For this reason, law enforcement agencies are obligated to hire, train, and retain a cadre of the most psychologically fit police officers.
In the least, there is little dispute that contemporary policing is extremely complex and challenging. It can be argued that the job has never been more demanding or, for that matter, more stressful. Today’s police officers carry more tools on their equipment belts (e.g., Tasers) and bodies (e.g., body-worn cameras), utilize more equipment in their patrol cars (e.g., computers), and face more public scrutiny of their actions due to smart phones and social media than officers from prior generations. The present paper highlights the importance of other skills that should receive greater attention during academy training.
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This can lead academy directors and trainers to emphasize skills such as firearms and defensive tactics during academy training. However, in those rare situations in which an officer is called upon to use force, these learned skills and tactics become critical. According to the International Association of Chiefs of Police (2001), police officers’ use of force rate is just 3.61 per 10,000 service calls. Although the majority of an officer’s time spent on duty involves non-threatening duties such as responding to a traffic accident, it is necessary to prepare officers for the worse-case scenarios.
![firefighters assume law enforcement duty vis title fire police firefighters assume law enforcement duty vis title fire police](https://stories.isu.pub/54363103/images/28_original_file_I849.jpg)
Effective policing has always required a unique combination of physical, cognitive, emotional, and interpersonal skills.