What factors make the Houston Police Dept. have not enough officers to patrol the city. Aren't there people that want to be police officers, and are filling in the gaps? I just don't get why there is a big police shortage.
2006-09-22 16:29:43 · 3 answers · asked by quikboy 7 in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
Many large police departments can not keep street cop positions filled. Many police officers will begin in large departments such as Houston but even an energetic 21 year old who is gun ho' on changing the world will get stressed out in a big city after 3-5 years on the job. Factor in the cost of living, a cops salary, the nature of calls, and the nature of the people cops deal with and nobody wants a long term career at a huge department. Big departments like NYC, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Houston have learned that their best cops are the ones that are born and raised in the area where they work as policemen and women and have an authentic concern about "their neighborhood". Someone coming in from the outside usually doesn't stay long after being bombarded with high risk calls 8 or 12 hours a day 4 or 5 days a week. A cop in a department that big also learns quickly that he or she doesn't have time to interact with the public but only has time to difuse situations and move on to the next situation Even if a person is good at ignoring stress the stresses of being a police officer in a large department will creep up on you eventually. I am a police officer in a community of about 35,000 in western new york and our department enjoys the benefit of being busy but not so busy as to make it impossible to complete reports, interact with the public, and project a positive image to the public. Many large departments do not have that luxury. Pay scales, work schudules may also play a role in not being able to keep a full police force. Houston is one of many agencies readily accepting laterals from other agencies which means it has some sort of internal problem... or so it would seem. If the agency has an elderly police force (40+) this would mean that many officers may be taking their retirements and there would be another reason to need officers. I've done ride-a-longs with larger departments and honestly could not imagine going non stop every shift of every week with no end in sight. There are so many factors which could lead to needing officers it is impossible to pinpoint the exact cause but hopefully this sheds a little light on the subject.
2006-09-22 16:56:19 · answer #1 · answered by okchico 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Alot of people don't want to service a large city since it experiences more crime. Do you think it could also be because the city doesn't have the funds for it? I've been watching on the news lately about all the money some city officials spent on vacations and house furnishings?..
2006-09-22 23:33:42 · answer #2 · answered by ~aShLeY~ 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
MONEY AND MORAL
Officers have to make a living. If the pay does't measure up, officers will go to a dept that pays more.
If moral goes down, (pay can affect this) officers will leave. If the dept does not back the officers, they will leave.
2006-09-23 03:25:12 · answer #3 · answered by tnmack 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋