9781422276693

Computers, Communications & the Arts I n the 1600s, Thomas Hobbes, a famous British philosopher, tried to imagine a world without rules, regulations, laws, or a government to enforce them. It seemed to him that the result would be a war of “all against all.” Without a sense of safety or security, everyone would be haunted by the “continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” If this were not bad enough, human society was also threatened by natural disasters such as fires, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and epidemics. In order to prevent chaos, governments make laws, and private businesses make rules and regulations. It is true that these enactments restrict individual free- dom. However, no society could survive if everyone did whatever he or she wanted to do. Millions of jobs exist to support this system of laws, rules, and services to ben- efit the public good. People are at work day and night to make sure that other people remain safe. They keep terrorists off airplanes, arrest criminals, prevent fires, send ambulances to accident scenes, keep order in courtrooms, prevent fights in bars, and guard private businesses. These are the types of jobs highlighted in this volume on careers in public safety, law, and security. The nice thing about a job or career in public safety is the knowledge that what you do makes a difference in someone’s life and society as a whole. Public safety jobs prevent and treat crime, disease, and natural disasters. A storemanager or a bank teller might wonder if his or her job has any meaning in the greater scheme of things. If you work in public safety, law, or security, you usually will not have that problem. You know that your work in protective services is crucial to the general well-being of society. Most jobs categories in this field should continue to grow. Since the attack on the United States in 2001, fear of terrorism has led to an upsurge in security -related positions, such as transportation security officers (also known as airport security screeners). At the same time, crime and punishment remain growth in- dustries in America. The United States has more people in prisons than any other country in the world. As of 2017, more than 2.3 million people were behind bars; the U.S. prison population has quadrupled since 1980. Because crime and natural disasters will probably never disappear, there will always be plenty of protection services careers from which to choose. If you decide to work in public safety, your skills will always be in demand. Is a career in public safety, law, or security right for you? Many people go into these careers for the wrong reasons. Some want to boss people around or fire guns at “bad guys.” Others have allowed television shows to convince

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