Police Officer Interview
by On September 3, 2008, two officers from the Mobile Police Department agreed to an interview, which took place at different times at Mobile Police Department or on a ride-a-long. This is the result of the interviews. Names have been changed to protect the officers.
On September 3, 2008, two officers from Mobile Police Department agreed to an interview that took place at different times at Mobile Police Department. The names of the officers have been changed to protect their identities. Officer Clark was interviewed about 40 minutes before his shift started and Officer Bryant was interviewed at 45 minutes into her shift.
Officer Information
Gender
Officer Clark is a male officer and Officer Bryant is a female officer.
Age
Officer Clark is 32 years old and Officer Bryant is 26 year old.
Race/ethnicity
Officer Clark is Caucasian and Officer Bryant is African American.
Years experience
Officer Clark has 10 years of experience as a police officer, whereas Officer Bryant only has two.
Rank
Officer Clark is a Corporal in the Patrol Division and Officer Bryant is also patrol
Education
Officer Clark has an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from Remington College and both a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Phoenix. Officer Bryant has an Associate’s degree in Criminal Justice from Virginia College in Alabama. The difference in their degrees creates a difference in how much both are paid per year.
From the department’s website, one can find the following information:
For a starting police officer, wages vary according to level of education:
- $26,616 for a high school diploma or its equivalent.
- $27,946 for an Associate Degree
- $29,277 for a Bachelor’s Degree
- $30,740 for a Master’s Degree
There is not a huge difference between the pay rates of these two officers, furthermore there is only about a $3,000 dollar difference.
Type of Agency
Both are members of the Mobile Police Department.
Questions
Why did you become a police officer?
Officer Clark: I became a police officer because I grew up the son a respected police officer and it was almost expected of me. I was in total awe of police officers because almost every weekend my family would have barbeques and I would sit there listening to all these great stories and I guess that ignited the fire in me from an early age.
Officer Bryant: I took an untraditional path to wanting to be a police officer. I was actually a victim of a crime and was from a broken family. I noticed how close the responding officers were to each other and how kind they were to me. I wanted that and wanted to be that person for someone else.
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