So you're a police officer...how has it changed you?

[Unobtanium]

I am curious how officers feel once they have been officers for a while, say, 5 or 10 years or longer.

Why did you become an officer? Do you feel like you have achieved, or are actively hitting those goals, today?

How do you look at "people", in general? Knowing them so much better, do you embrace humanity or do you try to get away from it when you can after you punch out, because "screw that"?

Is being a police officer what you thought it would be?

If you could start over, knowing what you know now, would you choose a different career? What?


If your late teen son or daughter wanted to follow in your footsteps as an officer, what would you say to them when they told you so?

How did you know "if you'd like being an officer"?

I am not in LE, but these are things I am curious about, and things that I think potential officers should also be curious about.

[w provence]

I'm 57 and I've been involved in law enforcement since high school.
That's funny, a lot people in prison can say the same thing, they've been involved with LE since HS or younger.
I started because I wanted to make a difference in people's lives. I still do and try too everyday. Not sure I have and probably won't until I'm before The LORD and he plays back the tape.
My son wanted to be a cop but I talked him into trying out for the fire dept. He's a great fireman. I'm very proud of him.
Yes I would do this again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lwt16]

21 years behind a badge.....

Why did I do this? I needed a better job and was planning on going Federal.......marriage and poverty changed those plans.

How do I look at people? There was a time I tried not to. lol

Most of them are doing the right thing.....most of the criminals we deal with are repeat customers. Not always but a large percentage. Nobody goes to prison for very long...even for serious crimes, and they rotate back and rinse and repeat.

I had times in the past that when off duty, I would do everything I could to avoid people.....mainly for the constant "Oh, you're a cop? I got this ticket once/my brother in law got locked up once" stories. I'm in a better place now and socialize with some church members off duty. Most of that wraps around shooting and practicing........so I've grown in that aspect.

My wife was my biggest critic on that....."let's go somewhere (Six Flags, Disney, etc)" .......where bunches of people were.

Now that she's a RN, she's like I was.....it's flip flopped.

Is it what I thought it'd be? Oh no.....it was once....but now it's nothing like I thought it would be or how it was back in the 90s. I would definitely choose something different.......if I could go back.

My kid is 17....no way I'm letting him do this. He was told he could be anything but a cop or a drug dealer. I truly don't care what he chooses.....I'll be proud of him.

Regards.

[feudist]

I have 27 years in as a ghetto cop. Around 20 of it in Patrol, largest department in the state(@850 sworn).

I became a cop because I wanted action, after a stint in the Infantry.

I look at people as chimpanzees with a thin coating of civilization.

I have become so isolated and leery of people that I seek to have the minimum of interaction with them.

I think very few people can say that police work is what they thought it would be. There is very little way that you could, it has an almost completely fictional portrayal in every media.

I don't think anyone who can do anything else should pursue a job in L.E. No, I would not do it again.

My daughter made an offhand comment once about following me and her mom(also a cop) into the job. When I vehemently objected, she asked me how I could stop her.

I told her I would plant dope on her and call the cops myself. I will not allow her to experience this, period.

I know it sounds bad, but it is what it is.

This job has nothing to do with guns, or expert shooting or even "action". It's a daily grind of documenting and refereeing unbelievably childish, petty behavior ; staring at

hopeless self imposed poverty and degradation; and wondering if the next call will result seeing or hearing something that you really don't want to know.

That's it: police work can be summed up in a Bob Seger song.

I wish I didn't know now, what I didn't know then.

[Dr. No]

The underside of humanity is disgusting. Today I arrested a 30 year old heroin junkie who was asleep in his fathers car, swimming in his own liquid feces. His first request was to talk to his mom.

The whole time I had to worry about getting stuck by needles and trying to ignore the scent of hot crap. I then had to allow said person to change clothes and clean up while watching him strip naked so he wouldn't have a chance to hide drugs or access a weapon.

I think I've washed my hands 15 times today. I can't wash my nose out, and I can't wash out my brain.

Sadly, this doesn't even rate close to some of the most disgusting memories I have. Just another Wednesday.



Should have been a fireman. Great pay, everyone loves them, great schedule.

[Unobtanium]

The underside of humanity is disgusting. Today I arrested a 30 year old heroin junkie who was asleep in his fathers car, swimming in his own liquid feces. His first request was to talk to his mom.

The whole time I had to worry about getting stuck by needles and trying to ignore the scent of hot crap. I then had to allow said person to change clothes and clean up while watching him strip naked so he wouldn't have a chance to hide drugs or access a weapon.

I think I've washed my hands 15 times today. I can't wash my nose out, and I can't wash out my brain.

Sadly, this doesn't even rate close to some of the most disgusting memories I have. Just another Wednesday.



Should have been a fireman. Great pay, everyone loves them, great schedule.

Well, at least I can put you at ease. I work closely with firemen, and they see the same shit you do, except they don't let anyone do anything, they have to lift and haul them to people like me (medical/hospital job), themselves, nor do they get body armor or a firearm for defense. Just negotiation skills and so forth. They get woken up at 3am to do this with 500# opioid abuse victims etc that have "trails" through their homes, etc.

So cheer up!

*my attempt at making the grass less green on the other side of your fence*

I can relate to your sentiments as well, but can also honestly say, that my job has not surprised me. I knew who and what people were before I got into healthcare. Most of my classmates didn't, and most took little prima dona office jobs after less than a year doing real work in ERs, etc.

[Dr. No]

Well, at least I can put you at ease. I work closely with firemen, and they see the same shit you do, except they don't let anyone do anything, they have to lift and haul them to people like me (medical/hospital job), themselves, nor do they get body armor or a firearm for defense. Just negotiation skills and so forth. They get woken up at 3am to do this with 500# opioid abuse victims etc that have "trails" through their homes, etc.

So cheer up!

*my attempt at making the grass less green on the other side of your fence*

Yeah but nobody's tried to kill them because of tin on their chest. This week.

Seriously, don't ever become a cop. Ignorance is bliss.

[Unobtanium]

Yeah but nobody's tried to kill them because of tin on their chest. This week.

Seriously, don't ever become a cop. Ignorance is bliss.

Actually, they get shot and shot at often enough, but I agree with you. Police do all the things ems does...and people can't wait to try to kill them for it. All the shit, none of the praise. This is part of why I did not do LE. Benefit did not offset risk for me. It is also part of why I started this thread. I felt that your type of response would dominate it, and I feel like potential officers should see that before sinking considerable time and energy into the obtaining of the career.

If they don't, neither they, nor society, will be done right in my opinion. I know many people in my field who wished they had been told the other side of the coin instead of just the bullshit universities tell them to sell the degree program.

I am not trying to be negative. I am trying to be honest.

An older lady once saw me in scrubs as I came home from school to my apartment. She yelled across the parking lot something like "you should drop out. People don't give a shit and Noone cares about what you do." She went about it all wrong, but I think she was giving me the most honest advice I've ever gotten about the healthcare career I chose....however....hours are good and so is pay, and I've done it for 7 years and will continue. This thread is hopefully a more tactful old lady.

[Dr. No]

Actually, they get shot and shot at often enough, but I agree with you.

I'm trying not to be a jerk here, but I gotta call bullshit on that. I am not saying fire & EMS don't have a dangerous job and don't do things that put them at risk... but there's nobody marching on the national stage encouraging others to randomly murder them.

So please check yourself on that issue.

[Unobtanium]

I'm trying not to be a jerk here, but I gotta call bullshit on that. I am not saying fire & EMS don't have a dangerous job and don't do things that put them at risk... but there's nobody marching on the national stage encouraging others to randomly murder them.

So please check yourself on that issue.

I never said there was, I'm simply saying that they are sometimes lured to scenes and killed as well. I touched on exactly what you said in my last post. The part just following the snippet you took.