Career’s Report

Part 1: An overview of the current requirements of the job

What are the requirements of the job?

To be eligible for consideration to attain a career at the Australian Federal Police (AFP)1 you must;
- be an Australian Citizen, this is because the AFP is Australian focused
- over the age of 18, for legal reasons, an example of this is that people in this field see
confidential information
- have a valid drivers license, P plates and Automatic only licence are acceptable
- have a year 12 education or a year 10 trade certificate.
As you progress through the employment process you will be required to;
- have a full security clearance
- submit finger prints
- undertake drug tests
- provide a first aid certificate
- provide evidence that you are able to swim 100 meters.
The employees of the AFP are expected to demonstrate the highest level of professional standards in all
aspects of their lives, achieving integrity and security.

Police officers employed at the AFP have many responsibilities because they are very important figure in
the Australian society. “A police officer is responsible for enforcing laws and regulations and making
decisions in relation to the arrest or otherwise of members of the public, conducting criminal and
accident investigations, guarding prisoners in police cells and maintaining the peace at demonstrations
and other public events.” Every sworn officer has to carry a firearm based on the requirements of
theFirearms Act 1996 (ACT). Because of the massive responsibility of these requirements “all AFP
appointees must be aware of the AFP's integrity framework and maintain the highest level of
professional standards both in their official and private capacities ..requirement for a police officer to be
a person of the highest standard of integrity and to be of good character...”(AFP Character Guidelines2)

According to the Australian Federal Police Regulations 1979, each decision the employes should takes
should be based off;
- impartiality and professionalism
- merit
- freedom from discrimination
- openness and accountability
- fairness
- equity in employment
- effectiveness

1
​https://www.afp.gov.au/careers/entry-level-recruit-policing-and-protective-service-officer-recruitment/afp-entrance-exam
2
​https://www.afp.gov.au/sites/default/files/PDF/employment-character-guidelines.pdf
What qualifications do you need?

When first applying for a job at the AFP, you must have at least a year 12 education or equivalent. Is
accepted through the first set of applications you must take the AFP Entrance Exam. If accepted the AFP
provide training.

Job Statistics

All of the following statistics where provided by Job Outlook.3

The average weekly earning is $2,036. 93% of officers are employed full time, this is significantly higher
than the average of 66% full time employed. Full time workers spend an average of around 43 hours per
week at work. The Median age for Police Officers is 35-44. This age bracket is second most for the
average age bracket for all jobs.

27% of workers are female, this is shocking compared to the average of 48% of people in a work place
being female. To improve these states the AFP has new opportunities and training programs to
incourage and inspire female employment.

In unemployment from being a police officer is described as ‘lower unemployment,’ meaning that in this
field people are less likely to be out of work then other careers.

Part 2: Analysis of the job over time

History of the job

Technology has completely changed the police work, changing efficiency and helping officers keep up
with a continuously growing society. One of the biggest changes is Mobile Fingerprinting. This saves
time, letting officers stay out in the field longer, eliminating unnecessary trips tp and from the
headquarters, productivity by providing clear and accurate fingerprint reading in only minutes. This
allows police officers to identify someone of the spot with out having to worry about taking them back
to the station.

Technology has made work easier, “responding to jobs using an iphone instead of talking over the radio,
to facial recognition and number plate recognition on cars for traffic matters.” [Paul Maher]

3
​https://joboutlook.gov.au/Occupation?search=Career&code=441312
Social Media is used by the police to help stay in contact with their community. The results of a “​2010
IACP Center for Social Media survey of law enforcement chief executives, 81% reported that they use
social media in their work4.” The most common uses for social media in the police field include;
- Investigating crimes
- Updating the public on crime and world events
- Activities related to crime prevention
- Gaining crime tips from the public
The presence of Social Media has completely changed the approach of police officers, making it easier
and quicker to gain and give information.

Body cameras, car videos and scierity cameras have suddenly become essential in the work of law
enforcers, holding people accountable and finding suspects in criminal investigations. Body cameras on
police officers have become extremely helpful with police accountability, helping uphold the reputation
of officers and show first hand what really happened.

Local Job Opportunities

Finding work experience at the AFP is very difficult due to the issues with confidential information and
unpredictable high risk situations involved with police work. The AFP does not have a work experience
program, so to find a placement private connections will need to be used, but nothing is guaranteed.
Jobs in the police force are available all areas, as law enforcers are required everywhere. If you live in a
small town jobs are the AFP might not be available with out moving, but local police opportunities will
most likely be available.

Part 3: Interview

[26/02/20: Career interview with Miah Lane and Paul Maher]

Miah​: Who are you? Like your name and…

Paul​: Yep, so, my name is Paul Maher, I’m a detective leading seniour constable with the Australian
Federal Police, umm and I work in fraud investigations.

Miah​: So … do you enjoy your job?

Paul​: Yeah I do...umm it’s, I worked in a wide range of areas with in the police and um they’ve all been,
err, some have been exciting at times umm distressing at times but umm they’ve all been i guess
positive experiences, they’ve all been different and thats what I like about it.

Miah​: So what qualifications do you have, and how long did it take you to attain these?

https://www.countertrade.com/5-technologies-that-have-revolutionized-law-enforcement/?nabm=1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2F
www.google.com%2F
Paul​: Yeah … so umm, I have a, an advanced diploma in community policing, umm, specializing in
investigations, so basically when you join up to the police you-you do your training and then, umm,
throughout the first part of your, your um, your work you, your general duties in uniform, you complete
a work book and that will get you your-your diploma in community policing and then you can do umm
various other courses throughout your career that might get you a detective destination and an
advanced diploma in investigations.

Miah​: So how long did it take you?

Paul​: umm, well the initial police course was only 6 months long, but then after that you have a year to
complete the workbook so then effectively a year and a half probably after I join the police, after I
started at police college, I got my diploma and then probably from there, maybe three years in uniform,
then another probably one or two years in criminal investigations to get that training and qualification.

Miah​: What age did you start?

Paul​: So I was twen … it was 2007, so I was 26, oh 25, I was nearly 26 years old. Yep.

Miah​: Um so what hours do you work?

Paul​: umm ….

Miah​: Like how many per week or …

Paul​: yeah so, 40 hours per week, but that can range, that kind of varieties, umm so in a six week period
I might do, you know, 5 weeks of kind of day shifts, one weekend which is day shift, but there is also
probably a week or four a monday to thursday day of afternoon shifts, and that might be 4pm to 2am.
That’s over a six week, kind of roster.

Miah​: So with your afternoon shifts, your first one, how did you cope with that? Was it any different to
the day shift?

Paul​: in terms of, is this …

Miah​: In terms of the type of people or the work required?

Paul​: Yeah it is different, because your, so being a police officer your awake a lot of the hours other
people are asleep, umm, you get involved in drunk people, intoxicated people. You have to, so if your
working a night shift you might be more focused on the clubs and licence premises or domestic
situations, people at home or young delinquents out and about getting around in stolen cars, that type
of thing. Where as, on the day shift it’s business hours and your dealing with people reporting thefts or
burglaries or things like that. So it’s a different type of work, at night yeah.
Miah​: Have you ever been scared? And if so how do you cope with that?

Paul​: Yeah I have. I guess the nature of the work can be dangerous. How do I cope with it? Well I guess
having, having good people around me and people that I trust. My colleagues are like a second family to
me cause you spend so much time, you might spend 10 hours in a car driving around Canberra between
4pm and 4am together so you get to know people really well. You have to be able to trust you
colleagues, umm, and you know, your well equipped to deal with what you come across, in terms of
things that you carry on your belt, in terms of a violent situation or a guess training in terms of dealing
with people in certain situations, victims or talking to people in negotiation and things like that. Yeah
i’ve been scared at times, nervous, anxious, but I guess you...and what was that second part of the
question?

Miah​: How do you cope with it?

Paul​: Yeah umm, I guess at the end of the day I believe that my job is to be there to have a positive
influence on what ever the situation is and although were still people, and we wear a uniform and we all
look the same, we are people and we have feelings. Just talking about it with colleagues and talking
about what went well and what didn’t work as well, having a bit of a debrief as we call it, just talking to
people. And there is also other support services there is you’re struggling mentally or psychologically
with things, and thats yeah, coming more and more focused on that.

Miah​: So whats the best thing about your job?

Paul​: The best thing is … well i’ve touched on it before is umm, having a positive influence on someone
thats having often times the worst day of their lives. It might be an old lady who has had her house
broken into and had all her jewelry stolen, thats the worst day of her life, but our job is too, obviously
there’s things we have to do, take report and do all that type of stuff, but if you can make her feel a bit
better and safer in her own home, give her reassurance, umm not that we always get people’s things
back, but umm and the same goes for other people who are in crisis situations, you are there to have a
positive effect on that. And sometimes that hard, sometimes thats taking people places they don’t want
to go, sometimes is charging someone who is close to them with an offence, sometimes it’s taking them
to the hospital if they need mental health support. But ultimately, that’s why I joined is to have, it’s a bit
of a cliche, to make a difference.

Miah​: So the next question is, who/what inspired you to start work in this field? And you have touched
on this saying, to make a difference.

Paul​: Yeah thats part of it. Probably the variety of the work, it’s unique, it’s different and it is different
everyday. You go to work in the morning and you don’t know wether your gonna be directing traffic at a
busy intersection or help someone who is in a difficult situation, every single time that radio goes off you
don’t know what you are going to get, i guess it can be stressful but it is also part of the reason I like it.
Who umm, I don't know, probably from a really young age I have this kind of interest in me, I guess
being a young boy, it seemed kind of cool. You get to drive a fast car, get to help people and you get to
carry a gun, but thats nothing now really. In terms of thats not a cool part of it, thats actually a scary
part, and no one wants to be that person who has to use that, but it’s there if you need it in certain
situations. I had a neighbour who was a police sargent, and I kind of looked up to him, yeah so I guess
those things, in terms of what and who.

Miah: ​Is being a police officer anything like the movies?

Paul​: Brooklyn Nine Nine [Laughter]. It is a little bit, but there is a lot of different stuff, the movies focus
on the flashy kind of, cool parts of the job and the obviously don't focus on the boring tedious parts of
the work and all that kind of stuff. It’s is a little bit but it’s not, you can’t encompass a day as a cop in one
scene of a movie or TV show.

Miah​: Is this career the end game?

Paul:​ I’ve thought about doing other things but, i guess I always come back to the thought of leaving the
job that i’m in. There are promotions there, sragents, which means that you kind of in charge of a team
of 8 or 9 people. The AFP is a big organisation, there are many different pathways you can take, many
areas geographically and many different fields. But I cannot see myself leaving anytime soon but
everything got a time limit.

Miah​: How has technology effected your field over the coarse of your career?

Paul​: Huge, we are talking computers and internet, when I was in 10,11,12 it was only just taking off.
Coming to eight years later you can see the advancements in everything technologically since then. Yeah
it’s a huge part of it because we’ve got to, not just using technology with our tools that we use at work,
but also in terms of investigations, being aware of whats around us. Trying to fit that technology into our
own investigations is a huge part of it and there is whole teams and floors of people involving
technology. In terms of practical things, you know, devices where we are doings checks and things on,
responding to jobs using an iphone instead of talking over the radio, to facial recognition and number
plate recognition on cars, for traffic matters, to umm then moving kind of on to investigations in terms
of people spend and have so much of their lives in their phones, that when ever you are doing and
investigation that involves anything, your phones is involved whether thats, you know, people
communicating, working out where someone might of been and who they might of been in contact with
at a certain time. Yeah so it’s a massive part of it.

Miah​: If you could say one thing to your past self, what would it be?

Paul​: To my past self … oh thats a good question. [Silence 17 seconds]. I guess it would probably be, one
thing that i've noticed about myself and police ingeral, is that we become a little bit desensitized to
things around us and because you’re often in high stress or highly volatile or violent, you see the worst
of people but you also see the best in people. We kind of tend to, lose that emotional connection to
news stories or other people, you kind of lose that a little bit because you’ve been so immersed in it at
work. I guess my advice would be to try not to lose that because, although it is what it is in terms of the
job, but it’s only a job and you still have to be conscious of your emotional connection with your family
and the people around you when you are not at work. Yeah that would be my piece of advice.

Miah​: Well that’s it, thank you I really appreciate it

Paul​: No worries
[Audio Cuts off at 16:44]
Part 4: Reflection

At the beginning of this task, I felt very blessed that we have a close family friend who was a police
officer, because we are actually neighbours it was very easy to arrange a time to meet for the interview.
I have always wanted to be a police officer and this task has helped me realize how real the job is, how
attainable and encourage me to work towards this goal. My favourite part of this task was the interview,
Paul gave me exactly what I wanted/needed to hear and more, letting me become for interested in the
AFP.

In my report I mentioned that the AFP used to have a work experience program but no longer do,
making it harder to gain a position. Because of Paul’s job statius and his requirements work experience
with him is sadly impossible, meaning that I have to find another proffection to do work experience
with. But it’s not the end of the world, and this will give me more experience to try out other careers
that I am interested in.

It was very interesting to look into how much technology has effected law enforcement. As I continued
my research, the topic of police brutality and officers reacting unecessarly to the situation presented. I
believe that the body cameras and the security cameras are going to have the biggest effect on the
issue, showing the public what really happened. As the opinion on police has been a very strong issue
the past couple of years, the cameras will help restore the faith in law enforcement, whether that be
finally bring peace to families that have had to suffer or show the world what needs to be seen. Either
way, these cameras are going to completely change the police force as we know it.
Reference List:

AFP Professional Standards. (2014). AFP CHARACTER GUIDELINES. Retrieved from

https://www.afp.gov.au/sites/default/files/PDF/employment-character-guidelines.pdf

Australian Federal Police. (2020). Retrieved from ​https://www.afp.gov.au/

Australian Government. (2020). Job Jumpstart. Retrieved from ​https://www.jobjumpstart.gov.au/

Australian Government. (2020). Police Officers. Retrieved from

https://joboutlook.gov.au/Occupation?search=Career&code=441312

Seek. (2019). How to become a Police Officer. Retrieved from

https://www.seek.com.au/career-advice/role/police-officer

The Good Universities Guide. (2019). How to become a Police Officer - Australian Federal Police.
Retrieved from
https://www.gooduniversitiesguide.com.au/careers-guide/browse/police-officer-australian-fed
eral-police

Western Australia Police Force. (2020). Retrieved from ​https://www.police.wa.gov.au/

Wpctrade. (2016). 5 Technologies That Changed Law Enforcement. Retrieved from

https://www.countertrade.com/5-technologies-that-have-revolutionized-law-enforcement/?na
bm=1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F