My name is Ryane Martinez, and I am currently a student at City Tech who is in the midst of reflecting on the career I plan on pursuing. I am currently working towards becoming a New York Police Officer. This is the best career for me because I believe it will open up the doors for me to have other opportunities I may want to pursue. Another reason I am convinced it is the best decision for me is because I have the desire to make New York a better home for everyone. The third reason why I want to be a Police Officer is because I suspect that Police Officer’s are misunderstood and so are the citizens of this country. I am confident that one day there would be less tension between the people of America and the Police Departments all over the country in efforts to make this country a better home for everyone.

In order to be Police Officer in New York the NYPD asks all applicants to meet these requirements stated by the NYPD recruit website: “all applicants to be at least 17 1/2 years of age and no older than 35 years old with the exception of those who are in the military”, “in order to be hired candidates need to be at least 21 years old”, “applicants must be a citizen of the United States”, “applicants must have a 2.0 GPA with 60 credits from college or the equivalent to that which is 2 years of active military service with honorable discharge”. Over a period of time I have spoken to family members in the Police force in order to understand aspects of the job I did not know of. I was able to grasp that the job can get very tiring at times and all though the pay is not much, I should take tests in order to earn higher ranks in the force. I was also told that other job opportunities come along because of ones success in NYPD. There, I would be able to decide if I want to pursue these opportunities or remain a Police Officer.

Being a Police Officer allows you have job opportunities within the Police Department or in other government agencies. Within the Police department, everyone is given a chance to be promoted. In an article Five Reasons to Be a Police Officer in About Career mentioned that promotions become available regularly “As positions become available, they are typically filled from the lower ranks”. Now, of course you have to earn these positions because they are not just handed out. Depending on how good of an Officer you are, you could even get the attention of an agency like the FBI, DEA or U.S. Marshall. If being a Police Officer is not exactly how you envisioned it, it would not be a problem because there are many opportunities that will present itself. I believe that being a Police Officer is what I long to do, but I also do know I ultimately want to do a job along the lines of criminal justice so I am aware that NYPD is not the only career that will fulfill my desire to make this world a better place. Being a Police Officer will meet all my key reasons for wanting to do this job. The article Five More Reasons To Be a Police Officer summed up the Police Officer job well, “A decent salary, great benefits, constant opportunities to learn new things, and ongoing chances for advancement.  What more could you want in a career?” I do not desire to be rich but I do want to have financial stability. Opportunities will come along whether it’s a promotion or another agency that may want to hire you. Benefits for you and your family just makes this career more appealing. 

New York is probably a place that everyone around the world would like to come visit. It’s also the home of millions of people. But of course a city with millions of people has it’s downside because not every one of these people make this city a better home. The NY Daily News article Murders Up 20% in 2015 Year-by-Year Comparison NYPD Says states “The murder rate in New York City has spiked an alarming 20% in the first two months of the year, prompting NYPD brass to rethink strategy to curb the deadly trend”. New York will probably never be able to experience times with no crimes but it is people like me that strive to one day make a difference. I have come to a conclusion that New York is not a place to raise a family. If you ask me, I would not want to raise my own kids in this environment but I am willing to work as a Police Officer in order to maybe one day make this city a home for everyone.

Most people become cops for the reasons I want to be a cop. I believe the reason most young men and women want to be Police Officers is because they are young and hopeful for the world and they believe they can make a difference. Somewhere along the lines Police Officer’s experience the reality of the world and their hope for society dies out. The one side of the job of a Police Officer that no one will never be able to understand is the danger of their job. Constantly dealing with people that you do not know can be nerve wrecking because you do not know what they are capable of or what they might have on them. I am not trying to justify any wrong doings that Police Officers may commit but I believe they are humans just as much as anyone else with emotions and a family they need to go home to everyday.

New York City College of Technology will allow me to understand what it means to work for what you want. Attending College will push me to keep thinking and planning for my future even if I may not see the results of my work immediately. Further more I plan to enroll into psychology and sociology classes in order to understand people’s behavior and thought process. I am confident that this will help me the day I become a Police Officer because it allows me to comprehend people’s actions and thoughts no matter what culture or background they come from. By doing so, I hope to remain humbled as a Police Officer in order to do my job to the best of my ability to serve the people of New York City.

The process I went through to figure out what I really wanted to do as a career was lengthy. I bounced around from career to career thinking that being a Police Officer would not be sufficient enough to make my family proud of me. I knew I wanted to make NYC a better place at a young age but I was not sure how to go about doing so. As I got in my teenage years I explored the job of a Police Officer in depth by asking questions to family members in the Police force. It’s important to take all aspects of the job into consideration. Some of the important topics that should be addressed and thought about is the pay, benefits, dangers, pros, cons, the most hated part of the job and the best part of the job. It’s also good to reflect on your own reasons for considering being a Cop. Analyze your motives so that you have the right mind set from the beginning. To take it even further, ask Police Officers what were some of their motives when they first joined compared to now. By doing so you will obtain a good sense of what the job is like before actually pursuing it.

Works Cited

Roufa, Timothy. “Five More Reasons to Be a Police Officer.” CriminologyCareers.about.com. About.com, 2015. Web. 14 May 2015.

“Murders up 20% in 2015 in Year-to-year Comparison, NYPD Says.” NY Daily News. NYdailynews.com, 2 Mar. 2015. Web. 14 May 2015.

“Exam & Employment Requirements | NYPDRECRUIT.COM.” Exam & Employment Requirements | NYPDRECRUIT.COM. NYPDrecruit.com. Web. 19 May 2015.