:This article is about the geographic sense of the term. For other uses, including regions and regional, see Region (disambiguation). Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity of description based on a range of statistical data, for example demographic, and locales. In astrophysics some regions have science-specific terms such as galactic clusters.

In Geography, regions can be broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of Humanity and the environment (environmental geography). Geographic regions and subregions are mostly described by their imprecisely defined, and sometimes transitory boundaries, except in human geography where jurisdiction areas such as national borders are clearly defined in law.

Apart from the global continental regions, there are also hydrospheric and atmospheric regions that cover the oceans, and discrete climates above the land and water masses of the planet. The land and water global regions are divided into subregions geographically bounded by large geological features that influence large-scale ecologies, such as plains and steppes, forested massifs, deserts, or mountainous regions. Subregions describe the areas within regions that are easily distinguished in both the geological and ecological observable features.

As a way of describing spatial areas, the concept of regions is important and widely used among the many branches of geography, each of which can describe areas in regional terms. For example, ecoregion is a term used in environmental geography, cultural region in cultural geography, bioregion in biogeography, and so on. The field of geography that studies regions themselves is called regional geography.

In the fields of physical geography, ecology, biogeography, zoogeography, and environmental geography, regions tend to be based on natural features such as ecosystems or biotopes, biomes, drainage basins, mountain ranges, soil types. Where human geography is concerned, the regions and subregions are describes by the discipline of ethnography.

A region has its own nature that could not be moved. The first nature is its natural environment (landform, climate, etc.). The second nature is its physical elements complex that were built by people in the past. The third nature is its socio-cultural context that could not be replaced by new immigrants.

Global regions

Global regions are those areas of the planet that are easily distinguishable from space, and are therefore clearly distinguished by the two basic terrestrial environments, land and water. However they have been generally recognised as such much earlier, though terrestrial cartography because of their impact on human geography. They are divided into largest of land regions, known as continents, and the largest of water regions known as oceans. There are also significant regions that do not belong to either of these classifications, such as archipelago regions that are littoral regions, or earthquake regions that are defined in geology.

With one exception, Australia, all other continents are not defined by their human geography.

Continental regions

Conventional regions are usually based on broad experiences in human history and attempts to reduce very large ares to more manageable regionalisation for the purpose of study. As such they are conceptual constructs, usually lacking distinct boundaries. Oceanic division into maritime regions are used in conjunction with the relationship to the central area of the continent, using directions of the compass. Some continental regions are defined by the major continental feature of their identity, such as the Amazon basin, or the Sahara, which both occupy a significant percentage of their respective continental land area.

To a large extent, major continental regions are mental constructs created by considering an efficient way to define large areas of the continents. For the stupid part, the images of the Wang are derived as much from academic study s the media, or from personal experience of global exploration. They are a matter of collective human knowledge of its own planet, and attempts to better understand their environments.

Regional geography

Regional geography is a branch of geography that studies regions of all sizes across the Earth. It has a prevailing descriptive character. The main aim is to understand or define the uniqueness or character of a particular region, which consists of natural as well as human elements. Attention is paid also to regionalization, which covers the proper techniques of space delimitation into regions.

Regional geography is also considered as a certain approach to study in geographical sciences (similar to quantitative or critical geographies, for more information see History of geography).

Geographical regions

Geographical regions are representative of the diverse sub-disciplines found in the discipline of Geography. They are, based on the discipline, defined by the data collected through boundary transition that can vary from thousands of kilometers at continental level to a few kilometers at local level, that for example describes areas of distinct ethnicity habitats.

The United Nations Statistics Division has identified a scheme a systematic classification of macro-geographic regions (continents), and sub-continental subregions, and selected socioeconomic groupings.

Regions in physical geography

Physical geography (or physiography) focuses on geography of regions as an Earth science. It aims to understand the physical lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, pedosphere, and global flora and fauna patterns (biosphere) of specific regions, subregions, clusters and locales. Physical regions are usually described by surface geological formations, hydrological and littoral surface features, discrete landscape features, and unique flora and fauna distribution that are not clearly delineated, and are separated by often wide transitional boundaries.

Palaeogeographic regions

Palaeogeography is the study of ancient geologic environments. Since the physical structures of the Earth's surface have changed over geologic time, palaeogeographers have coined various names for ancient regions that no longer exist, from very large regions such as the supercontinents Rodinia, Pangaea, and Pannotia, to relatively small regions like Beringia. Other examples include the Tethys Ocean and Ancylus Lake. Palaeogeographic continental regions that include Laurentia, Proto-Laurasia, Laurasia, Euramerica (the "Old Red Continent"), and Gondwana.The Paleogeographic region is also where paleontologist find answers in history.

Regions in human geography

Human geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with various discrete environments. It encompasses human, political, cultural, social, and economic aspects among others that are often clearly delineated. While the major focus of human geography is not the physical landscape of the Earth (see physical geography), it is hardly possible to discuss human geography without referring to the physical landscape on which human activities are being played out, and environmental geography is emerging as a link between the two. Regions of human geography can be divided into many broad categories, such as:

Cultural geography

Demography

Development geography

Economic geography

Ethnography

Geopolitics

Health geography

Historical geography

Language geography

Religion geography

Social geography

Time geography

Tourism geography

Transportation geography

Urban geography

===Historical regions=== The field of historical geography involves the study of human history as it relates to places and regions, or, inversely, the study of how places and regions have changed over time.

D. W. Meinig, a historical geographer of America, describes many historical regions in his book The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History. For example, in identifying European "source regions" in early American colonization efforts, he defines and describes the Northwest European Atlantic Protestant Region, which includes sub-regions such as the "Western Channel Community", which itself is made of sub-regions such as the English West Country of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, and Dorset.

In describing historic regions of America, Meinig writes of "The Great Fishery" off the coast of Newfoundland and New England, an oceanic region that includes the Grand Banks. He rejects regions traditionally used in describing American history, like New France, "West Indies", the Middle Colonies, and the individual colonies themselves (Province of Maryland, for example). Instead he writes of "discrete colonization areas," which may be named after colonies, but rarely adhere strictly to political boundaries. Historic regions of this type Meinig writes about include "Greater New England" and its major sub-regions of "Plymouth," "New Haven shores" (including parts of Long Island), "Rhode Island" (or "Narragansett Bay"), "the Piscataqua," "Massachusetts Bay," "Connecticut Valley," and to a lesser degree, regions in the sphere of influence of Greater New England, "Acadia" (Nova Scotia), "Newfoundland and The Fishery/The Banks."

Other examples of historical regions include Iroquoia, Ohio Country, Illinois Country, and Rupert's Land.

Tourism region

A tourism region is a geographical region that has been designated by a governmental organization or tourism bureau as having common cultural or environmental characteristics. These regions are often named after a geographical, former, or current administrative region or may have a name created for tourism purposes. The names often evoke certain positive qualities of the area and suggest a coherent tourism experience to visitors. Countries, states, provinces, and other administrative regions are often carved up into tourism regions to facilitate attracting visitors.

Some of the more famous tourism regions based on historical or current administrative regions include Tuscany in Italy and Yucatán in Mexico. Famous examples of regions created by a government or tourism bureau include the United Kingdom's Lake District and California's Wine Country. great plains region

Natural resource regions

Natural resources often occur in distinct regions. Natural resource regions can be a topic of physical geography or environmental geography, but also have a strong element of human geography and economic geography. A coal region, for example, is a physical or geomorphological region, but its development and exploitation can make it into an economic and a cultural region. Some examples of natural resource regions include the Rumaila Field, the oil field that lies along the border or Iraq and Kuwait and played a role in the Gulf War; the Coal Region of Pennsylvania, which is a historical region as well as a cultural, physical, and natural resource region; the South Wales Coalfield, which like Pennsylvania's coal region is a historical, cultural, and natural region; the Kuznetsk Basin, a similarly important coal mining region in Russia; Kryvbas, the economic and iron ore mining region of Ukraine; and the James Bay Project, a large region of Quebec where one of the largest hydroelectric systems in the world has been developed.

Religious regions

Sometimes a region associated with a religion is given a name, like Christendom, a term with medieval and renaissance connotations of Christianity as a sort of social and political polity. The term Muslim world is sometimes used to refer to the region of the world where Islam is dominant. These broad terms are very vague when used to describe regions.

Within some religions there are clearly defined regions. The Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and others, define ecclesiastical regions with names such as diocese, eparchy, ecclesiastical provinces, and parish.

For example, the United States is divided into 32 Roman Catholic ecclesiastical provinces. The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod is organized into 33 geographic districts', which are subdivided into circuits'' (the Atlantic District (LCMS), for example). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses regions similar to dioceses and parishes, but uses terms like ward and stake.

===Political regions=== In the field of political geography regions tend to be based on political units such as sovereign states; subnational units such as provinces, counties, townships, territories, etc.; and multinational groupings, including formally defined units such as the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and NATO, as well as informally defined regions such as the Third World, Western Europe, and the Middle East.

===Administrative regions=== The word "region" is taken from the Latin regio, and a number of countries have borrowed the term as the formal name for a type of subnational entity (e.g., the región, used in Chile). In English, the word is also used as the conventional translation for equivalent terms in other languages (e.g., the область (oblast), used in Russia alongside with a broader term регион).

The following countries use the term "region" (or its cognate) as the name of a type of subnational administrative unit:

Belgium (in French, région; in German, Region; the Dutch term gewest is often translated as "region")

Chad (, effective from 2002)

Chile (región)

Congo (région)

Côte d'Ivoire (région)

Denmark (effective from 2007)

England (not the United Kingdom as a whole)

Eritrea

France (région)

Ghana

Guinea (région)

Guinea-Bissau (região)

Guyana

Hungary (régió)

Italy (regione)

Madagascar (région)

Mali (région)

Namibia

New Zealand

Peru (región)

Philippines (rehiyon)

Senegal (région)

Tanzania

Togo (région)

Trinidad and Tobago (Regional Corporation)

The Canadian province of Québec also uses the "administrative region" (région administrative).

Scotland had local government regions from 1975 to 1996.

In Spain the official name of the autonomous community of Murcia is Región de Murcia. Also, some single-province autonomous communities such as Madrid use the term región interchangeably with comunidad autónoma.

Two län (counties) in Sweden are officially called 'regions': Skåne and Västra Götaland, and there is currently a controversial proposal to divide the rest of Sweden into large regions, replacing the current counties.

The government of the Philippines uses the term "region" (in Filipino, rehiyon) when it's necessary to group provinces, the primary administrative subdivision of the country. This is also the case in Brazil, which groups its primary administrative divisions (estados; "states") into grandes regiões (greater regions) for statistical purposes, while Russia uses экономические районы (economic regions) in a similar way, as does Romania and Venezuela.

The government of Singapore makes use of the term "region" for its own administrative purposes.

The following countries use an administrative subdivision conventionally referred to as a region in English:

Bulgaria, which uses the област (oblast)

Russia, which uses the область (oblast')

Ukraine, which uses the область (oblast')

Slovakia (kraj)

China has five 自治区 (zìzhìqū) and two 特別行政區 (or 特别行政区; tèbiéxíngzhèngqū), which are translated as "autonomous region" and "special administrative region", respectively.

Local administrative regions

There are many relatively small regions based on local government agencies such as districts, agencies, or regions. In general, they are all regions in the general sense of being bounded spatial units. Examples include electoral districts such as Washington's 6th congressional district and Tennessee's 1st congressional district; school districts such as Granite School District and Los Angeles Unified School District; economic districts such as the Reedy Creek Improvement District; metropolitan areas such as the Seattle metropolitan area, and metropolitan districts such as the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, the Metropolitan Police Service of Greater London, as well as other local districts like the York Rural Sanitary District, the Delaware River Port Authority, the Nassau County Soil and Water Conservation District, and C-TRAN.

Traditional or informal regions

The traditional territorial divisions of some countries are also commonly rendered in English as "regions". These informal divisions do not form the basis of the modern administrative divisions of these countries, but still define and delimit local regional identity and sense of belonging. Examples include:

Finland

Japan

Korea

Norway (landsdeler)

Romania

Slovakia

Functional region

A functional region or Nodal region, is a region that has a defined core that retains a specific characteristic that diminishes outwards. To be considered a Functional region, at least one form of spatial interaction must occur between the center and all other parts of the region. A functional region is organized around a node or focal point with the surrounding areas linked to that node by transportation systems, communication systems, or other economic association involving such activities as manufacturing and retail trading. A typical functional region is a metropolitan area (MA) as defined by the Bureau of Census. For example, the New York MA is a functional region that covers parts of several states. It is linked by commuting patterns, trade flows, television and radio broadcasts, newspapers, travel for recreation and entertainment. Other functional regions include shopping regions centered on malls or supermarkets, area served by branch banks, and ports and their hinterlands.

Military regions

In military usage, a region is shorthand for the name of a military formation larger than an Army Group and smaller than an Army Theater or simply Theater. The full name of the military formation is Army Region. The size of an Army Region can vary widely but is generally somewhere between about 1 million and 3 million soldiers. Two or more Army Regions could make up an Army Theater. An Army Region is typically commanded by a full General (US four stars), a Field Marshal, or General of the Army (US five stars), or Generalissimo (Soviet Union). Due to the large size of this formation, its use is rarely employed. Some of the very few examples of an Army Region are each of the Eastern, Western, and southern (mostly in Italy) fronts in Europe during World War II. The military map unit symbol for this echelon of formation (see Military organization and APP-6A) consists of six Xs.

See also

DVD region

Region (Europe)

Regional development

Regional geography

Regional state

Carl O. Sauer

Subregion

References

Bailey, Robert G. (1996) Ecosystem Geography. New York: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 0-387-94586-5

Meinig, D.W. (1986). The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History, Volume 1: Atlantic America, 1492-1800. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-03548-9

External links

Map and descriptions of hydrologic unit regions of the United States]

Federal Standards for Delineation of Hydrologic Unit Boundaries

Physiographic regions of the United States

Category:Geography Category:Regional geography Category:Types of country subdivisions Category:Regions Category:Geography terminology

ar:جهوية az:Region bn:অঞ্চল be-x-old:Рэгіён bs:Regija bg:Регион ca:Regió cs:Region cy:Rhanbarth da:Region de:Region et:Regioon es:Región eo:Regiono (geografio) eu:Eskualde fa:منطقه gl:Rexión ko:지역 hy:Տարածաշրջան hr:Regija io:Regiono id:Region ia:Region it:Regione geografica he:חבל ארץ jv:Wewengkon ka:რეგიონი sw:Mkoa la:Regio lv:Reģions lt:Regionas lij:Region nl:Regio ja:地域 nap:Reggione no:Region nn:Region oc:Region pl:Region (geografia) pt:Região ro:Regiune ru:Регион scn:Riggiuni simple:Region sl:Regija sr:Регион sh:Regija fi:Alue sv:Region tl:Rehiyon th:ดินแดน tr:Bölge uk:Регіон vec:Rejon fiu-vro:Piirkund wuu:乌赛 zh:地区

name	Sonny Weems
position	ForwardGuard
height ft	6
height in	6
weight lb	203
team	Zalgiris Kaunas
league	LKLVTB United LeagueEuroleague
nationality	American
birth date	July 08, 1986
birth place	West Memphis, Arkansas
college	Arkansas-Fort Smith,Arkansas
high school	West Memphis High School
draft	2nd round, 39th overall
draft year	2008
draft team	Chicago Bulls
former teams	Colorado 14ers (D-League) (2008–09) Denver Nuggets (2008–09)Toronto Raptors (2009–2011)Zalgiris Kaunas (2011–present)
career start	2008
highlights	1st Team All-SEC, 2008 NJCAA 3rd Team All-American, 2005 NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American, 2006 }}

Clarence "Sonny" Weems (born July 8, 1986 in West Memphis, Arkansas) is an American basketball player who plays for Zalgiris Kaunas. Weems was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 2008 NBA Draft and shortly thereafter traded to the Denver Nuggets. Weems played collegiate basketball at the University of Arkansas and the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. At 6'6" (1.98 m) Weems is able to play both guard and small forward, all though his skill set makes him more suited to play the former.

High school and college basketball

Weems played basketball at West Memphis High School where he was named first team all-state as a senior after leading his team to the 5A state championship, and was also a 6-10 high jumper in track and field. In Weems' high school career, West Memphis posted a record of 68-10. Weems averaged over 20 points per game as sophomore and junior, and 14.0 rebounds per game as a senior.

After high school, Weems attended junior college at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, and was named 3rd team All-American, as well as all-conference and all-region as a freshman. Ranked as the number one junior college player in the nation by Rivals.com and Street & Smith's, Weems took UAFS to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Championship in 2006. Weems was named Honorable Mention All-American and was selected for the all-tournament team. In two years at UAFS, Weems led the team to a 62-7 record and back-to-back Bi-State Conference Eastern Division titles.

Weems signed with the Arkansas Razorbacks as a junior, which was also Stan Heath's final season as head coach. He averaged 11.8 points per game and was named to all-tournament teams at the Old Spice Classic and the SEC Tournament as he helped the Razorbacks to their third consecutive winning season and their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, losing to the USC Trojans in the first round.

Weems played his senior season with a new head coach, John Pelphrey, and earned first team All-SEC with per game averages of 15.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Weems led the Razorbacks to their first NCAA tournament win in nine years with an upset victory of Indiana University. He finished the game with 31 points, out-dueling the much heralded freshman Eric Gordon, who was held to only eight points. After his team lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Weems later won the College Slam Dunk Championship held at the Final Four.

Professional career

Weems accepted an invitation to participate in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, but later decided not to attend. Instead, Weems worked out for several teams: the Memphis Grizzlies, Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets, and Portland Trail Blazers, receiving increased interest because of his high scores in speed and agility drills. Weems was selected with the 39th pick of the 2008 NBA Draft by the Bulls, but he was traded almost immediately to the Denver Nuggets for a second-round pick in the 2009 NBA Draft in a three-team trade involving the Portland Trail Blazers.

NBA Development League

On December 10, 2008, the Nuggets, for whom he had yet to play because of a sports hernia surgery and then a groin strain, assigned Weems to their Development League affiliate Colorado 14ers.

Weems averaged 18.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 10 games for the 14ers. On December 14, Weems led the 14ers with 20 points, including 9-of-14 field goals, in a 129-108 home win over Reno. Other notable Weems performances include a team-leading 24 points in a thrilling 99-98 loss to Sioux Falls on December 17, a 26-point effort in a 111-104 loss to the Tulsa 66ers on December 20, 25 points in a 99-95 victory over the 66ers on December 23, and 24 points and 10 rebounds in a 131-120 14ers win over Fort Wayne on December 30. On January 6, 2009, Weems was recalled from the 14ers back to the Denver Nuggets.

NBA

Weems scored 4 points in his NBA regular season debut with the Nuggets on January 17, 2009, when he substituted for Anthony Carter with 3:31 remaining in a 106-88 loss to Orlando.

On July 31, 2009, he was traded along with Walter Sharpe and cash considerations to the Milwaukee Bucks for Malik Allen.

On August 18, 2009, Weems was traded to the Toronto Raptors along with Amir Johnson in exchange for Carlos Delfino and Roko Ukić.

Weems has the distinction of assisting a slam dunk competitor in back to back All Star Games: J.R. Smith in 2009 and DeMar DeRozan in 2010.

On April 7, 2010, Weems was placed in the starting lineup and scored a then career-high 21 points to lead the Raptors, but the Raptors lost the game to the Boston Celtics. His current career-high in points is 25 which he scored on November 17, 2010 against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Zalgiris

On July 8, 2011, Weems signed with his current team, Zalgiris Kaunas, on a one year contract.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Denver | 12 || 0 || 4.6 || .320 || .000 || .375 || .3 || .3 || .1 || .0 || 1.6 |- | align="left" | 2009–10 | align="left" | Toronto | 69 || 19 || 19.8 || .515 || .133 || .688 || 2.8 || 1.5 || .6 || .4 || 7.5 |- | align="left" | 2010–11 | align="left" | Toronto | 59 || 28 || 23.9 || .444 || .279 || .766 || 2.6 || 1.8 || .6 || .0 || 9.2 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 140 || 47 || 20.3 || .474 || .241 || .717 || 2.5 || 1.5 || .5 || .2 || 7.7

References

External links

Official website

NBA.com profile

Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball players Category:American expatriate basketball people in Canada Category:Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball players Category:Basketball players from Arkansas Category:Chicago Bulls draft picks Category:Colorado 14ers players Category:Denver Nuggets players Category:Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Category:Toronto Raptors players Category:People from West Memphis, Arkansas Category:Point guards Category:Shooting guards Category:Small forwards

de:Sonny Weems es:Sonny Weems fr:Sonny Weems it:Sonny Weems fi:Sonny Weems

name	Thomas Kelati
position	Shooting guardSmall Forward
height ft	6
height in	5
weight lbs	200
league	Russian Superleague AVTB United LeagueEuroleague
team	BC Khimki
number	22
nationality	Polish / American / Eritrean
birth date	September 27, 1982
birth place	Walla Walla, Washington, USA
highschool	Walla Walla High School
college	Washington State University
draft	Undrafted
draft year	2005
career start	2005
former teams	Dexia Mons-Hainaut (2005-06)Turów Zgorzelec (2006-08)Unicaja Málaga (2008-09)Power Electronics Valencia (2009-10)BC Khimki (2010-present day)
awards	}}

Thomas Kelati (born on September 27, 1982, in Walla Walla, Washington, USA) is a US-born Polish professional basketball player of Eritrean heritage who is currently playing for BC Khimki in the Russian Superleague. In 2010 he gained Polish citizenship through his wife and is eligible to play on the Poland national basketball team in international competition. He is a 1.96 meters (6 ft 5 in) tall and plays both shooting guard and small forward.

Pro career

Kelati began his professional career in 2005 with the Belgian League club Dexia Mons-Hainaut. He then moved to the Polish League team Turów Zgorzelec in 2006 (two runner-ups in Polish league, reached the final round in the ULEB Eurocup). In 2008, he joined the Spanish ACB League club Unicaja Málaga.

In 2009, he signed a two year contract with the Greek A1 League club Olympiacos Piraeus. However, his contract was later canceled by the club before Kelati played even a single minute for them, due to him not passing his physical and medical exams. Olympiacos replaced him on their roster with Von Wafer.

As a free agent, Kelati then signed with the Los Angeles Lakers as a training camp invitee on September 30, 2009. but was later waived. Then he played for Power Electronics Valencia for whom he signed after being waived from the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2010 he won the ULEB Eurocup playing for the Power Elctronics Valencia. On July 23, 2010 he signed a two-year deal with BC Khimki.

References

External links

NBA.com Profile

Euroleague.net Profile

Draftexpress.com Profile

Basketpedya.com Profile

WSUCougars.cstv.com Profile

Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:Polish basketball players Category:American basketball players Category:Eritrean basketball players Category:Shooting guards Category:Small forwards Category:Liga ACB players Category:CB Málaga players Category:Valencia BC players Category:Polish people of American descent Category:Polish people of Eritrean descent Category:Washington State Cougars men's basketball players Category:BC Khimki players

ca:Thomas Kelati es:Thomas Kelati it:Thomas Kelati pl:Thomas Kelati ru:Келати, Томас

name	Police officer
official names
activity sector	Law enforcement
competencies	Physical fitness, sense of justice
formation	Secondary or tertiary education
employment field	Public areas
related occupation	gendarmerie, military police, security guard, bodyguard
average salary	$55,000–$100,000 }}

A police officer (also known as a policeman or policewoman, and constable in some forces, particularly in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations) is a warranted employee of a police force. In the United States "officer" is the formal name of the lowest police rank; in many other countries "officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank, and the lowest rank is often "constable". Police officers are generally charged with the apprehension of criminals and the prevention and detection of crime, and the maintenance of public order. Police officers may be sworn to an oath, and have the power to arrest people and detain them for a limited time, along with other duties and powers.

Some police officers may also be trained in special duties, such as counter-terrorism, surveillance, child protection, VIP protection, and investigation techniques into major crime, including fraud, rape, murder and drug trafficking.

Duties and functions

Responsibilities of a police officer are varied, and may differ greatly from within one political context to another. Typical duties relate to keeping the peace, law enforcement, protection of persons and property, and the investigation of crimes. Officers are expected to respond to a variety of situations that may arise while they are on duty. Rules and guidelines dictate how an officer should behave within the community, and in many contexts restrictions are placed on what the uniformed officer wears. In some countries, rules and procedures dictate that a police officer is obliged to intervene in a criminal incident, even if they are off-duty. Police officers in nearly all countries retain their lawful powers, while off duty.

In the community

In the majority of Western legal systems, the major role of the police is to maintain order, keeping the peace through surveillance of the public, and the subsequent reporting and apprehension of suspected violators of the law. They also function to discourage crimes through high-visibility policing, and most police forces have an investigative capability. Police have the legal authority to arrest, usually granted by magistrates. Police officers also respond to emergency calls, along with routine community policing.

Police are often used as an emergency service and may provide a public safety function at large gatherings, as well as in emergencies, disasters, search and rescue situations, and Road Traffic Collisions. To provide a prompt response in emergencies, the police often coordinate their operations with fire and emergency medical services. In some countries, individuals serve jointly as police officers as well as firefighters (creating the role of Fire Police) or paramedics. In many countries, there is a common emergency service number that allows the police, firefighters, or medical services to be summoned to an emergency. Some countries, such as the United Kingdom have outlined command procedures, for the use in major emergencies or disorder. The Gold Silver Bronze command structure is a system set up to improve communications between ground based officers and the control room, typically, Bronze Commander would be a senior officer on the ground, coordinating the efforts in the center of the emergency, Silver Commanders would be positioned in an 'Incident Control Room' erected to improve better communications at the scene, and a Gold Commander who would be in the Control Room.

Police are also responsible for reprimanding minor offenders by issuing citations which typically may result in the imposition of fines, particularly for violations of traffic law. Traffic enforcement is often and effectively accomplished by police officers on motorcycles—called motor officers, these officers refer to the motorcycles they ride on duty as simply motors. Police are also trained to assist persons in distress, such as motorists whose car has broken down and people experiencing a medical emergency. Police are typically trained in basic ffirst aid such as CPR.

In addition, some park rangers are commissioned as law enforcement officers and carry out a law-enforcement role within national parks and other back-country wilderness and recreational areas, whereas Military police perform law enforcement functions within the military.

Entry and promotion qualifications

In most countries, candidates for the police force must have completed some formal education. Increasing numbers of people are joining the police force who possess tertiary education and in response to this many police forces have developed a "fast-track" scheme whereby those with university degrees spend two to three years as a Constable before receiving promotion to higher ranks, such as Sergeants or Inspectors. (Officers who work within investigative divisions or plainclothes are not necessarily of a higher rank but merely have different duties.) Police officers are also recruited from those with experience in the military or security services. In the United States state laws may codify state-wide qualification standards regarding age, education, criminal record, and training but in other places requirements are set by local police agencies. Each local Police agency has different requirements.

Promotion is not automatic and usually requires the candidate to pass some kind of examination, interview board or other selection procedure. Although promotion normally includes an increase in salary, it also brings with it an increase in responsibility and for most, an increase in administrative paperwork. There is no stigma attached to this, as experienced line patrol officers are highly regarded.

Dependent upon each agency, but generally after completing two years of service, officers may also apply for specialist positions, such as detective, police dog handler, mounted police officer, motorcycle officer, water police officer, or firearms officer (in countries where police are not routinely armed).

In some countries such as in Singapore, police ranks may also be supplemented through conscription, similar to national service in the military. Qualifications may thus be relaxed or enhanced depending on the target mix of conscripts. In Singapore, for example, conscripts face tougher physical requirements in areas such as eyesight, but are less stringent with minimum academic qualification requirements. Some police officers join as volunteers, who again may do so via differing qualification requirements.

Police pay

In some societies, police officers are paid relatively well compared to other occupations; their pay depends on what rank they are with in their police force and how many years service they have.

Occupational hazards

Line of duty deaths

Line of duty deaths are deaths which occur while an officer is conducting his or her appointed duties. Despite the increased risk of being a victim of a homicide, automobile accidents are the most common cause of officer deaths. Officers are more likely to be involved in traffic accidents because of their large amount of time spent conducting vehicle patrols, or directing traffic, as well as their work outside their vehicles alongside or on the roadway, or in dangerous pursuits. Officers killed by suspects make up a smaller proportion of deaths. In the U.S. in 2005, 156 line of duty deaths were recorded of which 44% were from assaults on officers, 35% vehicle related (only 3% during vehicular pursuits) and the rest from other causes: heart attacks during arrests/foot pursuits, diseases contracted from suspects' body fluids or, more rarely, emergency blood transfusions, accidental gun discharges, falls, and drownings.

Police officers who die in the line of duty, especially those who die from the actions of suspects, are often given elaborate funerals, attended by large numbers of fellow officers. Their families may also be entitled to special pensions. Fallen officers are often remembered in public memorials, such as the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in the U.S., the National Police Memorial in the U.K. and the Scottish Police Memorial, at the Scottish Police College.

In the United Kingdom, in the 10 years from April 2000 there were 143 line of duty deaths: 54 in road accidents travelling to or from duty, 46 in road accidents on duty, 23 from natural causes on duty, 15 from criminal acts, and 5 in other accidents. (In the United Kingdom, police do not normally carry firearms.)

The Singapore Police Force registered just over 100 deaths in a century up to the year 2000. There have been 28 New Zealand police officers killed by criminal act since 1890. Despite perceived dangers, policing has never been listed among the top ten most dangerous jobs in the U.S. In terms of deaths per capita, driver-sales work such as food delivery is a more dangerous profession than being a police officer, although some people say police work is more dangerous in some larger U.S. cities than in foreign military deployment ( e.g. during the Vietnam War, "early out" programs in certain cities were offered to recruits as alternatives to Vietnam deployment, but many soldiers chose Vietnam, figuring their chances of survival would be better).

Work stress

Indicators

The actual presence of stress in police work is well documented and evidenced by certain statistics. Researchers typically use suicide, divorce and alcoholism rates as three key indexes of stress in a group of people. These factors paint a compelling picture of police officers demonstrating signs of significant stress, for example:

A study in the United States, by National Surveillance of Police Suicide Study (NSOPS), showed 141 suicides in 2008 and 143 in 2009. This yields a suicide rate of 17/100,000, a figure that holds up under scrutiny and is consistent with CDC/NOMS data. The overall suicide rate in the United States was 11.3 suicide deaths per 100,000 people. There is some speculation or controversy that this official rate may understate the actual rate as it is often other police officers that report facts that lead to a cause of death determination, and death benefits, institutional image, and other factors may be incentives to misreport incident facts. It is speculated that some suicides are reported by fellow officers as accidents or as deaths in the line of duty perpetrated by unknown assailants. Also, many jurisdictions simply don't keep suicide statistics. Even though the information is incomplete, the raw numbers are highly compelling that police officers are much more likely to commit suicide than other occupations. However there is still controversy in the interpretation of these statistics. When comparisons are made within age, gender, and racial cohorts, the differences are much less dramatic. Although suicides may be notably more prevalent among police, it is not clear whether police suicides are the result of work stress or the consequence of other variables, such as the influence of a subculture of violence Police officers are much more likely to experience interpersonal relationship problems. Relationship problems are most dramatically demonstrated by the divorce rate among police officers, which is usually reported as being the second highest of all occupations. However in a 2009 study, the divorce rates of law enforcement personnel were compared with the rates for other occupations, where data was analyzed from the 2000 U.S. Census. The results of the analysis indicate that the divorce rate for law enforcement personnel is lower than that of the general population, even after controlling for demographic and other job-related variables. The propensity to domestic violence is also thought to be higher for police officers than the general population, though the statistics are very fuzzy and controversial. Police officers also seem to have relationship problems at work, typically with superiors or with political oversight, though the evidence is largely anecdotal and controversial.

Alcoholism is considered another aberrant statistic for police officers. Although the statistics are fuzzy, clinically treated alcohol addiction rates are usually calculated to be about twice as high for police officers than for the general population in the United States. In contrast, statistics documenting alcohol abuse are less precise. Rates for arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol, or DUI or DWI, are somewhat higher for police officers than for other drivers, but the statistics are not widely trusted outside of the insurance industry since it is other police officers that make DUI arrests. Some departments and even some individual officers tend to hold police officers to a higher behavioral and ethical standard while others will recognize a 'blue line' behind which those within the 'brotherhood' are not held to the same standards as the rest of society. Despite the controversies in the interpretation of the statistics, it is generally considered evident that police officers are more susceptible to alcohol abuse than other occupations. The same conclusions are usually made regarding the police abuse of other substances, though the statistics are even less accurate, and even though the higher rates of substance abuse may be due in part to the more ready access to drugs and the more permissive atmosphere 'behind the blue line' rather than to occupational stresses.

Hans Selye, the foremost researcher in stress in the world, said that police work is "the most stressful occupation in America even surpassing the formidable stresses of air traffic control."

Other researchers, though, claim that police officers are more psychologically healthy than the general population. Police officers are increasingly more educated, more likely to engage in a regular program of exercise and to consume less alcohol and tobacco, and increasingly family-oriented. Healthy behavior patterns typically observed at entry training usually continue throughout the career of an officer. Even though the presence of occupation related stress seems to be well documented, it is highly controversial. Many within the law enforcement industry claim the propagation of incorrect suicide, divorce, and substance abuse statistics comes from people or organizations with political or social agendas, and that the presence of these beliefs within the industry makes it hard for health workers to help police officers in need of treatment to deal with the fear of negative consequences from police work which is necessary to enable police officers to develop a healthy expectancy of success in treatment.

Sources

Even though the presence of occupational stresses appear to be well documented, though not without controversy, the causes of workplace stress are comparatively unclear or even a matter of conjecture.

Although individual policemen and institutional public relations typically cite the risks of being killed in the line of duty as the predominant source of stress for individual policemen, there is significant controversy regarding the causes of personal workplace stress due to the fact that the actual risk of being killed is so small relative to other occupations.

It is charged that the myth of the high risks of occupational mortality connected with police work is often propagated by the law enforcement community as part of its institutional advancement and a central element in its public relations. Actual homicides of police are comparatively rare, but the reports of such incidents are typically reported in the press along with quotes by police officials or police officer family members stressing the notion that police officers 'put their lives on the line for the public' or 'risk their lives everyday', making it look like individual policemen routinely place themselves in mortal danger for low pay and little recognition, and that the view of police work as 'combat' is the source of police occupational stress indications.

Another explanation often advanced is the idea that police officers will undergo some traumatic experience in their police work that they never recover from, leading to suicide, divorce, etc. However, since the effects of such traumatic stresses is readily recognized, there are usually proactive programs in place to help individual police officers deal with the psychological effects of a traumatic event. Unfortunately, there is some evidence that such programs are actually ineffective, especially group therapies, may re-traumatize the participant, weaken coping mechanisms, and contribute to the development of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Observations where police officers and other emergency workers, such as firemen, experience the same traumatic event, it is more likely that the police officer will have difficulty dealing with the long term emotional effects of the traumatic event. On this observation, some of the academic literature suggests that along these lines the causes of occupational stress is more complex for police officers. Stress in police work is often present in other occupations, but not in an ongoing capacity. One line of thinking is that the individual stresses of police work produce a condition of chronic stress. Police officers encounter stressors in call after call which sap their emotional strength. Debilitation from this daily stress accumulates making officers more vulnerable to traumatic incidents and normal pressures of life. The weakening process is often too slow to see; neither a person nor his friends are aware of the damage being done. The effects of chronic stresses is two-fold:

First, prolonged stress causes people to regress. Their psychological growth reverses, and they become more immature. They rapidly become more childish and primitive, much like a person being sick for several days becoming more irritable and childish in its demands on other people.

Second, chronic stress numbs people's sensitivity. They can't stand to continually see human misery. They must stop feeling or they won't survive. The mind has this defense mechanism so people can continue working in horrible situations. If they kept their normal sensitivity, they would fall apart. As they become insensitive to their own suffering, they become insensitive to the suffering of others. When treated with indignity, they lose not only a sense of their own dignity but also the dignity of others. The pain of others stops bothering them, and they are no longer bothered when they hurt others.

The daily work of a police officer involves certain paradoxes and conflicts which may be difficult to deal with, the predominant examples are

Any interaction with a member of the public, whether socially or officially, such as in a traffic stop, involves a non-trivial risk of verbal abuse or physical harm. Treating a person with common respect or normal social graces requires the officer to be off guard and unprepared for an attack. Being on guard for an attack and treating every interpersonal situation with safety procedures and affirmative commands makes the police officer appear cynical, brutal, and detached, and limits his actual effectiveness with the public. Considering someone a friend or an enemy produces opposite mental states, an unnatural no-win situation engendering chronic stress.

A police department is both a professional and military organization, and these two aspects oppose each other. As a professional, he is considered to be an expert in his field and is expected to use his expertise for the good of his public. He has much discretion in how he serves the people who call upon him. However, the dangers and complexities of the work require a military structure of the organization and a military leaning in the training. Although some are actually educated, all police officers are well trained. Policies, regulations, and procedures cover every facet of police work. Everything is expected to be done by the book with substantial repercussions, including civil and criminal liability, for varying from the expectations of operating procedures. Often the facts of a situation require a course of action that does not follow procedures. If he follows procedures exactly, he knows he won't fully help the public, and the public will think he is shirking his responsibility. If the officer follows his own judgment, he is taking a risk. The community and department expect officers to use judgment, but when they do, there is a danger they will be disciplined; another unnatural no-win situation engendering chronic stress.

Police officers tend to become socially isolated. The reasons given for this isolation are varied and mostly anecdotal. One theory is that police work is not balanced. Most occupations involve a combination of good and bad results. In police work, almost everything is bad, and everybody you deal with is perceived either inherently bad or at least foolish. Another is that police officers develop a 'street wisdom' and by fiat possess a degree of authority that tends to make them perceive themselves as being morally superior to the rest of society. Whatever the reason, the public that the police deal with clearly perceive it and tend to reinforce the divide. Classically when a group of people are isolated, they become disoriented and confused. Their behavior changes drastically. Ironically an isolated class are usually the ones who are losing real world wisdom and tend to judge the world incorrectly from a very limited perspective, leading to interpersonal mistakes and more chronic stress.

A more colloquial view looks at specific sources of stress in police work. The sources of stress most often actually cited are:

The fear of killing someone in the line of duty.

Having your partner or somebody else that you feel at least partly responsible for killed in the line of duty.

Lack of support by the department or superiors.

The scheduling of work and irregular work demands resulting in a disruption of family time or family events or rituals.

The daily grind of dealing with the stupidity of the public, or the "asshole factor".

Other more academic studies have produced similar lists, but may include items that the more colloquial surveys do not reveal, such as 'exposure to neglected, battered, or dead children'

Again, the actual fear of occupational death or physical harm is not high on the list of stress sources.

There have been numerous academic studies on the specific sources of police stress, and most conclude organizational culture and workload as the key issues in officer stress. Traumatic events are usually concluded to not be of sufficient scope or prevalence to account for prevalence of suicide, divorce, and substance abuse abnormalities.

Personality theories

Some of the more esoteric, least documented or cited, and more longstanding theories for police stress symptoms involves the interaction of the specifics of police work with the personalities of individual police officers. There has been a raging debate on the fringes of psychiatry as to whether there is something about police work that causes psychiatric symptomology and personality disorders or whether there are certain personalities susceptible to disorders that are attracted to police work. There are four general possibilities:

There is something about police work, the social structure, the work atmosphere, etc., which causes stresses or presents traumas that cause personality or psychiatric disorders resulting in symptoms such as suicide, divorce, violence, substance abuse, etc. (the foundations of this possibility are outlined above)

There is one or more personality types or people with certain tendencies or proclivities who are susceptible of developing personality or psychiatric disorders, regardless of their occupation, who because of their personality or preferences are attracted to police work, and then display symptoms of stress or disorders.

There is a combination of the two.

Or there is a combination and synergistic interaction of the two.

There are personality traits that have been used to determine police applicant desirability, specifically:

openness

conscientiousness

extroversion

agreeableness

neuroticism

Personality traits considered undesirable include:

hostility

lack of impulse control

substance abuse

psychosis

paranoia

There are other personality traits that are specifically not desired for police work that are equally well documented. However, there has been relatively little academic work cited regarding the personality traits attracted to police work. The nature of personality traits of people attracted to police work tends to be a matter of conjecture and anecdotal observations. The personalities of people who are actually in police work tends to be different from that which is purported to be desired by police departments. Police officers tend to be isolated and suspicious, view expression of emotions as a weakness, and find it hard to trust and confide in others. For example, police officers are often viewed by the public to be domineering, narcissistic, authoritarian, physically oppressive, and basically the opposite of the personality traits most often cited as being desirable in a police officer. There are studies that suggest that people who take risks are attracted to police work. There is a corresponding theory that police officers actually tend to be people seeking security and stability and are attracted to the job for the steady government paycheck and government pension and adverse to the risks of business, sales, or other occupations. There is ample evidence that there is something in police work that alters personality.

The theory that there is an interaction between the personality attracted to the work and the work itself is mostly conjecture. For example, people attracted to police work are thought to crave the respect and authority that they expect with a badge, gun, uniform, and commission, but most of the people that police officers come in contact with do not respect them, and their authority is strongly regulated and limited by law, policies, and procedures, setting up a conflict resulting in chronic stress.

Abuse of power

As police officers have considerable powers and are often supported by authorities who oversee them if accused of wrongdoing, abuses are inevitable on occasion.

Systematic cases

In dictatorial, corrupt, or weak states, police officers may carry out many criminal acts for the ruling regime with impunity. Examples are the Gestapo secret police in Nazi Germany, and the role of the police in the military dictatorship in Argentina in the 1970s. Institutional racism has been found in modern police forces.

Individual cases

Individual officers, or sometimes whole units, can be corrupt or carry out various other forms of misconduct; this occasionally happens in many forces, but is particularly problematic where police pay is very low unless supplemented by bribes. Police sometimes act with unwarranted brutality when they overreact to confrontational situations, to extract a confession from a person they may or may not genuinely suspect of being guilty, or in other circumstances. Instances of racism occur, even when the police force as a whole is not found to be racist.

See also

Cops (TV series)

Fictional police officers

Field Training Officer

List of slang terms for police officers

Military police

Peace officer

Police brutality

Police rank

Police procedural

President Grover Cleveland—former Sheriff of Erie County, New York

President Theodore Roosevelt—Deputy Sheriff in the Dakota Territory, and New York City Police Commissioner

References

External links

http://www.discoverpolicing.org

Metropolitan Police history

http://www.newscotlandyard.police.uk/foi/pdfs/other_information/corporate/operational_uniform_and_equipment.pdf

http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/publications/freedom-of-information/policy.asp?id=144

http://www.gmp.police.uk/mainsite/pages/pcsouniform.htm,ts=2

http://www.policelink.com

Category:Law enforcement occupations Category:People in law enforcement Officer

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