Re: Anybody a police officer or work for the police department?
 

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My dad is a cop....he loved it. He mad 110K towards the end of his career, but that was a high ranking sgt. A degree will help you, but a degree in comp sci will be useless in the PD. YOu may think you are smart, which may be true, but to be more than a beat patrolman you need a certain edge too.

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A degree may not help you in a regular police department, but a degree is exactly what they are looking for at the FBI, Secret Service, or Post Office. CIA is an option as well. Starting pay for an FBI Special Agent is $42.5K. Apply here.

If you click on the link for Computer Science in the above link, you find out they really want people who know Cisco. Hmmmmm.

Re: Anybody a police officer or work for the police department?
 

I agree that a degree can be helpful, but a certain degree of street smarts is needed too. My dad didnt go to school but he made one hell of a cop. You need to be very intellengent to make the big bucks, but it can be done. It takes a lot of effort.

Re: Anybody a police officer or work for the police department?
 

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Been thinking about a career change for a while and this came up. Is anyone here a police officer or play some other major role in their local departments? Are there a lot of advancement opportunities for a smart guy to do a lot of good and make good money? What should I think about before investigating more and getting started?

Little background on me: 24 yrs old, college graduate (Computer Science), excellent shape, and I can whoop any background test/drug test/etc... I'm certain I will be taking a substantial paycut initially from what I'm making now, but from what I've been told there's potential for a lot to be made if you're good and dedicated.

How do you like your job?

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There is room for advancement, but you are going to be a civil servant - get used to not getting paid. Overtime is where its at, but each department's policy will dictate that. Sometimes you can get in on event detail as overtime (think the cops at the Stones concert) and thats great. Other than that... I hope you dont like really nice things.

There are limits to how fast and how high you can move but they are usually in need of smart people in some of the higher roles. Smart isnt a term usually batted around the squadroom when referring to your peers...

But again, its really all going to be dependant on your department.

As for money - you have a degree in computer science. You can get an entry level position for more than you will ever make as a civil servant. Being allowed to carry a gun aint worth the pay differntial.

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Here in Canada being a cop pays pretty decent. After a 5 year training salary where you make about 35k, you make 65K starting, however you get paid double time for any OT and also for any court appearances. There was an article in our local paper that showed that many cops were making well over 100K a year with OT and that the average was well over 80K.

Re: Anybody a police officer or work for the police department?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Here in Canada being a cop pays pretty decent. After a 5 year training salary where you make about 35k, you make 65K starting, however you get paid double time for any OT and also for any court appearances. There was an article in our local paper that showed that many cops were making well over 100K a year with OT and that the average was well over 80K.

[/ QUOTE ] Play Money

Re: Anybody a police officer or work for the police department?
 

I agree with those who say to go federal. I have a few friends and relatives who are cops and they're not thrilled by it. My cousin who is a Homeland Security Agent loves his job, better pay, better hours and he gets to travel.