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Writing Write a letter to a member of your community who helps keep people safe. Be sure to thank the person for what he or she does. Social Studies and Art Police officers are important people in your community. Make a poster for your class that shows other important people in your community.

Connections

Police OfficersA Reading A–Z Level K Leveled Book

Word Count: 384

LEVELED BOOK • K

E•H•K

Police Officers

www.readinga-z.com

Written by Jul ie Harding

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What are some things police officers do to keep people safe?

Focus Question

Written by Julie Harding

Police Officers

Title page: A police officer in Bhutan directs traffic from a booth in the middle of the street. There are no traffic lights in the entire country.

Page 3: Policewomen in Jordan get training in fighting moves.

Photo Credits: Front cover: Hil l Street Studios/Blend Images/Alamy Stock Photo; title page: David C Phil l ips/Garden Photo World/Alamy Stock Photo; page 3: © Salah Malkawi/Getty Images; page 4: © Paula Bronstein/Getty Images; page 5: marc macdonald/Alamy Stock Photo; page 6 (top): Enigma/Alamy Stock Photo; page 6 (bottom): Nicholas Neufeld/Alamy Stock Photo; page 7 (top): © iStock.com/kaarsten; page 7 (bottom): ZUMA Press Inc/Alamy Stock Photo; page 8 (top): © iStock.com/fstop123; page 8 (bottom): Hil l Street Studios/Matthew Palmer/Blend Images/Alamy Stock Photo; page 9 (top left): © Nikol Senkyrikova/Dreamstime.com; page 9 (top right): © Michel Bussieres/Dreamstime.com; page 9 (bottom): ton koene/Alamy Stock Photo; page 10 (top left): © iStock.com /moisseyev; page 10 (top right): © Robert Antoniuk/Dreamstime.com; page 10 (center left): PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo; page 10 (bottom left): © iStock.com /Yellow_lizard; page 10 (bottom right): © iStock.com/lucato; page 11 (main): © iStock.com/Dreef; page 11 (inset): © iStock.com/Des Green; page 12 (top): © doble.d/Moment Unreleased/Getty Images; page 12 (bottom left): © Lostafichuk/Dreamstime.com; page 12 (bottom right): © iStock.com/joegolby; page 13 (top left): © iStock.com/kali9; page 13 (top right): Rafael BenAri/Alamy Stock Photo; page 13 (bottom left): © Gurinder Osan/AP Images; page 13 (bottom right): © PETER MARTELL/AFP/Getty Images; page 14: © iStock.com/kiruk; page 15 (top): © Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images; page 15 (bottom): © Damian Dovarganes/AP Images

Words to Know

communities emergencies patrol

siren traffic vehicles

CorrelationLEVEL K

J1718

Fountas & PinnellReading Recovery

DRA

Police OfficersLevel K Leveled Book© Learning A–ZWritten by Julie Harding

All rights reserved.

www.readinga-z.com

3

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

How Do Police Officers Help People? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Where Do Police Officers Work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

How Do Police Officers Get Around? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

How Can You Find Police Officers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Police Officers • Level K 4

Introduction

Police officers are important people in their communities . They work hard to keep people safe .

Police officers go to school to learn how to help people . They also learn about laws and how to fight crime . Police

training includes communication skills, self-defense, the use of weapons, and fitness exercises . Police students also learn how to talk to different people . They practice driving different police vehicles—fast .

Two students cross the monkey bars at police school.

5

How Do Police Officers Help People?

Police officers have difficult jobs . They do many different things .

They patrol their communities looking for people breaking laws or people who need help . Police officers also follow up with people who call to report emergencies .

Emergency NumbersIn many countries, you can dial three numbers to get

help. The numbers are different around the world.

• United States, Canada, Fiji, and others: 911

• China, Malaysia, and others: 999

• European Union, Colombia, and others: 112

Emergency Numbers

•

•

•

Police officers in busy cities often walk around their communities.

Police Officers • Level K 6

Police officers also help adults and children who are lost . They can give directions or find family members .

Police officers teach people different ways to stay safe while riding bicycles and crossing streets . They teach children not to talk to strangers .

A police officer teaches a girl how to ride her bicycle safely (top). A lost girl waits with a police officer (bottom).

7

Police officers work hard to keep the streets in their communities safe . They look for drivers who break traffic laws . Police officers give tickets for different things, including speeding and driving through stop signs or red lights .

A police officer directs traffic in New York City (top). A police officer writes a ticket to an unsafe driver in California (bottom).

Police Officers • Level K 8

After people get into accidents, they call police officers for help . Police officers work hard to fight crime by catching criminals—people who break the law .

Police officers are usually the first people to get to an accident (top). Police officers take careful notes after crimes take place. They write in notebooks small enough to fit in their pockets (bottom).

9

Where Do Police Officers Work?

Every day—and night—is different for police officers . Their work brings them to different places around their communities .

Police officers spend some of their work time at a police station . They have meetings and write reports at the station .

Police stations look different around the world, such as in Mexico (top left) and Canada (top right). Police officers search for all kinds of information on their computers (bottom).

Police Officers • Level K 10

How Do Police Officers Get Around?

Police officers use many kinds of police vehicles to get from place to place . Sometimes police officers have to get places fast . The lights and siren of a police car tell people to move out of the way .

Police officers drive many different kinds of vehicles.

police car

police ATV

police Segway

police Hummer

police helicopter

11

Police motorcycles have lights and sirens, too . They can reach narrow streets or alleys where police cars would not fit .

Police officers ride motorcycles in Spain (main). Some police motorcycles are brightly colored to stand out (inset).

Police Officers • Level K 12

Bicycles and horses help police officers go places where cars and motorcycles aren’t allowed .

Police officers ride on boats when they patrol the water .

Police officers get special training to work bike patrol (top), with horses (bottom left), and on boats (bottom right).

13

How Can You Find Police Officers?

Police officers usually wear uniforms . This way, people can quickly find them .

Police officers wear different uniforms around the world.

United States

England

India Sudan

Police Officers • Level K 14

Sometimes police officers pretend to be different people to solve crimes . They wear regular clothes so people won’t know they are police officers .

A police officer in uniform stands beside a police officer wearing regular clothes in the Ukraine.

15

Conclusion

Police officers work hard to protect people . Whether catching criminals or helping people, police officers help make their communities safer places .

Police officers watch crowds at a parade in New York City (top). A police officer uses a dog to sniff bags in an airport (bottom).

Police Officers • Level K 16

Glossarycommunities (n.)

groups of people who live in the same place or have things in common (p . 4)

emergencies (n.)

sudden and very serious situations that need immediate action (p . 5)

patrol (v.) to watch over an area by moving through it often, either on foot or in a vehicle (p . 5)

siren (n.) a machine used to make loud warning sounds (p . 10)

traffic (n.) the movement of vehicles on a road or highway (p . 7)

vehicles (n.) large machines that are used to move people or goods (p . 4)