Law and Order: How do Police Departments Function?
Law and Order: How do Police Departments Function?
The Introduction
Hello, my name is Theo. For a great deal of my life, I have been fascinated with Criminal Justice, specifically law enforcement. In fact, it is my dream career to go into law enforcement, either locally or nationally with the FBI. The roots of this interest stem from the police procedural shows that I would watch as a child. Shows like Columbo, NCIS, CSI, Law and Order and more would be playing on the television in our kitchen as my mother would cook, and I would thus be exposed to them by proxy. Yet, as I would grow older, I would begin to question the realism of what they would present on these shows. As a young man I understand now that most of what they presented on these shows in terms of internal police work would be dramatized, or even fictionalized, in service of telling a better story. But, that leaves another question: Exactly how accurate are these shows regarding the inner-workings of a police department? This leads me to my Senior Project. For the Third Trimester, I will be interning at both the Prescott and Prescott Valley Police Departments, observing and perhaps even taking part in the internal affairs of the departments. When not interning, I will be watching episodes of various police procedural shows, preferably ones that are grounded and have at least some focus on the internal workings of a department, and take note on how they depict these inner workings. My end goal once I watch enough shows will be to make a comprehensive comparison between how each show portrays their inner workings and how actual police departments work, or how a show portrays an incident versus how an actual police department would tackle it, in order to educate others on the truth of how these civil institutions function. Much like how many members of the public have a skewed view of crime science investigation through the “CSI Effect” (incorrect interpretations or assumptions on crime scene investigation from shows like CSI), there are many people who have an incorrect view of how police departments function because of the well-known police procedurals. It is my hope to separate fact from fiction in my project, and I would be happy to share to you all my process of doing so through my blog!
To conclude, I will list out some of my worries that I have for this project. My main concern is that I will not be able to get the full law enforcement experience from my two internships. I am still in High School, and in the case of Prescott Valley Police Department I have not had a background check done on me. For these reasons I will most likely not have access to the more secure and visceral parts of the inner workings of these departments. While this is not a big deal, it does still mean I will probably not get to have the “full” police experience expressed in my proposal. My other worries are just general fears of things going wrong, such as sicknesses or accidents, which I’m confident that I can figure my way around. As for what I am excited about, it will be quite fascinating to get to see in-person how these departments function. I have gotten glimpses of this world when I was visiting and meeting my coordinators, but to actually work alongside officers and other ranks in the departments will be something else entirely. Also, it would be fascinating to compare how the two departments function. While I’m not expecting any drastic differences, considering that they are both police departments in the same county, there will likely be at least some which I am hoping to notice. While not a focus of my project, it would also be interesting to see if such changes are caused by the difference in cities, or if they alternatively affect the cities in some way. Overall, I am quite excited for my time at these two police departments. It has been my dream for many years to be able to work with law enforcement, and I am very happy that my Senior Project is allowing me that chance!
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