Originally Posted by
Poconnor
Voodoo man; I agree with most of what you are saying. The best example I have is from when I only had a year on the job. We had police service aides that did paperwork and answered the phone. The PSA got sick and had to leave; her relief was on the way. My LT didn’t think I was capable of answering the phone for the twenty minutes. WTF? I can carry a gun and go to calls by myself but I can’t answer the phone? my point about tats and beards is this- my mother would not open the door to an officer with a beard. My father would not take an officer with tattoo sleeves seriously. They are elderly; just a little bit older than boomers. I get it. What is acceptable is different by generation and location. I agree with you feeling about the uniforms and dressing for the weather. I think a police officer can make up his own mind about how to dress for the weather. I remember a picture in the newspaper of four guys from my Dept. All had the same uniform on but different outwear. A leather jacket ( they were awesome to wear had a super presence) issued nylon field jacket, issued vest, and issued sweater. I always thought some of the police ideas of proper “military” things came from officers that did 4 years and got out of the military and now 25 years later made rank in the PD. There is an even bigger difference of military experiences that with PDs. My Dept had more than a few veterans but only a few were combat arms and even less saw combat.