J/W. What's it like being on the force?
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J/W. What's it like being on the force?
Rewarding, fulfilling, frustrating, numbing, thrilling, monotonous, terrifying, boring, etc....etc......Quote:
Originally Posted by BBG
Is that what you nwere asking or something more specific?
Are you in a big city? If you could go back in time would you still be a police officer?Quote:
Originally Posted by BoneDaddy
Good thread, will be very interesting to hear some experiences/stories. As much as it is common to hate on police, I have alot of respect for the guys that go out and keep society functioning. Just had a good buddy join the force. Very funny too because it was a friend I would have never expected it from.Quote:
Originally Posted by BBG
Yes and yes times a 100. I can't imagine doing anything else.Quote:
Originally Posted by BBG
- - - Updated - - -
You thinking about a career change BBG?
I am. I have a few connections to officers in Jersey... and they are paid quite well. But I believe Philadelphia is where I want to apply...Quote:
Originally Posted by BoneDaddy
Major props brother! We see it all the time, guys coming in from their 20s all the way up to a couple of guys who were late 40s this past graduating class. It has it's shit like most jobs, but it also provides things no other job can. Good luck!Quote:
Originally Posted by BBG
I tried to join the force here in my city.
Out of 500+ that applied, I was one of the last 15 or so before I got cut. The reason? Bills were too high every month, they said I wouldn't survive on what they would pay me.
The ironic thing is that I'm only making half what they were offering, and I'm making it just fine.
Their reason doesn't really add up. Obviously they said one thing to cover up for another reason. Maybe it was the fitness test... when they asked you to do pullups...Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobalt
:D. Sorry... couldn't resist.
ouch
Good one, asshole, lolQuote:
Originally Posted by burlyman30
Actually, their fitness test was a large course that you had to run. You had 8 minutes and 5 seconds to run it. It involved running, getting in and out of a police car, busting through doors, running up/down stairs, dragging a 190 lb dummy around, pushups, situps, pullups, crawling through tunnels, ect...
The state record is 3:45.
I ran it in 4:00 flat.
Excellent showing at the fitness test, actually. Nice job.
Good work.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobalt
In my case thrilling has turned frustrating ......Quote:
Originally Posted by BoneDaddy
I've seen more guys/girls get turned away in the past couple of years mostly for their financial situations, i.e. bad credit and such because of the economy. This week a guy who had wanted to apply for over 20 years finally did. He never went through with it because back in the early 90s he was discharged from the Navy a month into Basic because he was overheard saying he was gay. He had an entry-level discharge and not a dishonorable discharge as he thought. Then again, it may have been a different story applying under that shadow many years back. Glad we've at least come that far.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobalt
Oh, I totally get where you're coming from.Quote:
Originally Posted by pitboss
Interesting. What do you make of this? They think someone with big debt is going to turn into a bad cop for money reasons?Quote:
Originally Posted by BoneDaddy
Luckily I have no debts... I would never become a police officer for the money anyway.
That's the theory anyways. Hard up for money, take a shortcut to make a quick buck, it's a slippery slope from there is the argument. The main argument is it show's your character and your responsibility. I know of 1 guy in particular that has gotten himself into a financial strain the past year or so and he has taken so much off duty work that it's not only affecting his police duties but also his off duty work. He's working so damn much he barely has time for sleep.Quote:
Originally Posted by burlyman30
Nor could you! lolQuote:
Originally Posted by BBG
There's a small town (very small! and almost exclusively rich white people!!) that has around 60 police officers. They are all paid around 90k a year. Seriously no crimes happen in this town except people going 30 on the 25 mph roads.
I fully understood where they were coming from as far as money is concerned. I think they were just in shock over the sheer amount of my bills. Back then, I was dropping $300/mo for health insurance, $500/mo for car insurance, $500/mo for car payments, ect...Quote:
Originally Posted by BoneDaddy
The head officer in charge of the process said that my bills were higher than his, and he even had a mortgage when I didn't even have rent to pay. It sucks trying to be responsible and getting decent insurance on everything.
I believe the big kicker was that in my state (NC), if you work for the state and start failing to pay your bills, you automatically get fired.
There were only 5 slots open for new officers, and they were probably looking for perfect matches.
That, and military experience. All 5 that got the spots were ex-army.
Can you get me an application, please? lolQuote:
Originally Posted by BBG
Have you thought about re-applying? I know what you mean about 'our' state. The politics here amaze me to no end. I think you and I are what...3 hours apart?Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobalt
Would you believe that in a lot of instances guys without military experience are preferred, depending on the guy in charge of recruiting? a lot of guys I know think the military gives guys bad habits that aren;t needed/wanted in the civilian force and they're harder to train. But, some guys are on the other end of the spectrum. It changes so damn much.
Lol, forgot you lived here in NC.
It does vary from one place to another on military experience. I think nearly 3/4 of the police force here has some time in the service, but if you go to the next city over, it's non existent.
I have thought about re-applying, and ended up discarding the thought. After being turned down, I was able to transfer to the Loss Prevention department at one of my jobs. Pretty much got to monitor people for theft, and go snatch them up if they left the store with merchandise. It was an eye-opener to say the least. We always contacted the police to dispatch someone, because shoplifting is a misdemeanor (or a felony under some cases).
I ended up leaving after a year because of how bad it was. The horrible pieces of shit for people that we had to deal with was just retarded on its own level. A guy tried to steal a $30 pair of shoes. He tried to fight me off, and I wound up with a dislocated shoulder and a torn rotator cuff. Over a pair of $30 shoes.
Not to mention the 13 year old kid stealing jeans that had a LOADED GUN on him.
It was for the better, I'm just going to pursue my electrical/IT career field. I won't have to worry about a server pulling a knife on me if I need to repair it.
where was your gun?????????Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobalt
At home.Quote:
Originally Posted by DJM
I wasn't allowed to have ANY weapon on me, at all. No gun, knife, or even a stick.
I've heard of some crazy things in "Loss prevention". Talking and getting a foothold mentally with some of the shoplifters is always the first thing you try to do, but you also have the ones who run automatically. Glad i'm not working in that field.
Man, when I was on patrol and got a call for shoplifting I was ALWAYS concerned for the loss prevention guys. No gun, pepper spray, tazer, baton....nothing. I always told them to confront and follow to keep them in sight until we got there. People will do stupid, crazy shit to avoid an arrest. Loss prevention is sometimes more dangerous than being a cop. You never know who has what on them and it's compounded when you are totally defenseless.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobalt
I worked at an inter city grocery store. Out loss prevention guys dealt with crazy shit over small crime. Worst story was a guy who pulled a bloody knife out in a back security room while waiting for the police, stated that the blood was from an aids victim. I never heard how it ended. But my understanding is he got away.Quote:
Originally Posted by NOA
the aids blood wouldnt matter
Probably wasn't even true, but it showed them they were dealing with someone insane, who would goto that level over what was probably $10.Quote:
Originally Posted by DJM
they shoulda had a gun instead
Probably people stealing from these stores and committing petty thefts also have other crimes linked to them.
I'd say that's a pretty accurate statement.Quote:
Originally Posted by BBG
Quote:
Originally Posted by BBG
100% accurate.Quote:
Originally Posted by BoneDaddy
When I did LP, if they ran or fought, they had a record.
For most, having a record doesn't mean jail time. It's like getting a speeding ticket even if you've already have 5. You get a court date, you show up and go from there. Most of the time you pay a fine and go about your business.
BUT, if you don't show up for court, you automatically have a warrant put out for your arrest. So, if you get caught stealing again, once the police officer shows up, they run a check to see if there is anything outstanding - meaning you go to jail. We've had that happen a lot. We have to take a guy down, handcuff him (yeah, we got handcuffs), and once in the back we find out he skipped a court showing.
We also have a lot of repeat offenders. There were a handful of people that if we saw them in the store, we knew they were going to boost something. We were on the floor just waiting for them to make their move.
Pretty crazy stuff.
For sure. There is a big difference between a kid stealing something out of curiousity/youthful rebellion and a 30 year old man stuffing steaks and cheese down his pants and running from the LP guy at the grocery store.Quote:
Originally Posted by BoneDaddy