Maintaining a Professional Presence

Part 1: View and Analysis

            The first slide under the category of law enforcement is an image with three individuals. Two of them are police officers and the other is a firefighter. The second slide contains an image of a medical examiner and the last slide has an image of a police detective. All the individuals presented in the slides are professional. The attire and self-presentation made individuals made them look professional.

All the individuals have dressed appropriately and the dress code matches their line of work. They may look unfashionable but they are well-groomed. Despite how they look, they establish a professional presence that conveys confidence. Also, the self-presentation of these individuals illustrates focused attention. Importantly, they all have good poise and seem comfortable in their roles.

It would be unprofessional in law enforcement for a police officer to enter a medical examiner’s laboratory without the correct attire. For instance, for a medical examiner to conduct an autopsy, they require a surgical gown, a lab coat, and gloves. The attire protects the medical examiner by providing a barrier between them and the deceased’s bodily fluids. Therefore, it would be unprofessional for police officers not to present themselves appropriately when performing the tasks of another law enforcement individual. Individuals should always present themselves appropriately regardless of the line of work since a good presentation facilitates trust and respect.

Part 2: Personal Reflection and Connection

            For an individual in my line of work, the correct outfit includes an officer’s shirt, boots, pants, and a duty belt or a firearm engraving. Any other clothing that does not demonstrate that you work in law enforcement is inappropriate. These can include shirts with phrases that promote violence or worn-out t-shirts with holes and stains. All police officers are required to wear a police uniform unless they are in management or assigned to detective work.

Besides appropriate attire, excellent communication skills make an individual in my field professional. Police officers interact with many people in a day and how they interact with these people matters. According to Capps (2014), recruiters in the policy academy mainly pay attention to the applicant’s verbal and non-verbal communication capabilities. A professional in my field must be patient and listen to what people they serve are saying to provide a solution. From my personal experiences, police officers willing to listen to other people have better service delivery.

Taking initiative is one of the behavioral attributes that I practice and identifies me as a professional. Policing is a challenging task and one must be willing to face the challenges to fight crime. Many crimes take part in our communities and it takes initiative to identify them. I usually inform myself on crime trends and patterns in my surrounding areas to be able to fight crime appropriately or prevent them before they happen. Another behavioral attribute that identifies me as a professional is respect and acknowledgment of laws. I always make such I adhere to state and federal laws before I enforce them.

I possess excellent communication skills and I believe these skills make me professional. In my line of work, interactions with other people are unavoidable. To fight crime in my community, I occasionally conduct a face-to-face meeting with the community members to listen to their issues and at the same time, provide them with options on how to reduce crimes. I am a professional because my communication skills enable me to resolve many crimes without any incidences of violence.

Reference

Capps, L. E. (2014). Perspective: Characteristics of an ideal police officer. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/perspective/perspective-characteristics-of-an-ideal-police-officer