Law Enforcement Officers Please Respond

[Galb]

Galb,
You posted quite a bit about why you don't like your current situation, but you don't say much about your reasons for looking towards law enforcement. Why the Police Department? Why not the Fire Department? Is it the "security" of a government job? Is it to help people? Fight crime? The "excitement" of police work?

You are right. I seemed to have left that part out. It started back after I graduated college. My parent's house was broken into and things taken. My mother was distraught. My father was calm. I was furious. Yet when I arrived a sense of calm kinda washed over me because the police were there. They had a calming effect on everyone and the situation. They were there to help in a time of helplessness. I admired that. I guess this is where it started.

That was about the same time that I took a step back and began looking at the world with reality lenses on. Instead of being some naive kid as I had grown up as, I took a step back and began watching people, the news, the community. I didn't like what I saw. People no longer helped people. Hell, neighbors didn't even know each other by their names. People seemed to prey more on other "weaker" people. It disgusted me, yet I felt there was nothing I could do except continue to be who I was. And by that I mean simply being an overgrown boyscout, as I have had friends tell me.

So about this time is where the interest began. I felt like there was nothing I could do to make things better as I was. But if I was a police officer I could help keep people like the thief that broke into my parent's house off the streets. I mentioned it to my father. He discouraged it given the current situation of today's criminal society. He told me it was incredibly dangerous and in no way do they make the money that they deserve. I was still young, and I listened. I put it out of my mind.

It re-entered my mind every now and then over the past 8 years. Every time I would see something wrong on the news or hear about it from friends, I would begin to think about it again. Every time I see a victim upset on the news, I feel like there are others out there that do need help and the calm presence of a police officer. I've seen incredibly loud arguments arise in public, ones in which I want to step into and ask people to calm down, yet know that I cannot because I am simply a civilian and it will only escalate matters further. I guess what I am saying is that I am tired of seeing terrible things happen to good people and yet feel like I cannot do anything in the situation.

The fact is it's not like T.V. To paraphrase Casey, the job is long periods of boredom, punctuated by terror, followed by endless paperwork.

This reminds me of what an officer told me the job was like back when I was in college. I was working in a gym and he had finished and was waiting for his partner. I asked him what his job was like. He flat out said "95% boredom followed by 5% insanity". He never mentioned the paperwork. But hell, I have endless stacks now with what I do. ;)

The most sucessful officers I've known are the ones who feel a calling towards the profession - the ones who would want to be a police officer even if it paid less. They are not starry-eyed idealists, they know that they are not ending crime and they people they help will likely curse them for doing it. But they don't care. It is a satisfaction that comes from within.


Personally, I've been doing it for over 13 years now, and I think it's the best job in the world - for me.

I might fall under the idealist category, but not the starry-eyed version. I realize you cannot end all crime, but what is done is removing those law breakers from the streets so that the law abiding citizen can live a safer life. I would get huge satisfaction from knowing that by simply doing my job I am helping people. Yet I will admit, I am sure I would grow frustrated as repeat offenders are let back out onto the streets.

I suggest you contact your local police agency and arrange to go on a few ride-alongs. Talk to the officers on the force in your jurisdiction, then decide if you really want to be a cop, or if you just want a change from your current situation.

(Feel free to pm me if you want to talk more in depth.)

Yeah this was something I was planning on. I think I can only do one ride along a year so for that small amount of time I am really gonna have to pick that officer's brain while trying not to distract him from his job.

Thanks for your help.

[Streetcar]

Good on you! It sounds like you've got some good reasons for looking at police work. I'd be interested in hearing how your ride alongs go.

...Yet I will admit, I am sure I would grow frustrated as repeat offenders are let back out onto the streets....

I can offer you a bit of advice I used to give my student officers regarding this. All you can do is your job. Do it to the best of your ability. If down the line a prosecutor takes a bad plea deal, or a judge hands down an overly lenient sentence, then that's on them. You did your part, and you can look at yourself and the victim with a clear conscience.

Keep us posted on this!

[davedove]

I have never been a policeman, but the other day I was speaking with a woman in my dance class who used to be an officer. One thing she told me was that she had to pull her sidearm at least once every day, not necessarily to fire it, but in response to touchy situations like someone reaching for something in their jacket.

[druid]

My feelings on this topic are not as positive as some of the other replies I've seen. I am a former Corrections Officer, and am still friends with many cops and co's. If you'd like my input, drop me a PM.

I am CURRENTLY a Corrections Officer (over 10 years and SRT member) and have an idea where you are coming from. I'll not dive into anything deeper about it, other than to say that we do the exact same job as a Police Officer but are confined to a building. Now, we don't have bullets whizzing by our heads but we have shanks/shivvs, bludgeoning instruments, suicidal hangings, throat/wrist slicers, jumpers (off elevated tiers) and the like. Screaming kids and crying families because the inmates are locked away from them.

They don't hate us, they hate what we stand for...the uniform and badge. It takes a thick skin to do what we [all] do and the most difficult part is not taking anything personally.

Galb,
You posted quite a bit about why you don't like your current situation, but you don't say much about your reasons for looking towards law enforcement. Why the Police Department? Why not the Fire Department? Is it the "security" of a government job? Is it to help people? Fight crime? The "excitement" of police work?

The fact is it's not like T.V. To paraphrase Casey, the job is long periods of boredom, punctuated by terror, followed by endless paperwork.

The most sucessful officers I've known are the ones who feel a calling towards the profession - the ones who would want to be a police officer even if it paid less. They are not starry-eyed idealists, they know that they are not ending crime and they people they help will likely curse them for doing it. But they don't care. It is a satisfaction that comes from within.

Personally, I've been doing it for over 13 years now, and I think it's the best job in the world - for me.

I suggest you contact your local police agency and arrange to go on a few ride-alongs. Talk to the officers on the force in your jurisdiction, then decide if you really want to be a cop, or if you just want a change from your current situation.

(Feel free to pm me if you want to talk more in depth.)

^^^ I couldn't agree more. I might also add the department of forestry, environmental protection agency, department of natural resources, BATF or something in the forensics division.

[druid]

oops...double post

[bowser]

Cant see your side of the water being much different from ours.
Make sure your doing it for the right reasons, unless the situation there is different to here it wont be for the pay, or the hours.
I have 3 years to go to my 30, over all its been worth it.

[Caddy One]

I retired with 31 years of service in law enforcement......only suggestions I can make to you would be:

Common Sense.....
Attitude
Determination


I could name more and I know the other officers currently employed or retired could add many more and the job itself is an education that you never read in a book..............

Good Luck on your journey in law enforcement...............if you so decide and
Be Careful......................