Fast-moving processes in today's society make the importance of prompt, responsible and professional decision-making by police officers. In everyday situations that do not require important and urgent decisions, the police officer can act appropriately and avoid hasty, inadequate decisions. However, the police officer must always be prepared to face an emergency situation, to evaluate it correctly and to use the powers granted to resolve it. The only one wrong decision can have irreversible consequences for the police officer or the public. This paper aims to investigate the behaviour of professional police officers in everyday and critical situations. The research was based on scientific literature analysis and statistical data analysis. One of Lithuanian universities where future police officers are educated has been chosen for the study. A written survey for students – future police officers was performed. The study has shown that police officers, performing their daily duties without the need to take especially important decisions or making critical decisions on which depend the fate of the human, feel the legal liability and social responsibility. In critical situations requiring officers’ self-decision, these decisions are affected by the officers’ sense of responsibility to people, his/her obligation to comply with the law and fear of punishment if the law is violated.

Changes in today’s global political, economic, demographic and cultural situation make the relations in society to get sophisticated. Legal and social responsibility becomes critical important in these processes. Because of their professional duties, police officers must be professionals with a very high level of responsibility. However, there is a lack of scientific researches with a particular reference to future police officers responsibility evaluation. This leads to the aim of this research: to evaluate legal and social responsibility of future police officers. The research was based on systematic and comparative scientific literature analysis and statistical data analysis. The study was conducted in 2011 and 2015 in one of Lithuanian universities. 102 recipients of the study program “Law and Police Activities” participated in the survey in 2011 and 109 – in 2015. It was found that students – future police officers feel legal as well as social responsibility. Although the greatest impact on the formation of respondents' responsibility had a family, the relevance of the university‘s contribution has grown from 2011 to 2015. It is also to notice that 66 % of respondents marked that they are legal responsible in 2011 and this proportion increased to 82 % in 2015. The obtained results will contribute in further investigations making analysis of future professionals’ responsibility and its factors.

No abstract

Nowadays situation requires professionals, who are open-minded, flexible, sensitive to other people and the environment, tolerant, able to establish contacts, and to improve these competences. This can be expressed by socially sensitive and attentive, ethically and responsibly behaving professionals. Thus, the selection of study programs of police officers and social educators as representatives of social sensitive professions is becoming critical important. This leads to the aim of this research: to analyse the study program selection factors of social sensitive professions. The research was based on systematic and comparative scientific literature analysis and statistical data analysis. The study was conducted in 2015 in two Lithuanian universities, where future police officers and future social educators are educated. 109 recipients of the study program “Law and Police Activities” and 40 students of the study program “Social pedagogics” have participated in the survey. Performed analysis has indicated the following main reasons determining students joining to the study program “Law and Police Activities”: the desire to serve and help people (71%), good employment opportunities (52%), the chance to reveal their best features (44%), the desire to acquire the status of a police officer (39%). The respondents of “Social pedagogics” study program revealed their desire to gain the status of a social educator (56%), to serve and help people (51%) and to reveal their best features (36%) as the most important reasons for the selection of this study program.