Bethan Loftus In Police Occupation Culture

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I would like to receive clarification on the what is meant by Bethan Loftus in Police Occupation Culture with the reference he made to the work of Skolnick who understood “police conservatism as a cultural response to the uniqueness of the job"(107). I understand this concept of police officers committing to traditional values as they are in line with many of the rules they must enforce.Although, I don’t understand why the cultural response of police officer isn’t one of a more liberal nature. The unique component of the job of a police officer is having to deal with a consistently developing and progressing society; as our laws change so do the people. I don’t understand why the conservative mentality has continued over the years as …show more content…

I recognize the same elements that shape police officers behavior to have an influence on my behavior at work. I work as a production assistant /security officer at a performing arts venue. Just as police officers often times have an exaggerated sense of mission towards controlling crime and are continually suspicious, I too have a sense of that feeling. At times, I have felt that intense pressure to protect too as at the center as I have to address any calls about suspicious people in the building. The center is a public building and has often times been vandalized, misused, and stolen from. It is a 68,000 square foot building and at times being the only security personnel can seem like a very intimating and discouraging task. Along with that point, I often times find myself jumping to conclusion and becoming suspicious of patrons without concrete evidence. Because the building has been a targeted area for crime in the past, I have become conditioned to automatically assume the worst when I see someone who deviants from the “norm” of our typical public patron. Prior to reading this article, I had held a strong stance of these aspects of police culture as being inexcusable and unbecoming, although after noticing similar behavior in myself when in a security role