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Criminal Justice Career Essay

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Criminal Justice Career Essay
There are a plethora of careers to choose from within the field of Criminal Justice. Lawyers of varying specialties, probation officers, jailers, game wardens, and many more. But there are few positions within this essential line of work that are as necessary as the police officer. The police officer is the most tangible vessel of law and order—he or she is the one that patrols the street corners at night and apprehends the criminals that lurk within those shadows. Their mission is to preserve the well-being of the community which they serve, a noble cause rife with stress at every turn. These men and women seek to bring us all a sense of security; a peace of mind. They do this every day with varying levels of difficulty that can change with …show more content…
The actions of my father, as well as other officers countrywide, affect the entire operations of the criminal justice system. If not for these men and women, criminals might not ever be apprehended, save for the possibility of vigilante justice systems similar to those that exist within the realm of Western films. I liken police officers to be a sort of gatekeeper, since they tend to be the first people to make contact with or apprehend offenders and are in a position to decide their fate. Police officers also outnumber the other occupational groups within the criminal justice system. Lawyers and judges are far outnumbered by police officers. It is also much more common to see a police officer on the street than other criminal justice professionals. Further, it is less difficult to identify police officers on the street as a consequence of their distinctive uniforms. In the pursuit of attempting to prevent crime, officers are tasked with the objective of upholding justice in the streets by taking offenders in custody so that their fates may be decided in a fair trial in a court of law. My father has a rather strict view of the causes of crime. He does not lend much to Broken Windows Theory or biological approaches to criminology. He lends much of his beliefs to the environmental perspective—he is a firm believer that family members and peers are the most influential determining factors in choosing

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