Essay Example on Law Enforcement Career

When looking at my future within law enforcement, of all the temptations that could be presented, I believe that Misuse of force is the hardest for me to overcome. In my life, I have found myself reading articles and news reports about what happened at a particular crime scene and wondering why the officers or justice system didn’t push harder or do more to the suspect in the name of justice. This leaves me to think that when facing some of those same situations, it will be harder for me not to overstep the use of force and act upon my view of what is justice. This temptation may end me causing me to fire my weapon when unnecessary or wanting to twist the narrative of the scene to make it seem as though my use of force was needed. 

In seeing myself down the road in my career, I can think of scenarios in which this temptation may occur. When dealing with someone who is hurting another person, when something violent has occurred such as rape, murder, arson, or theft, I will be tempted to use my force in ways that do not properly fight the law of how to apprehend the suspect. I will want to become a judge, jury, and executioner. I see this happen already in my life through my actions in my workplace and at home when someone I know is guilty gets away with their actions, and I wish to do more to make sure harsher consequences befall them. When looking back on my younger years, I have realized that is what drove me to want to become an officer of the law. I believe that this temptation to overuse my power and authority is going to be the hardest one for me to overcome. 

Not taking into consideration my religious beliefs, one of the insights that I will employ to combat this temptation will be to remember how it looks in the public view, and what will mean for my fellow officers if I end up acting upon that temptation. After going through this course, one thing regarding the use of force is that when a community has found one officer guilty of misusing force, it makes them question the department as a whole, and thus distrust in their law enforcement is placed. This insight allows me to remember that my actions do not just affect the ones they are placed upon, but my department as a whole. I have been who wishes to represent those I work for in a good light and to make sure the ones I work with do not have to suffer because of my actions. I think this will help me to think about what the situation could end up like before giving in to temptation. 

One trick that I will use to help combat this temptation would be to put myself in the suspect’s shoes when thinking of what I might want to act upon.  I will think about what their life situation is, who might be relying on them, and what my actions might do to their future and those in their life. I will make sure to tell myself that at the end of the day, they are still a person, and they deserve the proper procedure of justice, not just what I think is right. A lack of empathy towards someone can lead to further corruption in my duties and make me forget that I am not truly above them the sense of power. This will help me to make sure that my use of force does not become based on any particular aspect of the suspect’s life such as race, gender, or religious beliefs, and allow me to judge what use of force is needed based on an unbiased opinion and help me stick to what the law says. 

In my time of learning about the misconduct and corruption within law enforcement, misuse of force is one that I think will be the hardest to fight the temptation of. Making sure that what I am doing to another person not only follows the law, but also my beliefs will be one that I will work hard to not be tempted away from. In making sure that I do not fall into this temptation, I will be able to become a good officer in my community.