Anthon Money

11/30/15
10:00-10:50 MWF
Term Project
I havent change my mind on the career path I have chosen as Im still sticking with Law
Enforcement and planning on becoming a Patrol Officer for any department that needs the
people. I have loved to do something with my life that helps others and even though many would
debate on how much cops help everyday people I have experienced with close friends who are
officers and professors who have given their personal life stories to me. This profession takes
heart and determination and Ill admit that I havent had a lot of that in my life like how I gave
up on being a US Solider or how I gave up being in the Utah National Guard multiple of other
things I have given up on but I have decided this is what I am sticking up and saying, Im not
giving up and Im going to pursue this until my dream becomes reality. And I will admit I have a
long way to go but this assignment actually pushed me to make progress in my dream career.
As a police officer my duty is to protect my city that Im working from the everyday
speeder and aggressive driver to the horrible low possibility armed robbery or any attack on the
city. Now like a lot of people say that police officers do little to protect others in a day to day
service and would ask how a speeder would endanger anyone? Well the simple answer would be
that maybe some speeders are not dangerous especially at the moment we see them and pull them
over but it has the potential of becoming a dangerous threat that the person speeding could have
little to no care for others and could potential wreck and hurt or possible kill another person just
because of the negligence of how they drive. I believe that small things like pulling them over

and even giving them a warning really pushes them to think about their driving habits and clean
up their act. Now with other things like drug offenders people may ask what does putting them
in trouble and putting them though canceling help. This is a good question I even asked but the
answer is simple. Serious drug addicts put themselves in harms way by just doing the drug of
their choice and its our duty to protect them from ourselves not only is it our duty but if we
didnt do anything people would be up and asking, Why hasnt the government helped this
individual before he hurt himself or his family, its the governments fault why it happened. This
is why we do what we do, we will be looked at negatively no matter what we have to do. It is
also our responsibility to help these individuals for their kids, spouse, or any other family
members as there is nothing good that comes with losing a loved one to drug addictions. We will
do the best we can to try and to keep them with their families as long as possible by attempting to
clean the up though drug canceling and other means. We will also protect individuals like this by
getting the drug dealers off the street and prevent selling. Lastly another big thing that we can do
is save lives in domestic abuse cases. If cops are entered into a domestic abuse scenario and
dont do anything to try and remove the aggressor from the premise. The victim has the potential
of being severely beaten or even killed if the aggressor is mad enough. We have programs for
these individuals too like anger management to try and control the aggressive behavior and if it
doesnt work we will protect the victim and the children in the mix by making sure neither are
within each other are in personal spaces where the abuse will take place again. We provide ways
for the victim and the rest of the family can be safe and away from the abusive person. We will
try and be as effective as possible to protect the citizens of our society.
Now there is a lot of ways to get into this career and it is actually pretty easy at the
moment due to the amount of hatred towards cops today and how the economy is up. When the

economy is up people tend to ignore open spots at police stations and even police officers might
leave the profession to find something that pays a little better. But the biggest entry level to help
me get the position of police officer especially at a department I would like, my uncle who is a
police officer recommends starting at the jail and doing either accounting and any other jobs they
would need me to do as he told me that police agencies usually pick people with experience in
the jails as that is what shows them they have the experience with criminals and are hardened
and ready for the job that awaits as it isnt an easy job to do. He says to take any position that is
available at the jail for anyone who isnt an officer yet as moving up there is how it works you
start at one spot and get promoted to another spot if you put heart and motivations into it. And I
have to know how to have respect for the officers above me and the employees beside me.
(Simpson) And my friend Ian Adams recommends doing ride alongs and getting as much on the
field education. (Adams)
Over the years the Education path to this job has changed severely from only requiring a
GED to now requiring a High school diploma as college quest states and thats for the bottom of
bottom jobs in the police force. And if I were want to get to a high rank of like Lieutenant,
Captain, or any other officer rank I would need at least a bachelors degree at the bottom line
minimum some departments require a masters degree. (How to Become a Police Officer) It
definitely adds pay. As the website Masters in Criminal Justice states a person could make
78,587 to $99,698 if I used my masters degree to become a police chief. (Law Enforcement Masters Degree & Salary Information) This is a great motivator to excel in my criminal justice
degree. But to get anything above an associates degree I would have to transfer over to Weber
University as they are the only school in the Utah region who specializes in criminal justice and
pinpointed to police officers in general.

Average salary depends on the department its self but most police jobs are not paid very well but
if you want this career you have to love it for the job, not the money. One of the departments I
wanted to work for was South Jordan P.D. At one point they had an opening for a police officer
and the starting pay was $18 an hour (South Jordan Police Department Employment) which is
pretty high vs. other departments like West Jordan which was at the time they had an opening
was about $14 an hour but they had a little better benefits like more Holidays, Vacations,
Retirement, and great insurance. (West Jordan Police Department Benefits) So there is a lot of
factors that come into play when choosing a department but one cannot be picky if the market if
flooded with new officers because if ones picky they might lose out on a job and have to float
around till a new job opens which for most department is only once or twice a year depending on
how many officers they need.
I think I have a great future in this career as I already have a few ride alongs under my
belt and working on getting my N-POST to become certified to actually join POST. If I continue
down my path for this career my possibilities are endless and I could specialize in my career like
if Im done with the beat cop I can try out for SWAT or if I want to rid motor cycles I can try
Motor. Even if I want my own certified and fully trained K9 companion to do drug or bomb
squads. The possibilities are endless and if I keep my head to the task and get myself in physical
and mental shape anything can be done. The best part as well is if I dont necessarily like being a
city cop, with the certification I get from POST I can try to become a Federal officer or become a
US Marshall or any job that requires POST and experience as a city cop. And lastly before I end
this is that their isnt really a top to this job because someone may have the idea of a top
promotion maybe the Chief or Sherriff while to someone else it could be a Captain for the SWAT
team for a city or High Way Patrol.

My interview was with my uncle and a little bit with my good friend who is my
grandmas neighbor Ian Adams. My uncle is a Forensics Officer whose primary intentions was
becoming a beat cop but change paths though police training. He found that the beat cop life has
a lot of hatred attached to it and he didnt want that so he chose the closed curtains route of being
a forensics as he likes science and he feels he has a responsibility to do that because as he says if
he didnt do it who would? (Simpson) I also got some information out of Ian and he said he
would help me with ride alongs and other info on becoming and officer. (Adams)
There is a ton of pros and cons that come with this profession like the pros is that you
become someone with a lot of authority and respect. While some consequences is with all of that
authority and respect comes a lot of responsibility and are held to a higher standard even if that
higher standard is basically impossible to fill due to the high standards that are set by the public
that is fueled by the media. Pros is after a while you can make the schedule set and around to
how you want it but the con is that you have to start out with terrible hours and work overtime to
get to that point. Pro is if you like it, the job can be enjoyable but the biggest con would be after
a while the stress does eat the person down and can give officers PTSD and other stress disorders
that come from the job.
I think it would be a great fit for me as I have always wanted to put my life to a higher
standard and do something good with it by helping others. I also always like uniforms and the
respect and honor that comes from really any government job out there. And lastly I have a
strong love for the brothers and sisters in law enforcement and I feel its my duty to repay the
favor by going out there and having their backs.

Works Cited
Adams, Ian. Police Officer Anthon Money. 18 November 2015.
How to Become a Police Officer. 2014. <http://www.collegequest.com/how-tobecome-a-police-officer.aspx>.
Law Enforcement - Masters Degree & Salary Information. 2015.
<http://www.mastersincriminaljustice.com/law-enforcement-masters-degreesalary-information/>.
Simpson, Brent. Forensic Officer Anthon Money. 12 November 2015.
South Jordan Police Department Employment. 2015.
<http://www.sjc.utah.gov/police/police-employment.asp>.
West Jordan Police Department Benefits. 2015. <http://www.ci.westjordan.ut.us/HR.aspx?pgID=3.10.1>.