My reflective portfolio
Introduction
I have always admired the forces since my younger years. Joining the police department was always my desire to fulfill the dream of protecting those I love. However, it was not to come true unless I enrolled for a course in Criminal justice and law enforcement. Before that, I had no experience or knowledge of what exactly Criminal Justice was all about. The thought of conducting criminal investigations and other police administrative work was still a dilemma in reality.
Nonetheless, joining Grand Canyon University and pursuing a course in Criminology has dramatically changed my personality and improved my professional knowledge on criminal justice as well as allowing me to volunteer and become part of a police department. This essay is a reflection of the new knowledge and experience gained during a period of volunteering in the Vilsack Military Police Department. My appreciation goes to my tutor and my immediate supervisor, who has been of significant help in this journey. The greatest achievement of this new experience is putting lessons learnt in class into practice, especially in the fields of police administrative work (Campeau, 2015).
My essay: Reflection of voluntary student work
Reflecting on my current position in the police department as a volunteer, I have gained a lot of experience in research and writing precisely in my journals on investigation methods and criminal body languages. With the help of my tutor, I have been in a position to write articles based on new research items picked every week. This is quite a milestone in my studies and, more specifically, in my volunteer work. First and foremost, my knowledge in writing journals has helped me in jolting down letters, memorandums and reports during my placement at the department. Secondly, the communication skills acquired in class have been essential in conducting fluent personal and telephone conversations as a volunteer in the department. These skills could be very beneficial in the future, especially while working at the police call center or conducting general crime investigations. Interestingly, the knowledge in doing police administrative work has been essential in carrying out my clerical duties such as filing and calendaring as part of my placement tasks at the department (Reider, 2015). These and many other skills acquired during my studies will be crucial in building up my future career as a private criminal investigator.
Considering my experience in the police department, two things would have made the practice even better. One is the grouping of volunteers to enhance teamwork (Daly, 2017). A genuine opinion is that if we worked in pairs during the placement, the experience would be excellently different from performing tasks individually. Secondly, had we been allowed to participate in criminal investigations actively, the familiarity would have been a thrilling one. Thirdly, it would have been better if the department had more German translators to interpret the German documents and emergency calls as the one available was always busy and occupied. However, Mr. Robert, who was our supervisor, influenced my attitude on police work as he was still determined to make a difference. This challenged me to make the best out of my time at the department and even in the future. Also, the German translator has been very influential, especially in organization and time management. Remarkably, he has been a symbol of professionalism for many volunteers at the Grand Canyon for his timely and accurate translations at the call center. The experience at the Grand Canyon has dramatically changed my ideas of the real world of criminal investigations as well as improving my attitude on the same (Williams, Brower, & Klay, 2016). Professionally, it has taught me to work collaboratively with colleagues while maintaining a competitive standpoint at the same time. This whole experience might be a stepping stone to making a top-class agent in the future.
Carrying out responsibilities with little or no supervision is a sign of professionalism (Jackson, 2017). Reflecting on my experience at the Grand Canyon, I can boost of a dramatic improvement in my ability to conduct my daily duties with minimal supervision. For instance, receiving incoming calls and redirecting them to their respective departments was quite easy without necessarily asking for assistance. Secondly, attending departmental meetings influenced our attitudes and professionalism to levels that could not be attained in class. These changed my personality, especially in adapting to the new demands of punctuality and presentation. Besides, I have developed professionally from being a directed learner to a more experienced intern with the help of my tutor and my supervisor. The placement has prepared me psychologically and professionally, which makes me ready for the job market in the future.
Conclusion
In summary, I have considerably changed in personality and profession since enrolling for this course. Secondly, my work experience has significantly improved since I signed up for voluntary work at the Grand Canyon Police Department. My tutor, as well as my supervisor at the site, has been beneficial in achieving this personal development for a short period of experience. I now feel competent and ready to take the same responsibilities in a similar or even higher position in the future. At the end of it all, I can say I enjoyed my study and my attachment to the department of law enforcement.