What do the police do?

April 27, 2015 11:22 AM

It occurred to me today that I don't really know what the police do: what's a good breakdown of what a policeperson does with their time?
posted by devnull to Law & Government (9 answers total)

It's very very hard to answer that question unless you're a bit more specific. Are you talking about a beat cop? A sergeant? A homicide detective? A forensics specialist? Their days all look very different.
posted by holborne at 11:35 AM on April 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Some of it is patrolling their districts - just being visible - but also looking out for problems, keeping an eye out for stolen vehicles/bicycles, missing persons, people with wants or warrants, etc. Depending on the department, some of this is foot patrol which involves a lot of interaction with the public, getting to know the people in the district, what their concerns are, helping them get to know their local officers, pointing people towards resources. Some is following up on previous calls, interviewing further to get updates (better description of a suspect, asking for more information about where the person is likely to go, has the runaway teenager returned), relaying information (status of cases, runaway teenager has been found), etc. Quite a bit of their day is spent answering calls for service, domestic disturbances, assault, burglary, taking reports for stolen cars/property/missing persons, welfare checks (checking on people who are obviously intoxicated/under the influence of a drugs or simply exhibiting behavior concerning to someone who sees them, family members who can't reach a parent/sibling/child), backing up fire and/or ambulance crews going to potentially hazardous situations, etc.

Then there are other special duties like training (firearms, bloodborne pathogens, new computer systems, etc.) and community events (parades, demonstrations, neighborhood meetings). And on top of that they have to spend varying amounts of time in court for previous cases.

The other 90% of the day is spent writing reports and on various paperwork. I'm only kidding a little. Policing today is so much more paperwork than it used to be. I think it's a huge disappointment to a certain type of person who is drawn to police work for the excitement.

Most departments offer some sort of civilian observer ridealong program. I highly recommend it if you have time. Just like any cross-training, it's good to see what other people deal with on a daily basis.

Source: married to retired policeman officer and have worked daily with police officers for omg 10 years now.
posted by Beti at 11:55 AM on April 27, 2015 [8 favorites]

/r/askLEO is just the resource for this sort of thing.
posted by youcancallmeal at 12:21 PM on April 27, 2015 [3 favorites]

Funny story: My husband is a cop, and whenever we ask our 2.5 year old son what daddy does at work he says, "Help fireman!" He really likes fire trucks.
posted by amro at 12:34 PM on April 27, 2015 [7 favorites]

Most municipalities will allow you to take a ride along at least once a year. I got to do it some years back with a canine cop in Ann Arbor, and the answer there is largely that they drive around, respond to a few calls (usually without doing anything), and spend most of their time running their dog through training.
posted by klangklangston at 12:36 PM on April 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

A lot of it depends on the city and how the department is set up. In our city, you have traffic that primarily work roads and write tickets. They will write 50 or so tickets a shift. Then you have patrol officers that drive around and look for problems and respond to calls. (All the things that Beti mentioned.) We also have narcotics officers that do more undercover, financial crimes, family crimes, community relations and crime scene investigators. Each department does different things and officers routinely transfer every few years.
posted by iscavenger at 2:40 PM on April 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

At the federal level: lots of talking to people - interviews, meetings, phone calls, and whatnot. Paperwork. Occasional surveillance gigs. Once in awhile a raid/arrest, sometimes followed months later by court testimony. In-service training and monthly firearms practice. Liaise with other agencies, cultivate informants, etc. Lather, rinse, repeat.

In short: lots of talking to lots of people, followed by prodigious amounts of paperwork.
posted by jquinby at 3:42 PM on April 27, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks for all the great answers. I must say, I was hoping that paperwork wouldn't feature quite so heavily :/
posted by devnull at 11:58 PM on April 27, 2015

Obviously Beti has most of it, but there is also court time -- sometimes cops spend half a day waiting in the courthouse for the 15 minutes of testimony they give in one of their (X many) cases. So there's that too.
posted by acm at 10:34 AM on April 28, 2015