This is a very shortened version of an assignment I did nearly twenty years ago when I was studying promotion courses for my Police career. I was required to report on any Police related issue and I chose the above topic.
The original version was some 25 pages of typed foolscap and took a lot of research. I read a lot of books, none of which I can recall the names of, but they dealt with, "History of Modern Policing", "Police in the United States of America", "Police in Australia" both before and after Federation and the history of Sir Robert Peel, the father of the modern Police Force, amongst many others.
My instructor at the time asked me if he could keep the paper I had written, so he could use some of the facts in future courses. Like a fool and knowing nothing about copyright issues at that time, I gave him my report to do with as he wished. I never kept a copy for myself and have no idea what he did with it. I write this completely from memory so I cannot quote dates, books and references.
By definition the word "Profession" is described as "any study or practice of one of the following; Theology, Medicine and Law". (Colliers Dictionary)
Anything else is simply an occupation or a job. Those who practice Theology, Medicine and Law have been honoured by the English language to be given a special word to describe them.
So simply put, any Priest or Minister of Religion is practicing Theology and is therefore following a Profession. Similarly a Doctor ( including specialists in their respective fields) are practicing Medicine and are also following a Profession. A Lawyer is in exactly the same situation, he practices Law so he is following a Profession.
Then we come to the "Grey" areas.
Is a Chemist or Pharmacist following a Profession by practicing medicine. In my opinion he is not. He deals in Medicine and may even give advice about various pharmaceuticals, but he is not practicing Medicine.
A Dentist? I think there can be no argument that he is practicing Medicine, albeit a specialised form of Medicine, so he has a Profession.
A Vet? I couldn't really decide on this one, I simply left it wide open to others to judge although I would suggest that he is indeed following a profession.
Now we come to Police. Are they following a Profession of Law or do they simply have a job as a Police Officer. A Police Officer knows basically nothing about Civil Law or Business Law or for that matter anything but Criminal Law.
However he needs to know almost instinctively what he is looking at. No matter what the situation, he has to gauge it immediately. Has a crime been committed? What evidence is needed to prove that crime before a court? How can he best trace the perpetrator? What are his powers of arrest, search and detention, in any of a multitude of scenarios. Very importantly he needs to somehow "read" the minds of the criminal himself and also any later defence lawyer, so he can easily negate, before a court any of a number of defences the accused might raise in support of the act or omission which led to the original offence.
He doesn't have time when confronted with a situation to look up what he should or shouldn't do in a book. He usually has to make a decision immediately and then follow it through.
So therefore he needs an extensive working knowledge of the Criminal Law. Unlike a lawyer who can specialise in one given area and therefore have "tunnel vision", the Police Officer must be able to look at the broader spectrum of all scenarios.
Because of that I am of the opinion that he is indeed practicing Law by definition.
Policing is not just a job or occupation.
It is a Profession, a badge that every Police Officer, male or female, should wear with pride.
©Copyright
Dark Blue Knight
3rd January 2005
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