Police Standards - the Uniform

PART A

When we are young, people continually ask themselves what we want to be when we grow up. This is something that is often dreamt about by young people. I know, as a child, I had many dreams of what I wanted to be when I grew up. Turning those dreams into reality seemed far away as a child but there was always the possibility of dreams coming true. When I was young, I wanted to be a computer-engineer, and that of working with law enforcement as well. I will describe what my strengths and weaknesses are, as well as my goals and my personal traits that I have acquired throughout my adolescents to where I am today.

Long-term goals take a lot longer than short term goals to accomplish and the outcome will have a greater affect in you, I know it did for me. When I graduated in the fall of 2011 in Computer Science, I began my new studies with the Police Foundations program at Centennial College; and by further expanding my educational capabilities once more with obstacles that I must challenge and overcome, but what made me choose such a high demanding position with law enforcement? Throughout my younger years I have gained many traits, strengths and weaknesses that pin pointed (showed the path) to where I am most likely to succeed in. I have to say my family by all is number one. I have had the fortune of being raised in a strong family background. I have two loving parents that have always supported me and taught me life's lessons while also letting me develop my own morals and values by examples that they have set for me. Their affection for me has shown me great examples of how to be kind and loving toward others. My family has also placed me in a great environment, surrounded by people who are sincere, caring, and kind.

Sigmund Freud would say the unconscious level of my mind contains the desires, wishes, needs, and impulses that we are not aware of under normal circumstances. He would say that our mind is composed of three systems- the id, ego, and superego. The id operates on the pleasure principle. The ego operates on the reality principle. The superego refers to the moral aspects of personality. These three systems fight for control. In my opinion I feel that my ego is winning this fight, and never giving up, with my 'Id" in a close second. My Id demands pleasure at all costs, going out, staying active, and being social (being involved!); however, my ego knows that I must obtain this pleasure appropriately or I will land myself in big trouble. I think my superego is really losing this battle. I make choices that for the most part obtain pleasure but do not get me in any sort of trouble; however, I rarely if ever make decisions that I know may cost me, but being a risk-taker, it happens and that is an oath all officers must take at large. There are great strengths and weaknesses one can carry, for me I believe attentive to detail, staying calm through rough situations and being cautious would ideally be my strength, and probably the only weakness I may have is possibly being artistic. Being a realistic person I always strive for evidence and proof before coming to any conclusion; however, at that being said, I rarely would imagine how much things can end up without any clues or ideas that are given to me. So it either is straight to the facts or "No Can Do!"

In such profession with policing, we must know the consequences for every action an officer takes, such as split second decisions, and or how officers are spotted easily by the attire they must follow on a daily basis. In this next section we will discuss the outcomes both positive and negative of a uniform involved in law enforcement policing throughout the North America.

PART B

Policing is a thrilling, satisfying and a rewarding career. It is one of the few careers, where you can earn good social reputation as well. It is the best way you can serve the society and inspires new generation to get into this field, and it is the uniform that an officer or security guard must wear gives you "the officer" high power and authority than any other person out there on the street, "...has suggested that clothing has a powerful impact on how people perceive each other..." (The Psychological Influence of the Police Uniform). There is no doubt that this job can be dangerous and risky but it has its own charm. By seeing the security and police uniform itself; people respects the human being available in the uniform. It should beneficial to the officer(s) who wear a uniform to realize how much power they have, and one must remember the reason for being where they are in the first place. The amount of hours police officers spend to keep their uniform clean will deeply impact on how they will be treated as some researchers' say, but what does a clean uniform have to do with the way an law official is treated? It is said that an officer with clean uniform would be respected highly for the position they are in to serve and protect. Such positive impact that one officer can carry with a clean uniform is to reduce crime by allowing citizens on the street to easily pin-point the officer in clear site and abide by the law- follow instructions legally.

We know the uniform plays an important role to ones position such as policing. A study shows that a person who was put in uniform without a weapon or badge near a street corner reduced driving violations, even though this person was not displayed with a fictional police department (The Psychological Influence of the Police Uniform). The amount of security is also higher than one must think when they see an officer, they feel "safer" within the community, but it is not always an officer in uniform that can stand out in the community. Students who wear uniform on campus also display an important role in policing, for example; Centennial College, The Police Foundations program allows students to abide with the dress code, which includes cargo pants, black shirts and more. These students are must show professionalism throughout campus, and the impact that they receive is complimentary to the service they provide in the near future.

With extraordinary psychological and physical impact. Depending on the background of the citizen, the police uniform can elicit emotions ranging from pride and respect, to fear and anger, and it is fear and anger towards police due to their background or physical appearance through an poor untidy uniform that can impact their safety. An officer who has a poor appearance, can impact their own security by not having any respect by others, for example; some believe that dark colors within the uniform explicitly show dark emotions or thoughts from citizens (The Psychological Influence of the Police Uniform). An officer must be physically able