Thursday 19 February 2015

What You Should Know About Police Promotional Exams

By Olivia Cross


In many organizations, people are either promoted from within or recruited from both within and without. In the interest of fairness within law enforcement organizations, in order to move up the ranks, it is necessary to progress through a series of police promotional exams. This article takes a look at the law enforcement examination systems in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Testing procedures are designed to sort out the wheat from the chaff. Some types of question ask for numerical answers. Others postulate various scenarios and then ask the candidate to select which of the possible answers is the best one. Questions for prospective senior cops in New York, for example, might be targeted toward terrorism.

Most countries have a wealth of resources to support the candidate studying for a promotion. There are books, DVDs, specimen questions. Many law enforcement agencies hold classes, while some people prefer to study with external organizations. If you are serious about moving upward through the ranks, one of the biggest favors you could do yourself is to set up a personal timetable for studying.

One major factor that makes policing in the United Kingdom, including England, Wales, and Scotland, so different from the rest of the world is the limited number of officers who carry firearms. Opinion is divided on whether or not to arm more officers, but the majority do not want to carry guns. It is a fallacy that being armed saves the lives of more policemen in the United States.

Law enforcement in Victoria, Australia, has one of the highest ratings of public confidence of anywhere in the world. More than three-quarters of the Victoria residents are happy with their local law enforcement services. In 1820, there were 12 officers in the Melbourne Police Force. Today, the force has a budget of 2.3 billion Australian dollars, 329 police stations, and more than 14,612 sworn officers.

In Canada, our neighbors to the north, the city with the largest law enforcement agency is Toronto. With a population of 2.6 million, Toronto is also the must culturally diverse metropolis. According to a study published in 2006, one of the biggest problems in recruitment is making sure everyone has an equal opportunity. Also in Canada, in Niagra, Ontario, around half a dozen promotion candidates were disciplined for cheating on an examination; the questions and answers had been leaked by someone in the human relations department.

If you work as a policeman in New Zealand, you work for two years as a probationary constable and then the world is your oyster. There are dozens of different career pathways, from remaining a constable to forensic work, or going into homicide. Policemen in New Zealand present evidence in court, respond to incidents, work with the victims of crimes, interview witnesses and support and advise their local communities.

Moving up the law enforcement ranks requires integrity, commitment and self-discipline. In return, you get a rewarding, satisfying career with endless diversity.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment