Mic Drop. This is an awesome list of considerations. I agree 100% and see guys wishing they had thought about these issues post-hire all the time.Originally Posted by Jeff22
Mic Drop. This is an awesome list of considerations. I agree 100% and see guys wishing they had thought about these issues post-hire all the time.
The key to happiness in Law Enforcement is this: Early in your career you should figure out what you most want to do and then try to figure out a way to do that.
I've spent my whole career as a cop on nights. As an officer. Some people who came on when I did, or afterwards grew up to be Detectives or Sergeants or Lieutenants or Captains. One place I work, I trained the Deputy Chief when he was a rookie and in another I trained the Chief in the police academy, and in another I trained the Lieutenant. (In my career I've worked one place full time and three places part time)
And I see many of these people on a social basis once in a while, and after a few drinks they always tell me "The funnest years of my career were when I was a rookie on patrol on the late shift. I really miss those days."
Okay, I don't miss that because I'm still doing it. Before I was ever a cop I decided being a firearms instructor was going to be a lot more fun than being in management. And it is . . . I didn’t go to school to be a cop with the goal that someday I wanted to work days and be in an office (unless it was at the range). I went to school to be a cop with the plan that I was going to be a cop for thirty years or so. In an ideal world and in an ideal situation, I probably should have been a Sergeant, but that was not to be.
So you have to decide your purpose in the law enforcement profession. Are you there to have fun and do interesting and sometime significant things or just to promote and be miserable? Many people would like to promote and then make a difference and make things better and be a causal factor for positive change, which is a noble and correct goal. But you have to do a realistic evaluation of your circumstance and of the organizational culture, and decide if that is a realistic goal.
And the organizational culture can change quickly when you get a new Chief or Sheriff, and go from good to bad, or bad to good, or bad to worse. And there is no way to predict that, so you have to try to protect yourself as best you can.
I have seen guys who promote with the intention of being the advocate for the line officers with upper management. Sometimes that works, and sometimes they just get beaten down and marginalized and ignored.
And remember people are usually stupid, and the guys you are trying to champion with the brass may not understand or appreciate your efforts, and they may turn on you and stab you in the back because they're mad because you had to turn down a vacation or training request.
Being the police who respond to unusual events in an essentially ordered environment is often a pretty good job. If you work in a really active jurisdiction where you hit the ground running at the beginning of every shift and are rolling call to call for your whole duty tour, that's different. It's probably great when you're in your twenties and young and crazy and with limited family responsibilities, but after 5 or 7 years of that I suspect the novelty begins to wear off and you start counting the days until you can retire.
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