Police Officer Career

THE ENOS FILES: Part 2 — 'Politics' in the department

In compiling the 60-page packet of police officer complaints throughout April and May, Selectman Joe Tito said he discovered, based on multiple officers’ statements, that former Police Chief Stephen Enos allowed “politics” to interfere with law enforcement.

“The comments touched on his directing investigations toward political ends and using his position in a political manner,” Tito said of Rehoboth’s embattled police chief, who will remain on paid administrative leave until his contract officially expires on Sept. 30.

One officer, whom Enos said he has “tremendous respect for,” felt the chief was distracted by town politics, and was especially interested in cases incriminating a local developer and former Rehoboth selectman.

“It is tragic, to me, that someone with as much potential as the chief would allow himself to be placed in a position where he either chose to, or felt he had to, be accountable to an individual or small group of individuals instead of the town,” Officer Keith Perry said in his statement.

Perry directly referred to an incident in which Enos questioned him about an old case involving the son of the former selectman.

“I believe that he felt as though, or was hoping, the case had been inappropriately disposed of because it involved [the former selectman’s] son,” Perry explained in his statement. “He told me that I had done an uncharacteristically poor job of investigating the case and accused me of having been pressured by a supervisor to cover the matter up.”

In reality, Perry said, the case was transferred to the Seekonk Police Department “after it had been determined that if any violation of criminal law had occurred it did so in their jurisdiction.”

As with many other complaints against him, Enos turned the accusation away from himself and back onto accuser, stating in his written response that it is not he, but his accuser, who is politically entrenched.

“I have a tremendous respect for Officer Perry’s abilities but as I have told him, he is one of a handful of officers who spend too much time concerning themselves with town politics,” Enos wrote in his statement, which was submitted to the Board of Selectmen on May 23. “In my 30-year law enforcement career I have not subjected myself to the winds of political pressure in the past and I certainly will not now.

Career Spotlight: Police Officer | gcamd.org

The career of a police officer can be rewarding and mostly involve different responsibilities. Basically a police officer is a key personnel that helps in maintaining law and order, collect evidence and conduct criminal investigations. In order to keep residents safe, a police officer might have to patrol a neighborhood, respond to a call for help or participate in a SWAT team raid. It won’t be wrong to say that a police officer generally acts as a law enforcement agent and their prime job is to protect the peace, life and property of society people.

Apart from this, the career even offers tremendous opportunities to handle different responsibilities and work as

the law on the county level. Sheriffs are elected to their posts and perform similar duties to those of a local or county police chief.

follows general law enforcement duties including maintaining regular patrols (in a specific area) and responding to calls for help.

: A state police officer is generally known as a highway patrol officer and their key responsibility is arresting criminals state-wide and patrol highways to enforce motor vehicle laws and regulations come in their list of work.

fter working as a police officer for a while an individual can also try to get promoted to another rank such as a detective. This is yet another interesting position where individual requires more analyzing and crime solving skills. It is their prime responsibility to interview and cross-examine suspects and gather clues to solve a crime.

If we carefully look at the salary, normally an entry level police officer starts his salary from ,101-,367 and as gain more experience or posts the salary might reach up to ,112. Besides this, a newly joined detective can have a median salary of ,000 and might earn up to ,115 with his experience.

Considering the work responsibilities it cannot be denied that pursuing a career of a police officer is not always trouble-free. It might seem exciting and adventurous, but to get started in this field is not easy. As a result, genuine hard work and a proper training are highly recommended.

Taking up a job as a police officer an individual must meet some of the basic educational qualifications and need collage credits. A police officer needs a high school diploma or its equivalent. Although, getting a higher education degree isusually not required, but acquiring an associate’s degree (2-year degree) or a bachelor’s degree (4-year degree) is highly recommended by many law enforcement agencies. Now once an individual gets accepted by a law enforcement agency, he or she receives 12 to 14 weeks of training in a police academy. The training basically includes classroom instruction in constitutional law and civil rights, local ordinances, state laws and accident investigation. Adding to all this, at times the criminal justice courses can be very helpful to an individual who wish to work as one of the city’s dedicated law enforcement agents. In fact, these days many agencies pay all or part of the tuition for officers to earn a degree in criminal justice or justice administration.

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