Duties of a Police Officer

The power of a police officer lies in his ability to enforce the law. Although, rules governing the duties of police officers differ from country to country, their basic responsibilities do not change. The word 'police' has its origin in the Latin 'politia', which means, civil administration. The term, politia too is a derivative of the Greek word 'polis', interpreted as 'city' in English. The police forces are different from defense forces in a sense they have to work with civil society for maintaining law and order. Their job is no less important than the defense forces, since handling the tricky situations while operating in the vicinity of civilians can be challenging. Let's take a look at the police job description in detail.

Duties of a Police Officer
Here is a short account of the different duties assigned to police officers. After going through this list, you would find that the job profile of a police officer requires him to be vigilant, physically and mentally strong and possess variety of skills to effectively perform his duties.

• Protecting the life and property of people is one of the responsibilities of the police. The legal system, in this case acts as a support for police. Laws and ordinances passed by the country enables the police to approach a problem in a systematic manner.
• Patrolling the area assigned to them is one of the duties of police officers. While on a routine patrol, an officer checks for any kind of violation of rules and regulations.
• A police officer also completes routine assignments delegated to him by seniors officers. The responsibilities assigned to police officers are varied in nature and they could range from conducting interrogations to carrying out searches.
• Answering to complaints related to criminal activities and accidents also comes under the purview of a police officer's responsibilities.
• Handling the situation at a crime scene is another responsibility of police officers. Collecting evidence pertaining to the crime, conducting investigations, questioning witnesses and many such activities form a part of police officer's duty. Police officers also provide basic life support to those injured in accidents like car crashes. They have to obtain written statements from drivers of such vehicles. Removing the wreckage from the spot of accident and handling the traffic is the duty of traffic police.
• The police have to escort prisoners at the time of trials. Relaying a criminal to and from the court is one of the risk-filled jobs handled by police officers.
• Activity of 'community policing' exercised by the police helps in keeping a watch on criminal activities and creating a safe atmosphere in the society.
• Police officers have to maintain the custody of evidences, property and records obtained in criminal cases.
• In few countries, the police are expected to intervene in the criminal activities even if they are not 'on duty'.
• The police have to tackle emergency situations, for example, an outbreak of fire with the help of fire brigades.
• Controlling the mobs during riots is one of the important tasks of police officers. The mobs could become destructive at times, and maintaining law and order in such situations becomes crucial.
• Those who commit minor crimes are reprimanded by police officers. They have the right to penalize offenders by issuing citations. A citation is kind of summon issued 'on the spot' i.e. where the crime took place. In case of violation of traffic rules, the police have a right to impose a fine.
• The police may assist those who face a car breakdown. People who face emergency medical situations can take the help of police officers by dialing helpline numbers. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency medical treatment given to the victims of cardiac arrest. In many countries, police officers are trained in performing CPR.
• Police officers act as security guards during rallies, processions and important gatherings. Sometimes, the police have to provide security to VIPs. Security is needed for VIPs in life-threatening situations.
• Park rangers are police officers who look after the security of national parks. They have to provide security to people visiting parks and protect animals from illegal poaching.
• Police officers look after the security of airports and other public places.
• Some of the police officers are in charge of specialized duties where they have to perform microscopic and chemical analyses. Similar other fields in which police officers operate are fingerprint identification, handwriting identification, firearm instruction, etc.

In a broad sense, we can say that police officers keep the bad elements of society at bay. They fight for maintaining peace and harmony. There are many forces in the world that disrupt the peace and balance of the social environment; such forces and anti-social elements are kept under control by the police. The police officers have to remain vigilant and control all such acts that ultimately lead to violence. Thus, one shouldn't take the services of police officers for granted. Let's salute them for the courage and responsibilities they handle for ensuring our safety!