Anybody a police officer or work for the police department?

[RunDownHouse]

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Well, I'd be interested in the higher roles and I imagine my speed would be limited not by my own abilities, but rather by the department.

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I would expect that, in a PD more so than many other jobs, your advancement will be limited by politics as much as either the department or your ability. I have no practical experience, however.

[KyleC]

I was considering becoming a cop at one point in my life and there are a lot of things to consider. I'm sure you've thought of most of em but here are a few things : 1) Being a police officer is dangerous..so you'll have to think will my future wife be ok with me working in such a dangerous job? and down the line when you have kids would you want to be in such a job when you could leave your kids fatherless? Yes I understand we can die at any moment etc. but you'll be raising the chances a bunch. 2) You are going to see a lot of [censored] up [censored]..you'll see it all ..you'll see the nasty [censored] you'd never ever think you'd ever see..after seeing all the messed up [censored] it'll take a toll on you man..its easy to say hey im ready for it but seeing and doing is another. 3) Long hours from the areas around me most do either 5 days on 5 days off or 4 days on 4 days off with each day being 12+hr shift and after awhile it'll be tiring and you'll spend your days off drinking/sleeping. A good idea would be for you to start compiling a list of the cons of the job and take a nice long look at it and see if you think you'd be cut out for the job. I apologize if my thoughts and [censored] are a little out of order I'm tired :O. So anyways instead of looking at salary and possibilities of promotion. Start looking at why some people have already said many cops are drinkers etc. Someone stated it's because everyone you run into will most not likely like you because of your uniform.

[youtalkfunny]

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I am planning to go local if I do it... Fed is an idea but I imagine I'd have to relocate and I'm not ready for that yet.

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My cousin is an agent for HUD. They mostly do drug busts in public housing projects. He lives in his hometown, no relocation necessary. HUD is everywhere.

His wife (whom he met at federal agent school, I guess) works for USDA. I have no earthly idea what "the meat police" are all about--but the USDA is everywhere.

Oh yeah--they live in a freaking mansion. Either he's in debt up to his ass, or they have more money than anyone I know.

(His degree is one of those law-enforcement type degrees like criminal science, or whatever it's called. He worked as an auxiliary policeman while in school. I have no idea if either of those things were pre-requisites. DEA is everywhere. ATF is everywhere. IRS is everywhere. Probably dozens more.)

[rusty JEDI]

I applied, and made it through all of the junk they make you go through for the pre-interview process. When it came down to the security interview (3 hours of what bad stuff have you ever done poking and prodding) they explained i was unsuitable. The reason being that I play online poker. I know there is no poker in oot, but i assume you're at 2+2 due to poker. They explained that it was totally legal, but they consider it gambling, and if it ever led to a gambling problem i could use my position for extortion. It didnt matter to them how much i won, or for how many hours, or for how much per hour for how long. All that mattered was it was more time spent playing than simply being a casual casino trip here and there.

Most likely most police agencies arent as anal as the Revenue Collecting Motorized Patrol (RCMP) so you should be okay. For anyone wondering how it came up or why i wouldnt lie. Lying in an interview is bad/I didnt think it would be a problem/they give random lie detectors. I also had all of my financial records there and they eventually would have asked where all these funds are coming from without a job.

rJ

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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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I believe that this is a big misconception. Entry level computer postions are hard to find with just a degree in computer science. There are still so many people laid off from the tech industry from a few years back, that they take a lot of these jobs. As far as the pay, I am close with quite a few cops, and all but one easily make well over 70k a year... and the oldest is 32.

I think it really depends on where you go. Some departments can afford to pay a helluva lot better than others. And that also varies what kind of jurisdiction you go to (city, county, state, federal, etc.).

[philnewall]

oink oink oink.

[canis582]

Don't be a cop for the money. Be a cop so you can have power over people, plant drugs and falsify evidence. And if anyone gives you lip, WHAMO!

[EMcWilliams]

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.

[HopeydaFish]

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MDPD is an excellent force, big enough to advance into, and have a lot of specialities. I have metseveral officers from there and all were pretty happy.

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MDPD is an excellent force, big enough to advance into, and have a lot of specialities. I have metseveral officers from there and all were pretty happy.

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No actually, more like this: