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

[Lon]

It's unique to hear what other PD's do in other parts of the country. Here in my little world of CT the PD does zero.zero ems related responses unless it's on one of their own. We have an understaffed police department and overzealous dispatchers who send us to domestics, hangings and brawls without giving us any other information. Unfortunately I've had my ass handed to me by an unruly group of folks who weren't happy to see any authority on scene, all of which culminated with being OC sprayed. I've been involved in FD shit for 15 or so years and getting paid to do it for 6 and honestly I wouldn't want my kids involved with this career field either, too many political agendas and the inability to remove folks that have no business being here. Ironically I wanted to be a police officer as a kid and even to this day (at 31) I wonder how/where I can go and get employed at and work for an agency guys want to be at and stay working for.

I don't mean to detract from the thread so please let me know if I am: I have a much, much, much lower opinion of society as a whole after spending a short time working where I do. As you had mentioned you're not a fan of crowds, neither am I as well as overly loud places for lengths of time. Sundays at church I sit in the back with my wife near the doors and I quietly think as you do what some of these folks are hiding...I have the utmost respect for the job that you all do, I know everyone says they appreciate what you do but not many truly understand the work it takes.

I am in NO WAY comparing apples to apples, I just wanted to share a bit of how it can be slightly different depending on your zip code.

In my AO, we are routinely sent on serious injury or serious medical (heart attack, person down w/ unknown reason) squad calls. Our AEDs get a lot of use. Our squads won't go into hazardous scenes or potentially hazardous scenes before we arrive. Nor should they. They are on board with the rescue task force concept and have body armor and helmets on the squads.

[Larry Sellers]

In my AO, we are routinely sent on serious injury or serious medical (heart attack, person down w/ unknown reason) squad calls. Our AEDs get a lot of use. Our squads won't go into hazardous scenes or potentially hazardous scenes before we arrive. Nor should they. They are on board with the rescue task force concept and have body armor and helmets on the squads.

I wish we operated like that here, we were supposed to have excited delirium, active shooter and tac med classes here years go. As we all know that costs money so we've had to go without.

[Hambo]

I can't wash out my brain.

There you have it. My shit was bad enough, but I knew a female officer who became a detective. Since she was junior, and probably because she was female, they put her in sex crimes. I didn't want to hear anything about what she was working on.

As for people hating cops/loving firemen, it's all relative. Number one in civilian complaints was the PD, but the FD was a very close second, followed by every other city employee. It was like people lived to bitch about anybody that got a city paycheck.

[Nephrology]

too many political agendas and the inability to remove folks that have no business being here.

Medicine too.

In my AO, we are routinely sent on serious injury or serious medical (heart attack, person down w/ unknown reason) squad calls. Our AEDs get a lot of use. Our squads won't go into hazardous scenes or potentially hazardous scenes before we arrive. Nor should they. They are on board with the rescue task force concept and have body armor and helmets on the squads.

Denver Paramedics ride with Level II vests on at all times and Level IIIA vests in the bus for hot calls.

...they put her in sex crimes. I didn't want to hear anything about what she was working on.

Little kid stuff is fucked up and historically something I've had a hard time with. I ruled out pediatrics in my first year as a result

[tanner]

I'd do it all again. It's the best worst job there is. I'd rather my son not become a cop, though. Primarily because it's changing so rapidly. It's not the job today it was when I started, although that pendulum may swing again.

I was going to write something along the lines of this, but probably not as well. I can only add that it was a front row seat to the greatest show on earth. Good cops are among the best people I have ever had the fortune to spend time with. Proud to be a part of the police family.

[Larry Sellers]

There you have it. My shit was bad enough, but I knew a female officer who became a detective. Since she was junior, and probably because she was female, they put her in sex crimes. I didn't want to hear anything about what she was working on.

As for people hating cops/loving firemen, it's all relative. Number one in civilian complaints was the PD, but the FD was a very close second, followed by every other city employee. It was like people lived to bitch about anybody that got a city paycheck.

100% agreed there. I think once in a 24 hour tour someone walks by the firehouse or on an ems run I hear "must be great to sit around all day, eat chili and play cards" Usually gets the "I'm sure it is, where can I get that gig?" response

[blues]

blues, you continue to share your thoughts, experiences, dreams, and your sense of humor in words that are always interesting, but more importantly, are needed here. It's a very old cliche, but there really ISN'T any substitute for experience. When reading your posts, I get the feeling that I've known you for a long time - a true gift, Sir. Thank you for sharing it and everything else - with us. Last and certainly not least, thanks for your years of sacrifice and service.

You are much too kind but I certainly appreciate the words and the friendship.

[voodoo_man]

Lets see...

Love the job, dislike the majority of the people I work with, especially the cowardly paper-pusher types. The ones studying for their next promotional test rather than answering the radio or doing the job. The backstabbing and office-politics type of bullshit is something I did not know of before going into LE, and having a good bit of experience with it now, I generally dislike dealing with most LEOs outside the job, unless they are the type of people I know won't do that type of crap.

LE changes everyone, anyone who says it hasn't changed them is lying or ignorant to that fact. The first time some drunk or crazy guy tries to kill you, the first time you see a dead kid, the first fatal collision you handle, the first crazy robbery/shooting/homicide/etc scene you have, the first domestic where one of the parties can't talk because their mouth is broken and face is swollen and the other parties tells you "I ain't goin to jail!" Things like that will totally change someone, they should, its natural. I've seen coworkers drink their issues away into an early grave and have unhealthy psychological issues stemming from their on-duty trauma which isn't talked about in any way, and is not expected to be talked about in any tangible way.

The long hours suck, missing family stuff really sucks. Taking care of your family is #1 priority, that also means taking care of yourself in the process. Take that day off every two or three weeks to spend with the family and recharge. That beach trip your wife has been talking about in the summer will only happen if you make it happen, better have the good memories of good days rather than empty holes where memories should have been, you being on duty and your family being home without you. The money will be there, OT will be there, that investigation and those victims will all be there tomorrow. No reason to give up your family for that. Hell, nearly every single person I work with is on their second or third marriage, the job is poison to relationships with a non-service spouse, and if the normal stuff doesn't get you, then the fact women (and men, we don't judge) fawn over you like your penis is made out of solid gold, so that kills marriages. I've seen it all with my coworkers, for such an "ethical" field, there sure are some shitty moral standards for sex. Maybe it's the education? Who knows, I don't care either way, free will and all that jazz.

I knew people were messed up and evil, in general, before I got on the job. I wanted to see it for myself. I remember seeing news articles of crimes of random people committing crazy acts of evil, grown man kidnapping and forcing to have sex with minors, killing people in their sleep, etc etc. They were just words to me, I wanted to see it for myself if this type of stuff actually happened and how far down the human experience rabbit hole I could go. Well I am still going, and it's been a hell of journey. I never really trust the random person walking around, now a days I most definitely don't trust anyway I don't know before hand in some way, even then it's still an iffy situation. Then again I don't go out of my way to meet new people, I have people I know, family, friends who I train with or know will do what needs to be done with a call in the middle of the night. I remove people from my life the moment they don't conform to those standards, especially if there is some level of drama involved (I do not care for any drama, at all, in any capacity, unless a person is on mission all the time, I have no time for them) - this is all stuff I developed through my work experience. There are people at work I do not trust to drive their vehicle in a straight line but the government gives them a badge and a gun. I won't accept them as backup as much as I won't put myself on a case with them because if I am asked on the stand if I trust them the answer would be no. They know this as I have absolutely zero issue with letting people know these things - you have to trust the people you work with after all, and if you can't you need to make sure they know not to get involved in things. I generally find myself having less time for weak or cowardly people. (That's not only in a physical way, but emotional, mental, spiritual, etc)

I would most definitely recommend anyone to take on this job, but as long as they do it for the right reasons. If you want to be some paper-pushing bureaucrat and can't hack in the DA's office or public office, then LE is not for you, most definitely not street work. Yet we have those with aspirations of high office and power. Lots of boots come out of the academy all wide-eyed and wet behind the ears ready to pay homage to Judge Dredd and then they get stuck with an old salty fucker who hates the job, hates the supervisors, is running his time down and won't get involved in shit, "don't you dare touch that radio kid, we aren't going to that hot call, let the heroes do it." Complain to your sergeant? Ha! Good fucking luck, hope you boots are good because you'll be walking a beat in the middle of winter, because fuck you and fuck any other boot who wants to do the job. Finding good FTO's is 90% of the problem with boots, because most of the FTO's can't stand the job and just punch the clock, don't give a damn about what happens, have nothing invested in it other than their time. "Just making sure I get to my pension, this city is going to pay me for a long time!" Those are the same guys who die 6 months after retirement because they realize they nothing without the job.

I want the guys/gals who want to help people, the ones who hear that priority tone key up and drop that sandwich, flush that toilet, stow that cup of coffee and start driving lights sirens in an unknown direction because they know there is something going to be happening and they want to be first on scene. I learned about the concept of "dying well" not from Kyle Defoor, but from an old as fuck Marine infantry cop who had nearly 40 years on the job when I got on. He told me really early in my career that when that hot call comes out, when that officer needs assistance call comes out, when that call for a not breathing kid comes out, any other type of call which the general public needs help and you are the only person who can provide that help, "tag, you it, ya feel me? Cuz, if you ain't going, then who the fuck is? huh? Who? Not that cowardly fuck as your shift partner in that other car, he's too chickenshit to fail, and to witness some crazy shit. Fuck him, he shouldn't be on your radar anyways. You have to look yourself in the mirror and go to sleep at night, kiss yo kids and wife, ya know? Now how in da hell you gana do that knowing you was a coward and never made it to help someone cuz you was scared? That's some cowardly weak shit, quit now if that's the tip you on." He grew in some serious segregated areas, wasn't the most educated in terms of book smarts, but did his fair share of gun fighting and taught me more than a few solid lessons on the job. Rest his soul.

Knowing what I know now, I probably would have gotten my 4 year degree before getting on the job and then going state. It's a better job, more discipline, more expectations of a particular type of person is going to backing you up and recourse if they are a cowardly POS. I'd definitely do it again, I wouldn't trade my experiences for anything, good or bad.

If my kids would want to go into LE, I'd make sure they get a 4 year degree in a SMET (science, math, engineering, technology) and/or clinical field (medicine, psychology/etc) or JD, before I'd sign off on them applying. Once you are on the job, going back to school is extremely difficult, especially if you plan on having a family or if you already have a family. Having a solid degree in something serious you could quit today and get a job in tomorrow is worth its weight in gold as most departments will likely put you in a position to use that degree to their benefit (and yours) after your street time. Then I'd make sure once they get on they get a good FTO who will keep them in the "know" and treat them the way they should be treated - like a damn boot. They are trained up and competent with the things they need to be in order to survive at the end of the day, and I would make sure they take and get promoted on every single promotional test that comes by. Help them study, help them with the oral boards, etc. You can be the best street cop in the world, but you are still just the bottom rung, getting pissed on by anyone with a fake gold emblem. Changing the way things are done starts at the top, but through serious street experience. In a busy place that doesn't take long, I'd make sure they are thrown to the wolves, in the shittiest areas possible, why? Because I want the journey to the top to be difficult and mean something for them. I do not want to remove hardships from their path, I want to put hardships in their path and watch them succeed, or fail, then get back up and succeed. If I do my part they will do theirs, but that's more of the way I raise my kids and not the way police work is.

One thing I will say, after a career in police work, the world is an open book. Most PD's will give you a pension of some kind and some sort of medical - that's unheard of in many fields now, especially the private sector, and I'd say that the guys/gals who go on to their second careers in the criminal justice field or doing what they know best (like teaching young minds about reality) that is definitely a person who is worth their weight in whatever salary they request. A retired police officer's life experience can easily trump most others in terms of real world applicable understanding and knowledge. There are colleges who want these retirees to teach CJ, psychology, or ethics. Some of the best lawyers and judges are retired cops. Just have to plan for it, I hope all those who are soon retiring are considering doing something which puts their knowledge to good use. Hell, worst case scenario go back to school, get a masters and teach at the local school or academy. Your experience and input are priceless, don't let them go to waste.

[Dr. No]

How did it change me? I don't trust people. Especially coaches, teachers, and youth pastors. You can't always tell what evil looks like. I don't like crowds. I have a hard time getting worked up about stupid shit that annoys the piss outta my wife.

Couldn't have said it better. I used to love going to live music and bars...

[Unobtanium]

100% agreed there. I think once in a 24 hour tour someone walks by the firehouse or on an ems run I hear "must be great to sit around all day, eat chili and play cards" Usually gets the "I'm sure it is, where can I get that gig?" response

The best I heard in the ER once was (to EMS/Fire crew): "You all just do this for the money!" *whole ER erupts into awkward silence*