Police Officer

If you enjoy challenges and like the idea of helping to make communities safer, this could be an ideal career for you. As a police officer you would work to maintain order. You would help prevent and investigate crime. And you would also find and prosecute offenders. 
Police officer recruitment is handled by individual police forces, and their requirements can vary. 
Good police officers have honesty and confidence. They also have social awareness and a responsible attitude. They can also remain calm in sometimes life-threatening situations. 
Police officers protect life and property by enforcing laws and ordinances. This is very important role within our society, and it can be a very rewarding occupation for those who like to serve the greater good. 
To enforce the law, police officers have to be on the lookout for suspicious activity. If sufficient evidence is found, they cite or apprehend those who violate the law. Additionally, police officers frequently respond to emergency calls, investigate domestic issues, issue traffic tickets, and provide emergency care to accident victims. 
The exact responsibilities for police officer jobs vary depending on the type of work that they do. Here are a few of the most common types of police officers: 
Uniformed police officers are usually assigned a geographic area to patrol. While on patrol, they look for signs of broken laws and arrest suspected criminals when necessary. They also respond to emergency calls, enforce traffic laws, and investigate complaints that they receive from citizens. 
State police officers (or state troopers) spend most of their time enforcing traffic laws on state interstates and highways. Unlike most police, troopers are able to work anywhere in the state that they work in. Often times, state troopers are asked to help local and federal law enforcement agencies. 
Sheriffs are elected by the public to enforce the law at the county level. Some sheriffs work in a sheriff's department, while others run county jails. Their overall responsibilities are similar to those of a police chief.

Job responsibility:

• dealing with incidents of nuisance and anti-social behaviour, such as truants, vandalism and litter
• directing traffic and overseeing removal of vehicles
• guarding crime scenes
• offering advice on crime prevention
• issuing fixed penalty notices
• detaining someone (under certain circumstances) until a police officer arrives
• providing support at large public gatherings, such as sports events and public demonstrations
• gathering intelligence from the community
• other work relating to Neighbourhood Policing and Anti-Social Behaviour Teams.

Employment Opportunities for Police Officer:

          You should contact your local force for vacancy details.

          As a PCSO you may be able to use your experience to train and mentor new recruits or use it as a stepping stone into other areas of police work, for example to become a police officer. However, you would still need to go through the traditional recruitment process and meet all the requirements.

How to become Police Officer?

To become a Class 1 police officer in India, you need to clear the IPS (Indian Police Services) exam which is held by Union public service commission (UPSC) every year. It is a very competitive exam with more than 3,50,000 candidates taking up the examination out of which under 200 are finally selected. So be prepared to work hard if you want to get selected. 

Educational and age requirement 
The candidate should be a citizen of India/ Nepal/ Bhutan and a graduate in any disciple to apply. He should be between the age of 21 – 30 years but the age is relaxed by 5 years for certain category (SC/ST) candidates. 

Physical requirement 
Height – Male 165 cm & ST (not the SC/ OBC) – 160 cm 
Female 150 cm & ST (not SC/ OBC)- 145 cm 
Chest – Male Minimum 84 cm. Expansion 5 cm. 
Female Min 79 cm expansion 5 cm. 
Eye sight – 6/6 or 6/9 distant vision for good eye. 
6/12 or 6/9 for worst eye. Near vision J 1 for good eye. J2 for worst eye. 

Examination 
1. The exam consist of two parts. A preliminary (prelims) exam is held as a first level. This prelims exam consist of two papers – general studies and an optional subject. It is a multiple choice question exam and is used just for selecting candidates for the next level of exam (main exam). The marks from prelims are not added while preparing the final result. 
2. Once the candidate clear the prelims exam, they have to sit for the main exam. There is a list of subjects out of which two are compulsory and two are optional. Candidate can select any optional subject irrespective of the subject in which they hold a degree. This exam is very comprehensive and the candidate has to answer essay type questions. 
3. Once the candidate have cleared the main exam, they are called for a personal interview round. It consist of around 45 mins interview with the board in which they try to see candidate fit for the post. 
4. After the interview, marks from the main exam and interview are added and a final selection list is prepared which is called the merit list. 
Apart from clearing the UPSC exam, it is also possible to become a IPS officer after clearing the state PSC exam. It takes 8-10 years to become SP after clearing the state level exam. You can find more information about becoming DSP police here. 
For a more detailed post of IPS Exam Pattern, click here. 

Training 
The selected candidates are then sent for a rigorous training in Missouri which lasts for almost 1 year. A part of training also takes part in Andhra Pradesh. They are trained in Indian penal codes, special laws, criminology etc. The officers also have to undergo physical training while they are trained in theoretical subjects. 

Posting
Once the new officers complete their training, they are allotted state cadre which means that they have to work within the state.. The cadre system assign a state to each officer where he has to work. Being a central service, candidate can get a cadre from a different state than which they belong too. The trained officer are posted as Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) which is a Class 1 position. Most of the officer can expect to retire as ADGP (Addl. Director General of Police) or DGP (Director General of Police) as the promotion are mostly based on the seniority. An IPS officer can also go for deputation to central government posts. 
 

Median Pay Scale / salary of Police Officer :

The IPS officer salary starts at around INR 40,000/month which can go up to INR 100,000/month by the time he retires. But apart from salary they are given lot of perks which adds up. They are provided a government house in a nice locality and a government vehicle which they can also use for personal use.