Spring 2020: CRIM 1115 Criminal Justice Interview Assignment

This assignment presents an interview with a police sergeant in the Vancouver Police Department. The interview covers the sergeant's motivations for joining the force, career progression, responsibilities, and daily activities. The sergeant discusses challenges faced, including the stress of the job and public perceptions of law enforcement. The interview also highlights the most satisfying aspects of the job, such as solving a rape case, and addresses challenges within the department like technology use and funding. The sergeant shares perspectives on youth involvement in crime and suggests community safety services as an alternative to incarceration. The assignment concludes with the sergeant's positive outlook on a career in the criminal justice system, emphasizing the opportunities for skill development and societal contributions. The assignment references several academic sources.

Running head: CRIMINAL LAW
CRIMINAL LAW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Interview Questions
Q1
The reason I came into, got involved in the criminal justice system, or more precisely
decided to be a police officer was to help and assist others as criminal justice provides us with
opportunities to use our strength for the good of others. In addition to that, it also helps in
rehabilitating the criminals and provide aide to the victims who were wronged. Therefore, in
order to make the society a better place I decided to choose this career.
Q2
I had started out with being a police officer in the Vancouver Police Department where I
had been an inspector. Gradually after a while, I became the Staff Sergeant and now finally
became the Sergeant of the police force in the Vancouver Police Department. The VPD is
considered to be the police force which has several police departments and it became the first
Canadian municipal police force to hire any female police officer along with which this force
also started a marine squad. Therefore, I am proud to be associated with this organization.
Q3
I have 15 years of service as I have been a newly promoted sergeant. My first promotion
was from being a constable to the rank of being a sergeant. I have certain patrol teams, work
units along with the specialty squads under my supervision. I have had this role for the past 1
year and I have to perform all the duties of that of a police officer and along with such have to
coordinate and supervise the employees form other departments in their day to day activities.

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Q4
As a police sergeant there are a lot of day to day activities that needs to be taken care of
under my supervision. I have to assume the command of daily operations if there is no lieutenant
and along with such supervise the police officers and other department employees in their
fulfillment of the duties. Furthermore, I have to take care of other administrative staff duties, and
brief the training staff with several new developments and other regulations, techniques which
would benefit them and conduct performance evaluations which would help in enforcing the
policies and regulations that have been laid down for us in our agency.
Q5
Being a police sergeant there are a lot of responsibilities as I have the opportunity of
creating and contributing to an officer’s accomplishment. Therefore, such creates an enormous
impact as the position I hold is of great significance. It is an influential position. Therefore, such
can be considered to be the most interesting part of the role and I would not want to create any
kind of difficulty or stand in the way of my officers accomplishments and always try to
cooperate and contribute to the success of my officers.
Q6
The police is considered to stay on duty 24*7 and therefore due to such the stress can be
considered to be enormous as we have to be constantly on guard. The most difficult part of my
job had been when I had to drop an investigation because that was considered to be the right
thing to do.

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Q7
A large part of the public have this opinion that the police or the law enforcement agency
have this tendency of shooting someone and use it as an excuse to escape from the situation. I
have always thought that the uniform holds a lot of respect but the police officers are considered
to be thought of as being corrupted and they join the police force in order to accept bribe.
Therefore, these judgments of people are considered to be appalling. The police officers take a
lot of risks and they try to guarantee safety of a citizen therefore, they go to every extent possible
in order to ensure that. Thus, in order to change such mindset I would try to introduce certain
programs or initiatives where we would directly communicate with the public and try to listen to
their ideas for making the police force a better place.
Q8
As a police officer or an employee in the law enforcement agency I had joined the
criminal justice system in order to help and aide the people who had been effected by crimes and
to use my skill and strength for the good of others. There had been several instances which made
me feel good about doing the job but the most satisfying experience in my career would be the
time when I had solved a case of a rape victim and had caught the rapist and send him to prison
along with my co-workers who helped me solve the case. The rapist had gotten the punishment
he deserved as his reign of terror went on for 4 years or so. The rapist would break in a women’s
house when they were out and would wait for them in an unlocked door in the middle of night. It
was exceptionally satisfying to solve the case with my fellow co-workers and detectives.
Q9
There are certain challenges or difficulties that are going on in the police department that
I work for where there have been various inefficiencies relating to the police interactions through

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the uneven use of technology or a lack of a standardized practice. Inadequate funding by the
government and absence of collaborative relationships that would be among the key
stakeholders. In order to improve the conditions there are certain initiatives being taken by the
administration which would help in improving the police force and get rid of the difficulties that
are being faced (Ferdous, Khan, & Dulal, 2018).
Q10
The youth in the Criminal Justice System is considered to be increasing day to day and
therefore such would pose as an issue or a difficulty in the criminal justice system as the youth is
more inclined towards committing crimes. In order to prevent them from being involved in
crimes there needs to be rehabilitation and reintegration of the youth in a community by referring
those youth to various community programs (Jeffrey, Therien, & Bali, 2017).
Q11
The one story as I had stated before earlier would be the day I had caught hold of the
rapist who had raped several young women for four years. That would be the case which would
be remembered as it was a challenging investigation and we were able to take that rapist off the
street and imprison him for his crimes.
Q12
The one change that is necessary according to me would be to promote community safety
service as an alternative to the Incarceration as it would help the prisoners reform and change
their ways. In addition to such I would also state that there should be a fair and effective policing
practices and the police workforce should carry out their functions in an effective manner.

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Q13
The job outlook for any police officers in the country is considered to be good since once
you have entered into a police force you would be able to move between the positions after being
given the proper training and experience. In spite of such having a career in the criminal justice
system would be beneficial as such would help you in developing skills and it would provide an
individual with a lot of prospects in order to give back to the society.
Q14
Apart from this, the police force is considered to be very endearing as they consider the
employees as their family because of how much time we ought to spend at work. Therefore, the
work environment is fun and the employees are well behaved. This type of job also helps in
witnessing a lot of things that are wrong with this society and it is up to us to do some good
which would make a difference. Therefore, the job in the criminal justice system is considered to
be a great experience as it helps an individual grow and learn various things.
Therefore, it can be understood, from the interview questions that had been asked to
Sergeant Joshua Montgomery (Fictitious Name) it can be understood that the criminal justice
system has wide opportunities as it is a series of various governmental agencies which serves the
purpose of rehabilitating the offenders and prevent other crimes. It also helps in providing moral
support to the victims and give back to the society (Reasons, et al., 2016).

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References
Ferdous, S., Khan, R., & Dulal, B. (2018). Application of Restorative Justice Theory in
Aboriginal Criminal Justice Process in Canada: An Analysis.
Jeffrey, N., Therien, A., & Bali, V. (2017). Youth Criminal Justice in Canada.
Reasons, C., Hassan, S., Ma, M., Monchalin, L., Bige, M., Paras, C., & Arora, S. (2016). Race
Criminal Justice in Canada. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences, 11(2).