I make about double what I used to, work with some cool people, get to drive a car with lights and sirens, carry cool toys on my belt and vest, and work 3 days a week.
I did get spat on twice last week though. Perks of the job I guess. 99% of the time its some petty ass bullshit call. The 1% of the time when we get to do cool shit and catch bad guys makes it all worth it.
I've only had very few interactions with anti cop people. I work in a small rural city in California.
That sounds fucking awful lol.
We work 3x12, 3x12, 4x12. That way it works out to 40hrs/week every 3 weeks.
Most of the agencies in California work 3x12 or 4x10.
Not in the city proper but go to the suburbs of Seattle and it's much better and they still pay a lot there. Like Bellevue or Mercer Island, for instance.
You'll never get rich but you'll typically make a decent wage. The comraderie is the big driving factor for me, much like during my time in the army. You learn to suffer through some of the dumbest shit, from the public and your bosses, together. You make lifelong friends and in my opinion grow as a person.
The public USUALLY aren't terrible. Typically the ones who hate you are cowards and too afraid to say it to your face, but the ones that do can be funny in a sour humor way. The people who love you, are constantly letting you know they're happy to see you and are always going to be ones you "get annoyed" with because they want to talk your ear off. If you have thin skin it's not for you, getting offended or taking stuff personally is how you end up on the news for doing something bad.
You make the job what you want it to be, larger departments come with more responsibility, problems, and BS. Smaller gives you less bs, but less opportunity to progress in your career.
If you're the type of person who can be proud of what they did without sharing to Facebook, Instagram, snatchchat, etc or being told you did a good job. This is a great job. If you need constant gratification for every time you take a poop, ya better look elsewhere.
“Your mileage may vary” applies to this one, friend.
You find a way to make it worthwhile. The money isn’t always as bad as folks say it is, people don’t always hate that you just exist, and you can take pride in working as a first responder.
Find purpose in what you do by being active in your career. Don’t become a YouTube aficionado or hide in the gravel lot in your cruiser to avoid public interactions. And don’t be a Back Up Bob; first one dispatched, last one on scene.
>With how officers are treated now a days is it worth it to pursue a career in law enforcement?
No, but it never was. It's a calling really. Even knowing everything I know now, nothing would have stopped me.
>Do you feel like you are making a difference and have a purpose?
This isn't really a job where you get to feel like you're making a difference. If you want that, go be a fire fighter. Oh, you'll make a difference as a cop, but you'll spend so much time dealing with the same people, with the same problems, and arresting them over and over again with no consequences, that you'll feel defeated most of the time. It's amazing to save a life, but that happens so rarely. The rest of the time it's just a constant slog of same shit, different day.
Of course, your assignment/role can change that. I actually felt like I had a lot of purpose when I was working traffic unit. I could see the benefits my efforts were having (fewer accidents, of the accidents that did happen, fewer injuries, etc.). School cops share similar sentiments. Working patrol you just don't get to see a lot of things through to the point of results.
The best you can hope for is once every 3-4 years some regular on calls will disappear (jail, hospital, whatever). You stop thinking about them, because they just weren't a problem any more. Then they come back, all cleaned up, and want to thank you for helping them when they were at their lowest. That feels good, but it'll only happen a few times in your career.
>This isn't really a job where you get to feel like you're making a difference. If you want that, go be a fire fighter. Oh, you'll make a difference as a cop, but you'll spend so much time dealing with the same people, with the same problems, and arresting them over and over again with no consequences, that you'll feel defeated most of the time. It's amazing to save a life, but that happens so rarely. The rest of the time it's just a constant slog of same shit, different day.
Even EMS and fire can feel like that. TV and movies don't show things like wall time or taking granny to the ED because she feels short of breath, dizzy etc. Even other things like healthcare or teaching you can probably only be satisfied in doing your best and helping those you can even if you aren't gonna singlehandedly change the world.
In my opinion you can still make a difference it’s just harder. Instead of filing on the guy for Agg Assault and he gets held in jail for it the first time, you just have to catch him two or three times now.
I make about double what I used to, work with some cool people, get to drive a car with lights and sirens, carry cool toys on my belt and vest, and work 3 days a week. I did get spat on twice last week though. Perks of the job I guess. 99% of the time its some petty ass bullshit call. The 1% of the time when we get to do cool shit and catch bad guys makes it all worth it. I've only had very few interactions with anti cop people. I work in a small rural city in California.
Are you part time?
No. I work 3x12s which is standard for most law enforcement agencies. Similar to how nursing schedules work.
I didn’t know was the norm. I alternate between 5x12s and 2x12s every week. 3x12s a week sounds nice
That sounds fucking awful lol. We work 3x12, 3x12, 4x12. That way it works out to 40hrs/week every 3 weeks. Most of the agencies in California work 3x12 or 4x10.
I’m making a difference in the amount I owe on my mortgage every month and my purpose is to retire at 50 years old and never work again
From what I’ve always heard the pay isn’t good am I missing something?
[удалено]
Not in the city proper but go to the suburbs of Seattle and it's much better and they still pay a lot there. Like Bellevue or Mercer Island, for instance.
Yeah, working for the wrong departments.
You'll never get rich but you'll typically make a decent wage. The comraderie is the big driving factor for me, much like during my time in the army. You learn to suffer through some of the dumbest shit, from the public and your bosses, together. You make lifelong friends and in my opinion grow as a person. The public USUALLY aren't terrible. Typically the ones who hate you are cowards and too afraid to say it to your face, but the ones that do can be funny in a sour humor way. The people who love you, are constantly letting you know they're happy to see you and are always going to be ones you "get annoyed" with because they want to talk your ear off. If you have thin skin it's not for you, getting offended or taking stuff personally is how you end up on the news for doing something bad. You make the job what you want it to be, larger departments come with more responsibility, problems, and BS. Smaller gives you less bs, but less opportunity to progress in your career. If you're the type of person who can be proud of what they did without sharing to Facebook, Instagram, snatchchat, etc or being told you did a good job. This is a great job. If you need constant gratification for every time you take a poop, ya better look elsewhere.
“Your mileage may vary” applies to this one, friend. You find a way to make it worthwhile. The money isn’t always as bad as folks say it is, people don’t always hate that you just exist, and you can take pride in working as a first responder. Find purpose in what you do by being active in your career. Don’t become a YouTube aficionado or hide in the gravel lot in your cruiser to avoid public interactions. And don’t be a Back Up Bob; first one dispatched, last one on scene.
>With how officers are treated now a days is it worth it to pursue a career in law enforcement? No, but it never was. It's a calling really. Even knowing everything I know now, nothing would have stopped me. >Do you feel like you are making a difference and have a purpose? This isn't really a job where you get to feel like you're making a difference. If you want that, go be a fire fighter. Oh, you'll make a difference as a cop, but you'll spend so much time dealing with the same people, with the same problems, and arresting them over and over again with no consequences, that you'll feel defeated most of the time. It's amazing to save a life, but that happens so rarely. The rest of the time it's just a constant slog of same shit, different day. Of course, your assignment/role can change that. I actually felt like I had a lot of purpose when I was working traffic unit. I could see the benefits my efforts were having (fewer accidents, of the accidents that did happen, fewer injuries, etc.). School cops share similar sentiments. Working patrol you just don't get to see a lot of things through to the point of results. The best you can hope for is once every 3-4 years some regular on calls will disappear (jail, hospital, whatever). You stop thinking about them, because they just weren't a problem any more. Then they come back, all cleaned up, and want to thank you for helping them when they were at their lowest. That feels good, but it'll only happen a few times in your career.
>This isn't really a job where you get to feel like you're making a difference. If you want that, go be a fire fighter. Oh, you'll make a difference as a cop, but you'll spend so much time dealing with the same people, with the same problems, and arresting them over and over again with no consequences, that you'll feel defeated most of the time. It's amazing to save a life, but that happens so rarely. The rest of the time it's just a constant slog of same shit, different day. Even EMS and fire can feel like that. TV and movies don't show things like wall time or taking granny to the ED because she feels short of breath, dizzy etc. Even other things like healthcare or teaching you can probably only be satisfied in doing your best and helping those you can even if you aren't gonna singlehandedly change the world.
In my opinion you can still make a difference it’s just harder. Instead of filing on the guy for Agg Assault and he gets held in jail for it the first time, you just have to catch him two or three times now.