I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but I know there are sever leo/former leo's on this site.
I have been considering becoming a leo, and I would like to hear some pros and cons to that choice of career.
Any insight would be appreciated.
Thinking of becoming a Leo...
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barres
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I am not a LEO, but here is my opinion, anyway.
PRO: You will be doing a good and honorable thing
CON: For which you will be hated by a large number of people you will be forced into contact with as part of your duties.
For what it is worth, thank you for even seriously considering this service to your community. I have the greatest respect for LEO's, becuse, in part, I know I could not do their job properly. Again, thank you.
PRO: You will be doing a good and honorable thing
CON: For which you will be hated by a large number of people you will be forced into contact with as part of your duties.
For what it is worth, thank you for even seriously considering this service to your community. I have the greatest respect for LEO's, becuse, in part, I know I could not do their job properly. Again, thank you.
Remember, in a life-or-death situation, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.
Barre
Barre
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nitrogen
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As a good friend of mine explained his tenure as a DPS officer in Arizona:
"It was 99% paperwork and other (male bovine excrement) and the other 1% was a chance to really make a difference. That 1% was far the best part, making up for the 99%."
"It was 99% paperwork and other (male bovine excrement) and the other 1% was a chance to really make a difference. That 1% was far the best part, making up for the 99%."
.השואה... לעולם לא עוד
Holocaust... Never Again.
Some people create their own storms and get upset when it rains.
--anonymous
Holocaust... Never Again.
Some people create their own storms and get upset when it rains.
--anonymous
My brother went into law enforcement after trying business at Texas Tech. Just couldn't get into it. Now that he's with the PD, he loves going to work and actually enjoys his job. Granted, there's that bull that nitrogen mentioned, and quite a bit of it, but it's worth it in the end.
A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user. -Theodore Roosevelt-
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txinvestigator
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Borrowed from another forum to which I belong. This was posted today.
Today we buried an officer, Robbie Green, Powhatan County Sheriff's office. Needless to say, I'm taking it pretty hard. I've been to a few funerals in my 3 and a half years, but this is the first that I've KNOWN the officer involved. One of our officers was killed this year, but I never really knew him. He had only been with us for a few months, a lateral transfer from NYPD. I wasn't drinking buddies with Robbie or anything, but I've met him a number of times on prisoner transports and traffic stops on the border between our two counties. I remember the first time I ever met him. I was fresh out of FTO and taking one of our wanted subjects from him. He had just become a father and HAD to show me his baby pictures. He was the proudest father I've ever seen. He didn't know me from Adam, but he proudly displayed the fact he was a father to a brother officer. Today his three year old son is without a father, and his wife is without her husband. Robbie was killed in the line of duty in a crash a couple days ago while en route to assist on a pursuit.
I want to make this perfectly clear to anyone wanting to be a cop. This isn't something you can just casually do. If you want to be a cop, you need to do a serious gut check about whether or not this is what you want to do. It is the best job in the world, but it also makes far too many widows and parentless children. I was lucky in a sense. My wife has known since the day we met that I was going to be a cop. There were no surprises. My father is a cop, and I decided from a very early age that it was what I wanted to be as well. Just before I moved down here to start my academy, my agency lost an officer. My in-laws were very disturbed about this fact. More disturbed I think that their daughter was marrying someone who was going to that same place. A couple of guys in my academy class had wanted other careers, getting degrees that could make them lots of money, but decided to become cops. Both of them were married BEFORE they became cops. And both almost caused a divorce because their wives weren't "entusiastic" about them becoming cops. You have to remember, it's not just you that you put on the line when you put on that uniform. At any moment it could be your time to give the ultimate sacrifice, and you will be making a widow out of your spouse, and denying your child a future with you. That is not an easy burden, and should be given much thought. Although ours is a job where we risk all for other people, in this regard, it is also very selfish. You have to be willing to put your family at risk of this fate. Not everyone can do that. And I don't blame for one second those that can't.
Some call us stupid for doing what we do. I don't know, perhaps we are. What kind of rational, sane person runs TOWARD the gunshots while everyone else runs away from them? What kind of sane person drives 100mph towards that brother officer involved in a fight. I can't answer that. Perhaps the answer is none. That we really ARE all stupid for doing it. I don't know. What I do know is that it takes a rare breed to risk their lives every day, to devote themselves to those that would spit on us, for a life of near poverty and scorn. We constantly have to worry about our children or spouses because after all: What better way to get to a cop than through his family? Why do this? Why do this job when getting an office job that pays $100,000 a year and poses no risk to anyone would be so much easier. You could live with more luxuries. You wouldn't have to worry about that criminal that you locked up coming after your family for no other reason than the fact you did your job. You wouldn't have to worry that doing nothing more than going to work would be the last time you ever see your family.
Every single department that I've ever known asks you a question when you are interviewed: Why do you want to become a police officer? Those who really don't know usually come up with some answer like "To protect the community" or "to serve the citizens" or some other bull. All that is garbage. You can serve people better as a garbageman than you ever will as a cop. You want to protect people? Join the fire department. Everyone loves them. You get to be heroes and protect people and rescue them and you won't have to worry about being shot at or stabbed or beaten. Some do it because they are adrenaline junkies. Nothing wrong with admitting that. But unless you are single with no family you need to find another way to get your fix. The real reason we do this job nobody knows. It is fixed into our DNA.
I can't tell you why I chose to become a police officer. I really can't. I grew up waiting each day for my dad to come home from midnight shift so we could have breakfast before I went to school and he to bed to get precious few hours of sleep until he had to go to court. I listened intently to his stories of the night before. My brother, 2 years younger, never really shared in this "ritual" of sorts. It was always my dad and I at the breakfast table while my brother ate his breakfast while playing video games. This is not a dig at my brother in any way, just going to prove my point. We both grew up in a cop family. Why did I follow in my father's footsteps and him not? I could have done anything I wanted to. I could have been a doctor and made boatloads of money while helping more people in a week than a cop might in a career. I could have become a research scientist and found the cure for cancer, all the while not making my wife wonder in the back of her mind if tonight was the night I wasn't coming home. The truth is, I can't NOT do this job. I am happy that I do what I do. I am more happy with the worst moments of this job, and there will be the darkest moments man should ever have to see and some they should never have to see, than the best moments of another life.
If you truly want to be a police officer, than by all means please do. Just remember: This job offers some of the gaudiest funerals, and some of the worst deaths. You need to put serious thought into whether or not you are willing to put your family in that situation. This is only a job. If your spouse doesn't want you to do this because he/she can't stand the thought of waiting each night to see if you come home in one piece, for God's sake don't do it. Your family is much more important than a job will ever be.
[/b]
Today we buried an officer, Robbie Green, Powhatan County Sheriff's office. Needless to say, I'm taking it pretty hard. I've been to a few funerals in my 3 and a half years, but this is the first that I've KNOWN the officer involved. One of our officers was killed this year, but I never really knew him. He had only been with us for a few months, a lateral transfer from NYPD. I wasn't drinking buddies with Robbie or anything, but I've met him a number of times on prisoner transports and traffic stops on the border between our two counties. I remember the first time I ever met him. I was fresh out of FTO and taking one of our wanted subjects from him. He had just become a father and HAD to show me his baby pictures. He was the proudest father I've ever seen. He didn't know me from Adam, but he proudly displayed the fact he was a father to a brother officer. Today his three year old son is without a father, and his wife is without her husband. Robbie was killed in the line of duty in a crash a couple days ago while en route to assist on a pursuit.
I want to make this perfectly clear to anyone wanting to be a cop. This isn't something you can just casually do. If you want to be a cop, you need to do a serious gut check about whether or not this is what you want to do. It is the best job in the world, but it also makes far too many widows and parentless children. I was lucky in a sense. My wife has known since the day we met that I was going to be a cop. There were no surprises. My father is a cop, and I decided from a very early age that it was what I wanted to be as well. Just before I moved down here to start my academy, my agency lost an officer. My in-laws were very disturbed about this fact. More disturbed I think that their daughter was marrying someone who was going to that same place. A couple of guys in my academy class had wanted other careers, getting degrees that could make them lots of money, but decided to become cops. Both of them were married BEFORE they became cops. And both almost caused a divorce because their wives weren't "entusiastic" about them becoming cops. You have to remember, it's not just you that you put on the line when you put on that uniform. At any moment it could be your time to give the ultimate sacrifice, and you will be making a widow out of your spouse, and denying your child a future with you. That is not an easy burden, and should be given much thought. Although ours is a job where we risk all for other people, in this regard, it is also very selfish. You have to be willing to put your family at risk of this fate. Not everyone can do that. And I don't blame for one second those that can't.
Some call us stupid for doing what we do. I don't know, perhaps we are. What kind of rational, sane person runs TOWARD the gunshots while everyone else runs away from them? What kind of sane person drives 100mph towards that brother officer involved in a fight. I can't answer that. Perhaps the answer is none. That we really ARE all stupid for doing it. I don't know. What I do know is that it takes a rare breed to risk their lives every day, to devote themselves to those that would spit on us, for a life of near poverty and scorn. We constantly have to worry about our children or spouses because after all: What better way to get to a cop than through his family? Why do this? Why do this job when getting an office job that pays $100,000 a year and poses no risk to anyone would be so much easier. You could live with more luxuries. You wouldn't have to worry about that criminal that you locked up coming after your family for no other reason than the fact you did your job. You wouldn't have to worry that doing nothing more than going to work would be the last time you ever see your family.
Every single department that I've ever known asks you a question when you are interviewed: Why do you want to become a police officer? Those who really don't know usually come up with some answer like "To protect the community" or "to serve the citizens" or some other bull. All that is garbage. You can serve people better as a garbageman than you ever will as a cop. You want to protect people? Join the fire department. Everyone loves them. You get to be heroes and protect people and rescue them and you won't have to worry about being shot at or stabbed or beaten. Some do it because they are adrenaline junkies. Nothing wrong with admitting that. But unless you are single with no family you need to find another way to get your fix. The real reason we do this job nobody knows. It is fixed into our DNA.
I can't tell you why I chose to become a police officer. I really can't. I grew up waiting each day for my dad to come home from midnight shift so we could have breakfast before I went to school and he to bed to get precious few hours of sleep until he had to go to court. I listened intently to his stories of the night before. My brother, 2 years younger, never really shared in this "ritual" of sorts. It was always my dad and I at the breakfast table while my brother ate his breakfast while playing video games. This is not a dig at my brother in any way, just going to prove my point. We both grew up in a cop family. Why did I follow in my father's footsteps and him not? I could have done anything I wanted to. I could have been a doctor and made boatloads of money while helping more people in a week than a cop might in a career. I could have become a research scientist and found the cure for cancer, all the while not making my wife wonder in the back of her mind if tonight was the night I wasn't coming home. The truth is, I can't NOT do this job. I am happy that I do what I do. I am more happy with the worst moments of this job, and there will be the darkest moments man should ever have to see and some they should never have to see, than the best moments of another life.
If you truly want to be a police officer, than by all means please do. Just remember: This job offers some of the gaudiest funerals, and some of the worst deaths. You need to put serious thought into whether or not you are willing to put your family in that situation. This is only a job. If your spouse doesn't want you to do this because he/she can't stand the thought of waiting each night to see if you come home in one piece, for God's sake don't do it. Your family is much more important than a job will ever be.
[/b]
*CHL Instructor*
"Speed is Fine, but accuracy is final"- Bill Jordan
Remember those who died, remember those who killed them.
"Speed is Fine, but accuracy is final"- Bill Jordan
Remember those who died, remember those who killed them.
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Glockamolie
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As an ex-police officer, I fully concur with txinvestigator's post. I found that I wasn't that guy, after 4 years of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston St. Univ. at a considerable expense. I was capable, but not fully prepared. I had ridden with a DPS Trooper numerous times, interned with Huntsville PD, and been around it a lot. I STILL didn't know until I took my turn. Good luck and Godspeed to any and all that are willing to do what it takes for the long haul.
- Brandon
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longtooth
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Thank, you txi. Best I ever read. Good LEOs are those that it is not in them to do anything else. Thank you for your service.
Carry 24-7 or guess right.
CHL Instructor. http://www.pdtraining.us" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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cyphur
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Its a tough choice bud. I want to go back into the military, but I know if I went in, it'd be doing something stupid dangerous(Ranger, SF, Sniper, LRRP-type stuff). Its in my blood, I am a door kicker, I'm the trigger guy. I knew from a little boy thats what I was born to be.
Now I have a family of four, and a wife who doesn't want to be a widow and mother of children of someone who "died in a training accident". Can't blame her. And I disagree, a job is not always just a job. Call it fate, call it destiny, call it whatever - or call it a way of life. If the shoe fits...
I have found that sometimes the biggest strength is not found in walking the walk, but watching others walk the walk and knowing your responsibilities prevent you from keeping their six clear of BGs. To go to sleep at night, and to rationalize that, can be a beating.
Now I have a family of four, and a wife who doesn't want to be a widow and mother of children of someone who "died in a training accident". Can't blame her. And I disagree, a job is not always just a job. Call it fate, call it destiny, call it whatever - or call it a way of life. If the shoe fits...
I have found that sometimes the biggest strength is not found in walking the walk, but watching others walk the walk and knowing your responsibilities prevent you from keeping their six clear of BGs. To go to sleep at night, and to rationalize that, can be a beating.
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KRM45
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Thanks for the insight. TX, I appreciate your post. I know there are jobs at least as hazardus as law enforcement though.
I appreciate the comment on the military too. I've been out for 7 years, but after 9 years of service, I too have been temted to re-enlist. It's difficult to convince yourself that you met your obligation as an American when you turn on the news and hear about a few more kids dying over there almos daily. I ask myself sometimes whether my training, knowledge, or just presence could have saved even one of them...
I now have a wife and two kids that I need to think about, but I am still drawn to serve God, County and now Community. I've applied in the town I live in, and I've passed the written, fitness, and B-PAD. I have an oral board this week. Wish me luck.
I appreciate the comment on the military too. I've been out for 7 years, but after 9 years of service, I too have been temted to re-enlist. It's difficult to convince yourself that you met your obligation as an American when you turn on the news and hear about a few more kids dying over there almos daily. I ask myself sometimes whether my training, knowledge, or just presence could have saved even one of them...
I now have a wife and two kids that I need to think about, but I am still drawn to serve God, County and now Community. I've applied in the town I live in, and I've passed the written, fitness, and B-PAD. I have an oral board this week. Wish me luck.
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cyphur
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Congratulations!KRM45 wrote:Thanks for the insight. TX, I appreciate your post. I know there are jobs at least as hazardus as law enforcement though.
I appreciate the comment on the military too. I've been out for 7 years, but after 9 years of service, I too have been temted to re-enlist. It's difficult to convince yourself that you met your obligation as an American when you turn on the news and hear about a few more kids dying over there almos daily. I ask myself sometimes whether my training, knowledge, or just presence could have saved even one of them...
I now have a wife and two kids that I need to think about, but I am still drawn to serve God, County and now Community. I've applied in the town I live in, and I've passed the written, fitness, and B-PAD. I have an oral board this week. Wish me luck.
I too fight the urge to again serve my country and help protect my brothers and sisters in arms. I am also torn apart by the fact that I now have a wife and two beautiful children. It does not always let me sleep well.
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longtooth
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KRM45, Good sucess is my prayer for you. Thank you.
Carry 24-7 or guess right.
CHL Instructor. http://www.pdtraining.us" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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txinvestigator
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I have decided to re-enter Law Enforcement. I need 40 hours of in-service training and I can then take the TCLEOSE test. I have completed 16 hours of Crisis Intervention Training and and am working on Cultural Diversity Training now. After that I need 24 hours of Special Investigative Topics.
If Charles does not mind, I would like to list another forum that is police related. It even has a verification process where the LE status of a member can be verified and they receive a 'verified leo' tag. That way you know it is a real LEO writing and not some wanna be or poser. The verifieds also have a private section to discuss sensitive topics.
Charles, is it OK for me to post the other website?
If Charles does not mind, I would like to list another forum that is police related. It even has a verification process where the LE status of a member can be verified and they receive a 'verified leo' tag. That way you know it is a real LEO writing and not some wanna be or poser. The verifieds also have a private section to discuss sensitive topics.
Charles, is it OK for me to post the other website?
*CHL Instructor*
"Speed is Fine, but accuracy is final"- Bill Jordan
Remember those who died, remember those who killed them.
"Speed is Fine, but accuracy is final"- Bill Jordan
Remember those who died, remember those who killed them.
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Charles L. Cotton
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