Cultural Anthropology Questions?

Question

I am doing a project where I have to interview a cop and I need help with what questions to ask him. General questions you may want to know about a cop's perspective...

Answer 1

Why not just ask him what are the procedures of his job, then go from there? Or watch Cops and then ask him question from what you watched? I think once you start talking with him you will find you have a lot of questions. Good luck.

Answer 2

I have a question: When in pursuit of a suspect who is perceived dangerous and you feel threatened, why can't you shot to injure the suspect so you can arrest him/her rather than shot to kill?

Answer 3

You must first decide what you are studying.  "A cop's perspective" isn't specific enough.  His/her perspective on what?  Women on the force?  g**s on the force?  Being g*y or a woman on the force?  What the force (solidarity with other cops) is in terms of anthropological "meaning" and "function"?  What it's like to interact with criminals everyday?  What causes criminals to act criminally?  What is the role of cops in society?  etc.  Pick a (no more than one) specific topic that interests you and which you think a cop would have a different answer or different understanding of the same answer about than everyone else.  Once you do that, it should be easier to think of specific questions.

Is CHP something to do with highway patrol?

A cop's role on the force might have a lot to do with what the idea of the force is.  Why is a group of cops called "the force" and not "a bunch of cops"?  To understand the concept of "the force"  you'd want to look at ideas of solidarity, mission/purpose, hierarchy vs. unity, conflict resolution and other disputes in the force, how cops talk about their fellows ("brothers"), what calling it "the force" might mean...

Just start looking at your topic from as many directions as possible.  Think about the theories you've studied in class and if any of them apply.  If you can't apply them, worry about that later, maybe after asking your teacher for help relating theories to your ideas about the data you collected.  Just try to lead your informant to looking at their role in the force from different angles.  Some people are inherently philosophical and some have to be asked questions and their answers interpreted from outside.