Example research essay topic: Specific Task Law Enforcement - 874 words

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A dog is mans best friend, as a saying goes, but each dog is friend to certain extent. That is each dog has particular traits that can serve toward a specific use or purpose only. It also means that you cant take just any dog and train him to do whatever you want. But if you make a right choice for a task you want and train a dog properly, you will have a great pay back as a faithful and helpful friend. The dogs only boundaries to learning, under proper training regime, are his own limitations mentally, physically, and genetically, for no single individual of any breed is fitted inherently to cope with all the active branches of specialized training. (Hart, 1990, p. 32) Choosing a police dog law enforcement experts first of all consider a breed. There are certain limits beyond which regular home pets, like Poodles, Dachshunds, or Pugs, just cannot go in their training, or perhaps I should say, beyond which it is ridiculous to attempt to push a dog.

These boundaries are established by his genetically inherited behavior patterns. In most of the breeds you will find a similar genealogy the selection by man for particular traits that fashioned the breed toward a specific task. For the task of police and war dogs are better suited dogs from the breeds that have been bred for generations for this specific task. Among them are Doberman, Labrador, and German shepherd dogs or Schultz Hund as they are called in their fatherland which means protection dog. (Hart, 1990, p. 41) After selecting from proper breeds, the next very important consideration is dogs personal traits age, size, physical shape, coat type, activity level, and temperament. Police dogs perform a variety of tasks for which different characteristics are required. Dogs help police to arrest criminals, rescue missing children, lost hunters, and seize millions worth of illegal drugs.

Dogs smell is valuable for seizing drugs, while dogs agility and coat type are more important for work in mountains. A police dogs most valuable tool isnt his bite. Its his nose. Studies show that a German shepherds sense of smell is 1000 times stronger than of any human. And those noses are the most potent weapons police has in the war on drugs and terrorism. (Capuzzi Girls, 1992, p. 94) The next thing experts put under thorough examination are dogs strength and endurance. These qualities are evaluated during the first stages of training.

Also before a specialized training starts its necessary to consider whether a dog has been properly trained before. One of the things in which regular home pets and police dogs are alike is that they both need training. The difference is in amount and level of training. Ideally, each owner should train his or her home pet so he will become a better canine citizen whose behavior will be impeccable in persons home, car, and on the streets.

Its very important that a dog is properly trained during this fundamental or basic training because training of police dog is based on it. Training a police or war dog includes very special aspects, such as advanced obedience training, trailing and scent discrimination training. It takes much more time, effort, and knowledge to train a police or war dog then a regular pet. Only after a dog successfully completes training and passes all required examinations he becomes a real law enforcement agent.

A minimum acceptable standards of performance for police canines are set by different organizations, among them usually are the following seven areas: obedience (both on and off lash, verbal and hand signals; agility; building search; area search (large outdoor areas looking for felons or lost individuals); article search (lost or discarded evidence); tracking or trailing (fleeing felons or follow the trail of lost person); and aggression control (apprehend the fleeing felon and protect the handler from physical attack). (OPCA) The last item in the list of the police dog requirements plays not the last role in evaluating a police dog. A good police dog should obey and protect his owner even when performing another task. This may be difficult to accomplish, but it encourages the type of thinking the dog needs on the street. Good obedience should not interfere with a good dogs focus on the suspect. This is another way in which police and war dogs differ from regular pets. One of the most important concepts for police dog training is that obedience and aggression are never separate skills, but always performed together.

This is a quality that other dogs often dont posses, but that is vital for police dogs. Because of obedience and aggression control police dogs become one of the finest non-lethal aids in the prevention and detection of crime. (Mackenzie) Its difficult to say whether police dogs are smarter than other kinds. Probably no. But they are capable to complete necessary training and are physically equipped to help people in very difficult tasks. Even though police dogs are very intelligent, they dont understand the nature of their searches.

Rather, they perform their mission as though it were a game. And in a sense, it is. Because of the dogs powerful noses and stalwart obedience, its a game society wins.

Research essay sample on Specific Task Law Enforcement