History

• Automobile patrol began in 1914.front of antique car image by Xavier MARCHANT from Fotolia.com
  
  According to Thomas Gale, as the chief of police in Berkeley California, August Vollmer "equipped the Berkeley Police Department with radio communication and in 1914 established the first automobile patrol in the United States." He also instituted special training for his police force as well as college education for his officers. He was the first to use innovations such as the polygraph machine and fingerprinting.
  
  

Types

• K9 officers require special training.police body and dog image by Sergey Galushko from Fotolia.com
  
  In the field of law enforcement, there are almost unlimited possibilities of specialized career paths to take. After someone has gained experience as a street patrol officer, they have the ability to go into a specialized area of law enforcement, including but not limited to SWAT (specialized weapons and tactics training), canine, investigations, traffic enforcement, narcotics, auto theft, child abuse, warrants, crime scene, and the list goes on and on.
  
  

Function

• The purpose of special training in law enforcement is to target specific areas of fighting crime and policing communities so that the police function efficiently as possible as an entire unit. Much like the corporate world, where certified public accountants may specialize in different types of auditing or taxes and lawyers may specialize in criminal law or family law, police officers fulfill certain roles within the police department. This optimizes manpower and assesses the needs of the community.
  
  

Significance

• Whatever specific job a police officer does, he receives special police training to perform that job, but only after he has been a patrol officer for several years. Police academies that train officers initially are also responsible for training veteran officers in special jobs. However, patrol officers are specially trained in the art of patrol tactics too. Every role and position an officer serves in requires specialized training and certifications, making each officer's role vital to the overall police operation.
  
  

Benefits

• Special police training means that an expert in a certain type of position will handle the special needs of a particular crime. For example, a trained homicide investigator will have a much better chance of solving the crime than a patrol officer. A trained motorcycle officer will be able to enforce traffic law and work accidents far better than a homicide investigator.