Apprehension

The Life of a Police Officer

Police officers face many dangers in their jobs. Police officers are constantly being faced with the unknown and the unpredictable. They never truly know the outcome of any situation they enter into. This can make policing a dangerous profession. Dangers faced by police include death, increased risk of infectious diseases, and serious and minor trauma, both physical and emotional. These dangers are encountered in many different situations i.e. apprehension/arrest and investigation of criminals, conducting vehicle stops, investigating people and crimes, protecting the public from dangerous situations or individuals, investigating traffic accidents and witnessing the carnage that often results from those accidents, responding to suicides and directing traffic.

Individuals are drawn to police work for many reasons. Among these often include a desire to protect the public and social order from criminals and danger; a desire to hold a position of respect and authority; a disdain for or antipathy towards criminals and rulebreakers; the professional challenges of the work; the employment benefits that are provided with civil service jobs in many countries; the sense of camaraderie that often holds among police; or a family tradition of police work or civil service. An important task of the recruitment activity of police agencies in many countries is screening potential candidates to determine the fitness of their character and personality for the work, often through background investigations and consultation with a psychologist.

A police officer is a person who works for a police force. It usually only refers to those who have been sworn in as law enforcement officers, and does not include civilian support personnel. A police officer is employed in most cases by federal, state/provincial or municipal governments and has the responsibility (or duty) of enforcing federal, state/provincial laws along with municipal/city ordinances. They also have the responsibility of keeping the public peace. This is usually done by uniformed pro-active patrolling within their jurisdiction looking for and investigating law breakers, and by responding to calls for service. Police officers are required to keep notes of all situations in which they take action and appear as witnesses during both criminal prosecutions and civil litigation. One of the lesser-known but most time-consuming duties of officers is completion of documentation of activity (“reporting”).

It must be noted that the responsibilities of a police officer are extremely broad and not in any way limited to the duties mentioned above. Police are expected to be able to respond in some fashion to any and all situations that may arise while they are on duty. Also police must act as government officials in the cases of investigation. In some communities rules and procedures governing conduct and duties of police officers requires that they act if needed even when off duty.

The major role of the police is to maintain order, keeping the peace through enforcement of laws and societal norms. They also function to discourage deter and investigate crimes, with particular emphases on crime against persons or property and the maintenance of public order, and if able to apprehend suspected perpetrator(s), to detain them, and inform the appropriate authorities. Police are often used as an emergency service and may provide a public safety function at large gatherings, as well as in emergencies, disasters, and search and rescue situations. To provide a prompt response in emergencies, the police often coordinate their operations with fire and emergency medical services. In many countries there is a common emergency service number that allows the police, firefighters or medical services to be summoned to an emergency.

Police are also responsible for reporting minor offences by issuing citations which typically may result in the imposition of fines, particularly for violations of traffic law. Police sometimes involve themselves in the maintenance of public order, even where no legal transgressions have occurred.

Candidates for the police force must have completed some formal education. Increasing numbers of people are joining the police force who possess tertiary education and in response to this many police forces have developed a “fast-track” scheme whereby those with university degrees spend 2-3 years as a police constable before receiving promotion to higher ranks, such as plain clothes detective. Police officers are also recruited from those with experience in the military or security services. Most law enforcement agencies now have measurable physical fitness requirements for officers. In the United States, state laws codify state-wide qualification standards regarding age, education, criminal record, and training.

Police agencies are usually semi-military in organization, so that with specified experience or training qualifications officers become eligible for promotion to a higher supervisory rank, such as sergeant. Promotion is not automatic and usually requires the candidate to pass some kind of examination, interview board or other selection procedure. Although promotion normally includes an increase in salary, it also brings with it an increase in responsibility and for most, an increase in administrative paperwork.

After completing a certain period of service, officers may also apply for specialist positions, such as detective, police dog handler, mounted police officer, motorcycle officer, water police officer, or firearms officer (in forces which are not routinely armed).

In addition to any formal qualifications required, potential police officers should have a genuine interest in working with the public and possess an inquiring mind.

Most all police officers work in a police station. A police station is a building which serves as the headquarters of a police force or unit which serves a specific district. These buildings typically contain offices, various accommodations for their personnel and their vehicles (such as locker rooms and a maintenance garage), temporary holding cells, and interview/interrogation rooms. Alternative terms include precinct or precinct house for regional facilities of the New York City Police Department and other urban police departments in the United States, and detachment for local facilities of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or division by the Toronto Police Service in Toronto, Ontario. District offices are used by the California Highway Patrol, and substations are used by county sheriff forces with more than one facility. A police precinct is a form of division of a geographical area patrolled by a police force.

Investing After Retirement

Investing After Retirement
For many people, retirement holds a mixture of feelings; relief, excitement, and apprehension being very common. Letting go of the 9 to 5 job is wonderful. But without a significant steady income, how do I ensure safe use of my money? Is there any way to make my savings grow? Is investing after retirement out of the question?Best Financial Advice – Financial Planning | www.IXGW.com http://www.ixgw.com/

There are two things here that need to be addressed. First: keeping your money safe and secure. After that, you can think about investment options. Some tips for saving money include taking advantage of every senior discount possible, looking for part time jobs that won’t harm your social security, minimizing life insurance, and make sure you’re not paying unnecessary fees and charges on any bank accounts. One piece of very sound advice is to use your retirement funds and savings in a tax savvy way. For regular expenses, try to withdraw from non retirement savings (like CD’s and money market accounts), since you’ve already paid taxes on them. Rolling your IRA account and 401(k) into a single annuity will pay a monthly income, and when your other savings are depleted, you’ll have what to feed from.

The more exciting question is about investment after retirement. Don’t get your blood pressure up, however. Most financial advisors recommend conservative investing after retirement, since you don’t have the same luxury of making up lost money with a typical high paying job. Stable investments after retirement include bonds, certificates of deposit (CD’s) and money market accounts. They don’t offer high annual percentage yield (APY), but they are more secure. In retirement, this is more advisory than giving in to the temptation of putting a large retirement savings into a risky investment that might offer a high yield in a short time. Because it might not. You might lose it.

If you can’t fight the urge for something more speedily lucrative, you can consider things like blue chip stocks (investments that pay dividends), or conservative mutual funds. There is no guarantee that you’ll make money, and you might lose. But if there is growth, it will usually be larger.

The decision is yours. Enjoy the prospects!http://www.ixgw.com/2010/07/investing-after-retirement/

Manage your anxiety to prevent health complications

The increasing pressure to achieve something high makes it more difficult for those who fall short of goals they set for themselves. The peer pressure, whether in the society or at workplace, is always high. Be it in the promotion at work or the new car the neighbor just bought, people find themselves difficult to stay ahead. The result is high anxiety levels that are taking a toll on health and quality of life.

Anxiety is a psychological state characterized by cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components. These components combine to create the painful feelings that people typically recognize as fear, anger, apprehension, or worry. Events like appearing in an exam, participating in a competition, public speaking, delivering presentations, giving interviews, planning important events, etc. are also likely to trigger nervousness or anxiety. Anxiety attacks usually peak within ten minutes, and that condition rarely last more than a half hour. But during that short time anxiety can be so severe that people feel as if they are totally loosing control.

Anxiety is often accompanied by symptoms such as heart palpitations, apprehension, nervousness, restlessness, anxiousness and occasional nervous tension. Prolonged stress, depression, or a sudden misfortune can even cause anxiety. The problem of anxiety is not related to the age of the person but can happen to anyone. Recent studies have shown that even children are suffering from anxiety.

If anxiety is left untreated it can lead to various kinds of health problems like high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases. If anxiety attacks occur frequently, such as every day or almost every day, they can cause damage to the blood vessels, heart and kidneys. Chronic lifestyle conditions like (Hypertension & Diabetes) are also frequently associated with anxiety states. High level of anxiety increases the risk of heart diseases and diabetes.

Anxiety attacks have emerged as a growing problem and there are various ways to treat the symptoms related to anxiety. There are widely available synthetic anti-anxiety medicines which are generally prescribed by doctors. The causes of anxiety attacks can differ for each person and so do the treatments. Synthetic medicines help to quickly treat the symptoms associated anxiety attacks. Understandably these synthetic medicines can relieve the symptoms of anxiety but also leads to side-effects beyond anxiety relief.

Apart from the synthetic medicines, a large number of natural remedies are known for their healing effects in relieving the symptoms of anxiety.

For example Pre-Tense® is a plant derived safe & non addictive supplement from Indigene Pharmaceuticals Inc, which relieves the symptoms of Anxiety and acts as a supportive therapy for cardiovascular functions. Unlike the regular synthetic medicines these natural remedies don’t lead to any kind of side effects. Other natural methods include Relaxation techniques, Exercise, Yoga and Massage Therapy, Breathing exercises etc.