difficult life becomes while behind bars, as well as the aging on your body is a more of a rapid pace. With that, when given a sentence of 10,20,30 years or even life in prison you have to make the best with the situation that has been given to you along with you have to have the ability to satisfy certain desires that come with life. However, what do you do when something like that occurs? Well when put into prison since you are not able to co-mingle with other inmates of the opposite sex, you find inmates exploring with individuals of the same sex to satisfy those desires.
During many of the interviews the inmates were not gay or lesbian they were just merely trying to satisfy a desire that they had a strong urge to satisfy. However, when building relationships with other inmates this can pose a great problem to the guards. Its bad enough that usually these prisoners do not care of getting into additional trouble or causing harm to officers. When two or more of them form relationships they usually will do whatever is necessary to help each other out. Another fact that comes into play is when you have the inmates apart from the individuals that they have a relationship with. This happens often as usually they will go past the boundaries that are allowed by the prison which in turn causes for the inmates to receive some sort of punishment, which can lead to a physical/emotional breakdown.
When the officers were interviewed about the inmates that they were dealing with many of them expressed their assumptions of the prisoners that they deal with. Usually they are projected to be very dangerous, and handled that way. Now what is shown on television to what actually occurs in our prisons is completely different then what usually goes on. With that, officers will always have their guard up and secure themselves before the do the prisoners. Something that you and I probably would never have thought of would have been the use of the officer’s first name. Other officers only call each other by their last names. The officers first name will never be shared with inmates. Something this small they have to watch out for. That personally to me is a great security measure, however, nothing that I would have thought of offhand.
After watching the video’s along with other studies that I have completed involving prisons really gives quite amount of kudos to minority officers. As much as you would like to think that racism no longer exists, its something that they take from inmates all of the time. Inmates will use this sort of name calling as a tactic to try and develop masculinity over the guards. Now on the other side of that many of the officers also have said that it helps them sometimes when dealing with prisoners that come from the same minority. Why? Well, they are able to use the tactic of being from the same group which it turn portrays that they can relate to some of the experiences that the inmate may be dealing with.
Just like in every other profession prison guards are nothing different to when it comes to forming an opinion of someone. During Britton’s interview they had many different opinions of the inmates. Some of them played more of the rehabilitative type. They wanted to help them get out of prison to become a better person. While on the other hand some of the officers though they were the scum of the earth. Feeling that we gave them too many luxuries (including power), those officers felt that they should not have any amenities provided to them. They were a lower class of individuals that would never be able to have any moral good for our society. Usually these opinions were formed by older prison guards that had become immune to inmates trying to intimidate them. They in a way become jaded to only seeing bad individuals come through their prisons.
Overall in the films, texts and from past research its very clear that officers who treat inmates as humans receive greater respect from the inmates. Yes, many of them made mistakes. A lot of times when once the inmates are aware of there mistake they usually are able to rehabilitate themselves in prison because they are taken out of the bad areas that are influencing them. Now, while in there it seems that more of the groups have more interest in making sure things are not kosher, and that causing ruckus is something that everyone enjoys doing. Either way officers that provide more respect to the inmates usually receive it back two fold and have less to deal with on their shift.
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During many of the interviews the inmates were not gay or lesbian they were just merely trying to satisfy a desire that they had a strong urge to satisfy. However, when building relationships with other inmates this can pose a great problem to the guards. Its bad enough that usually these prisoners do not care of getting into additional trouble or causing harm to officers. When two or more of them form relationships they usually will do whatever is necessary to help each other out. Another fact that comes into play is when you have the inmates apart from the individuals that they have a relationship with. This happens often as usually they will go past the boundaries that are allowed by the prison which in turn causes for the inmates to receive some sort of punishment, which can lead to a physical/emotional breakdown.
When the officers were interviewed about the inmates that they were dealing with many of them expressed their assumptions of the prisoners that they deal with. Usually they are projected to be very dangerous, and handled that way. Now what is shown on television to what actually occurs in our prisons is completely different then what usually goes on. With that, officers will always have their guard up and secure themselves before the do the prisoners. Something that you and I probably would never have thought of would have been the use of the officer’s first name. Other officers only call each other by their last names. The officers first name will never be shared with inmates. Something this small they have to watch out for. That personally to me is a great security measure, however, nothing that I would have thought of offhand.
After watching the video’s along with other studies that I have completed involving prisons really gives quite amount of kudos to minority officers. As much as you would like to think that racism no longer exists, its something that they take from inmates all of the time. Inmates will use this sort of name calling as a tactic to try and develop masculinity over the guards. Now on the other side of that many of the officers also have said that it helps them sometimes when dealing with prisoners that come from the same minority. Why? Well, they are able to use the tactic of being from the same group which it turn portrays that they can relate to some of the experiences that the inmate may be dealing with.
Just like in every other profession prison guards are nothing different to when it comes to forming an opinion of someone. During Britton’s interview they had many different opinions of the inmates. Some of them played more of the rehabilitative type. They wanted to help them get out of prison to become a better person. While on the other hand some of the officers though they were the scum of the earth. Feeling that we gave them too many luxuries (including power), those officers felt that they should not have any amenities provided to them. They were a lower class of individuals that would never be able to have any moral good for our society. Usually these opinions were formed by older prison guards that had become immune to inmates trying to intimidate them. They in a way become jaded to only seeing bad individuals come through their prisons.
Overall in the films, texts and from past research its very clear that officers who treat inmates as humans receive greater respect from the inmates. Yes, many of them made mistakes. A lot of times when once the inmates are aware of there mistake they usually are able to rehabilitate themselves in prison because they are taken out of the bad areas that are influencing them. Now, while in there it seems that more of the groups have more interest in making sure things are not kosher, and that causing ruckus is something that everyone enjoys doing. Either way officers that provide more respect to the inmates usually receive it back two fold and have less to deal with on their shift.
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Blog Number 16
In Britton’s study when comparing the difference between both male and females about how they became correctional officers is quite drastically different. To begin men that become prison guards usually wanted to enter into law enforcement however, they were unable to get into that profession. This in turn was the next best thing for them to get into. The study that was performed 44% of the guards that were interviewed had previous military experience while only 7% of the females had military experience. This is quite a difference as the job of a guard has a lot of similarities to those employment positions that were in the military. Now males usually come from the military a large portion of the women that were interviewed 37% come from some sort of clerical or secretarial type job. While there was not a single male in this study that reported previous work experience of this kind. One thing that was pretty much said by all of the women in the study was that this job was taken as a last resort and they all had some sort of hesitation about the position and taking the job. Now a few interesting comments that I thought were a bit different was the information that was given from the daycare providers. They said it almost felt as if they did not have much of a difference between taking care of both children and inmates, and that this felt somewhat the same. Overall when it came to the training it was the same for both women and men officers. Women officers felt in some areas that they had a little more to offer in regards to diffusing a situation as they are often able to take more of that motherly approach. Women usually also take the stance of trying to verbally diffuse a situation while male officers usually take a physical stance. This is one of the biggest things that still give this job more of a ‘masculine’ stance. Either way, women these days are becoming more and more in the scene of being a correctional officer. They are continuously hiring women officers; it’s just a matter of squashing the preconceived notion that is portrayed on TV of the difficult life that goes on it the prisons. Honestly if that much crime occurred in our prison system as television portrays it would be extremely difficult to run a prison system.
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Blog Number 15
Women working in our prision have become quite greater in today’s day and age then it was just 20 years ago. Current women are working in all factions of our prison system. The most common job these days in the prison is to be a guard. Women usually are guards in women prison yards, while men are usually just in male yards. Now there are instances that men do need to be cover, or are assigned to a female yard while the same thing happens and women guards are assigned to all male yards. Usually the first situations occur more than the latter situation. Now why is that do you think? Why is it that women are not as often assigned to a male yard? Well personally I think that a lot of it has to deal with the protection and safety of that female officer. Males are naturally stronger and bigger than females, now there is nothing saying that a female cannot defend herself, however, why put your officers in that situation if they do not have to be? Now as much as very recently women in our prison systems were able to promote into management or executive levels. Why is that though? Well, it partially has to deal with the amount of time it has taken women to break into this career. For the longest time it was sought after those women were not able to work in this sort of profession because they were not able to handle themselves and would have a hard time with this sort of position, a lot also came into question regarding if they could properly protect themselves. Well, as these barriers are broken down one by one they are slowing making headway. I personally think that women are able to work this sort of position, now if the more stubborn males would just jump on board with me.
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Blog Number 14
In today’s day and age gender organization is something that we continue to work through as we work for equal rights. As we come more into this society of equal rights and that ‘everyone should have the same rights or offers afforded to them’ mentality we have gotten more away of actual gender organizations and what they truly represent. For example, why do I a 23 year old white male need to become part of some sort of African American club? Is this heritage in my family blood line? No. Now this situation is not uncommon for us to see, so why do we feel the need to go about this sort of route and join these sorts of culture clubs? Well, a lot of it I think has to do with people wanting to be able to say, I told you so! It goes the same for gender organization. There is no reason for me a male to join an organization that is female driven/geared for. Now on the flip side of things, why is it such a big deal for a women to be denied from an all male club, or from a job that is mainly populated by males but on the flipside you usually never hear of men complaining that they are not able to get a job as a job in a predominately female populated industry? Now in our reading Britton stated “organizations are gendered at the level of structure” I really like this statement for a few different reasons. Personally I believe that women are a lot more apt to go out and fight for the equal right. While on the other hand a man usually does not take being denied a position at a place of employment very harsh as they usually just move on to the next job application or interview. However, why is that? Well, I think it mainly comes down to the fact that women have always fought for that top position or have the equality as a man in the same respect to the workforce so when they are denied or its not in their favor it usually becomes more personal than it does for a man.
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Blog Number 13
To begin, being a prison guard is nothing short of an extremely difficult job. I would say that this is one position that you definitely earn your pay in. With that, what makes people what to become prison guards? Well, that I am not too sure on. Either way, it’s something that people will do for a living. It has not been very long since we have seen a large population of women break into this career field. There have always been women that worked for the prisons, but it was something that they did as a secondary job for the police department. My grandmother was actually the very first women officer for the Yuma, AZ police department. She did not work out on the streets, she was strictly someone that would work in the office as a clerical employee, and then when females were arrested she was the one that would search and process them. Back then, the number of women that were arrested was few and far between so she told us how she was always on call.
When it comes to how females are portrayed as prison officers compared to their actual jobs would be completely different. It’s something that you cannot really understand unless you are involved with them on a daily basis. Being in the jails is an extremely difficult job. Something that not many people realize is that usually men officers are in men cells, and female officers are in female cells. Now the ratio of women officers to female officers is somewhat lopsided, with that there are many times that women prisoners have male guards. Why do they do this? Well a lot of it has to do with the amount of problems that occur in the cells. Now don’t get me wrong women are more than capable of controlling a situation just as much as men are. Really what it comes down to is the amount of training that they receive. Now naturally men are stronger than women so putting all women in a men’s cell could lead to them thinking that they can overpower the women. So having both men and women or only men in that sort of cell is something that is probably best for both. In the long run, more problems usually occur in male cell blocks then they do in women’s as well. So in turn, officers are usually trained accordingly.
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When it comes to how females are portrayed as prison officers compared to their actual jobs would be completely different. It’s something that you cannot really understand unless you are involved with them on a daily basis. Being in the jails is an extremely difficult job. Something that not many people realize is that usually men officers are in men cells, and female officers are in female cells. Now the ratio of women officers to female officers is somewhat lopsided, with that there are many times that women prisoners have male guards. Why do they do this? Well a lot of it has to do with the amount of problems that occur in the cells. Now don’t get me wrong women are more than capable of controlling a situation just as much as men are. Really what it comes down to is the amount of training that they receive. Now naturally men are stronger than women so putting all women in a men’s cell could lead to them thinking that they can overpower the women. So having both men and women or only men in that sort of cell is something that is probably best for both. In the long run, more problems usually occur in male cell blocks then they do in women’s as well. So in turn, officers are usually trained accordingly.
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Blog Number 12
Occupational segregation is something that we will always have in our society. We definitely have come a long way in regards to squashing the problem; however, we still have a lot of accomplish to have a seamless occupational equality of men to women. With all of the laws that we have, why does this sort of thing occur? Well, there are many ways in my opinion to take this question? You could approach it that many women just do not have interest is a certain kind of job. This goes the same way for men. Think about it, how many men do you know that want to be a makeup artist or hair dresser for a profession? So I think some it has to do with that, however, getting the inkling that was not the approach to take for the class I am going to entertain another. I think from time to time you have women that feel intimidated by certain positions. When it comes down to it, men have stronger personalities, yet that should not stop any women from getting a certain job that they want. If it’s something you want then go after it right? When it comes down to it, we have the laws out there to try and prevent this sort of thing, but in the end if someone really wanted to segregate employment to a certain gender they usually kind find some sort of loophole for a short period of time.
Now when a female is able to break into a male dominated career there are many different things that occur. Usually the women are taken under the wing of some males as someone they want to help, harvest and nurture. However, there are still those good ol’ boys that want nothing to do with them as in a way it’s an insult for them to come and try to work their career. One career that you see both sides from in my opinion would be law enforcement. Usually, when you have police officers that are women the older officers have a hard time with it, while the younger officers it’s nothing different. A few classes ago I actually completed an interview with a four women police officers in regards to their career, they all wanted to become police officers for the fact of helping people, and being thrill seekers. When it came down to it, they said no matter the circumstance they could always depend on having backup wither it be a younger or older officer. However, in the station they from time to time could feel the animosity from older officers.
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Now when a female is able to break into a male dominated career there are many different things that occur. Usually the women are taken under the wing of some males as someone they want to help, harvest and nurture. However, there are still those good ol’ boys that want nothing to do with them as in a way it’s an insult for them to come and try to work their career. One career that you see both sides from in my opinion would be law enforcement. Usually, when you have police officers that are women the older officers have a hard time with it, while the younger officers it’s nothing different. A few classes ago I actually completed an interview with a four women police officers in regards to their career, they all wanted to become police officers for the fact of helping people, and being thrill seekers. When it came down to it, they said no matter the circumstance they could always depend on having backup wither it be a younger or older officer. However, in the station they from time to time could feel the animosity from older officers.
Word count (438)
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