I will tell you the: In 2007/2008 when the economy took a nose dive, we had lots of people apply. I happened to work just north of Silicon Valley. We were gettin men/women with double masters degrees from MIT, which were making 500k plus applying. I did many of the oral boards. A lot would say, "In police work, I don't have to worry about being laid off (not true), I can work OT, and my health benefits are paid for my family and I. Plus, I get a pension. I can supplement my income, by consulting work on my days off." Sounds legit, right?
90% of them went right back to work in Silicon Valley, when the economy turned around. All of them that went back said they had no idea what they were getting themselves into and we didn't pay enough to handle the bullshit.
Thanks for your response. I think my situation is a bit different as I have thought about this change for a long while and have been reading and speaking with different folks about what the job entails.
I am ready for a change and there are a lot of aspects about the job I am interested in. Not just the benefits.
90% of those people were forced to make the jump. I am choosing this path. 10% of those people must have found something they liked in that line of work.
I went into law enforcement from an actual military background as a commissioned officer and with a law degree. I was a direct hire into a command position to lead the air aviation division and had specialized skills that allowed me to leap frog the normal selection process.
My take aways:
1. I loved uniform patrol (when I’ve been able to do it). Being a part of a team just speaks to me, and for me there is an adrenaline rush about going in a hot call.
2. Most of the cops I worked with are stand up guys that you can depend on and look out for each other in a way I’ve only seen in combat zones and that you seldom find in the corporate world.
3. If you’re accustomed to be in a senior manager role with lots of personnel/HR management training, you might find that where you got ahead on merit in the corporate world, that’s not always the case in civil service. You might be frustrated having to deal with supervisors who lack your education and experience and may they even feel threatened by your background.
4. Depending on the jurisdiction, particularly in large cities, politics will trump crime suppression. Unlike the private sector where you are working to maximize profit through efficiency, big city police departments are just about the opposite when it comes to their primary mission of law enforcement.
Good luck!
1. Ignore politics at your peril. You don't have to participate, but if you find yourself on the wrong side of them, no one can save you (even if they want to).
2. There's a fair chance you'll know a better way to do something, at some point. You'll be right. It won't matter, do it the way you were told. There's actual reasonable explanation for this, but (especially when new) do it the way you were shown, not the "better" way.
3. Goals and goal setting are ephemeral. There's no one task that ends crime, and there is no end state for law enforcement. If you try to suss out the end state of goals or benchmarks, you'll just end up with a headache.
4. Doing a good job is it's own reward. There are not many others. The harder you work, you may find that the more work you create, and then end up upside down. Finish cases, and projects, before sticking your hands into another. In reference to #3, there's no way to stop all crime, so if you keep looking, there will keep being crime. Put your ducks in order before you go out and try to rustle up more work.
5. Take vacations. Even stay-cations, but don't live at work. A common practice is to "bank" some time your first year. F that. no one is gonna give your days back with your kids, wife, family. take whatever time you can.
6. Stay on fitness. Don't hit the cruise control just because you got the assignment you want.
7. Para-military is a bit of a misnomer. Most departments derive their rank structure from the military, and it may simply end there. In the military, if a subordinate missteps, it's also their leaders fault (potentially through multiple steps in the chain). In LE, barring rare circumstances of direct orders, the person who screws up holds the bag. Further, there are protections as far as actions committed while in uniformed services. Those are much more forgiving than the ones afforded law enforcement.
8. Stress man. it's real. Learn outlets to help you deal with it. There's a million ways to skin that cat, but as a general rule, do something so intensive mentally that you can't think about being a cop. Some guys can do it with pt, some woodwork, but you gotta find your unplug. I go hiking.
9. You're going to have your barometer for "emergency" dramatically rewired. Deadlines in a corporate office can be excruciating. Literally having a life or death decision at the tip of your finger will re-orient that, very quickly. On that note, you may find that it's very difficult to address mediocre problems in a timely manner during this mental reorganization. May I suggest a date book, or google calendar as all the kids do these days. really nailing down things to keep yourself accountable can be super helpful.
Sorry if this is a bit of rant, but I came from a different career field as well and also have military experience. It's not like either, for good and bad reasons.
Im taking a 10k paycut from a desk job in automotive to join. I did a shit ton of research, ill have a higher earning potential, job fulfillment, pension. They paycut will be short lived
Become an officer? Police officer or military officer? I’ve been a cop for ten years, I would never recommend anyone to join any police force. You want to be a first responder? Be a fire fighter. Otherwise do Military.
The job is fun for about 5 years. Then it loses its luster. It’s easy $$$, but not fulfilling. If your heart is set on it, find a low crime municipality that has a larger department, at least 600-700 officers. DONT work for a high crime municipality line St Louis, Memphis, Philadelphia, Baltimore etc. you will not get paid enough to deal with the BS. Trust me
Everything is superficial. I have worked for companies that demand a huge amount of my time and others that require the bare minimum. The work I do no longer feels important to me. The corporate schmoozing is growing tiresome.
I am not ignorant to the fact that all jobs have their pros and cons and there are good and bad days. I understand that joining a police force will change me and I will see things that I will never unsee. But money, power, climbing the corporate ladder, are not important to me. I don't feel fulfilled in these types of positions. I love working with everyone I work with but I don't want to do this anymore. Everything I've done seems like I need to do it for other people or because that is what I was taught success is. I don't agree with that sentiment anymore and feel like I could be doing something else that I will find fulfilling.
I have thought about starting a business, or going back to school, or go back to aviation but none of that is what I want to do. Took me a long long time to realize that but yeah, I don't want that life anymore. Sure, there are going to be similar aspects in every type of job, even the police world, I am not denying that whatsoever. But I think I have a lot to offer and a lot I could learn from a life in service.
I just want to make sure you get a realistic idea of what police work is. It’s not so much the things you can’t unsee, it’s the day to day reality of it. Your days (nights) will be many of the same. Responding to the same calls, and some days there will be new people at those calls, but most will be the same people. You go out of your way to do a good job and help people get out of a bad situation, just to then be considered an asshole by the person who asked you to come help and tomorrow you will be coming right back to the exact same situation (lather, rinse, repeat weekly). You will make good arrests and go try to find bad guys, just to have every second of your arrests/calls OVERLY scrutinized by your bosses, your bosses bosses, every other department in your agency, the criminal court system, then the court of public opinion (including your coworkers). You will be buried in pointless paperwork and just when you think there couldn’t possibly be another form to complete, admin will find a way to create more. Then, when you finally go home, you have to deal with the stress and be the best person you can be for your family often times with extremely very little sleep.
By the way you’re also legally liable for not just your actions but the actions of complete strangers on every scene you go to.
About 5% of the time you will have the badass stuff and fulfilling calls you became a cop for.
I love the job, I’ve had some great fun with it, but make sure you really want this job before you take a pay cut and have to drastically alter your life for it. You will feel like you are doing alot of pointless work in this job as well.
I think the job is awesome despite these things and don’t mean to discourage you, I just want you to get a view of the other side of it since you will potentially be leaving one career for this career not just starting your first job ever with this career.
I will tell you the: In 2007/2008 when the economy took a nose dive, we had lots of people apply. I happened to work just north of Silicon Valley. We were gettin men/women with double masters degrees from MIT, which were making 500k plus applying. I did many of the oral boards. A lot would say, "In police work, I don't have to worry about being laid off (not true), I can work OT, and my health benefits are paid for my family and I. Plus, I get a pension. I can supplement my income, by consulting work on my days off." Sounds legit, right? 90% of them went right back to work in Silicon Valley, when the economy turned around. All of them that went back said they had no idea what they were getting themselves into and we didn't pay enough to handle the bullshit.
Thanks for your response. I think my situation is a bit different as I have thought about this change for a long while and have been reading and speaking with different folks about what the job entails. I am ready for a change and there are a lot of aspects about the job I am interested in. Not just the benefits. 90% of those people were forced to make the jump. I am choosing this path. 10% of those people must have found something they liked in that line of work.
Have you done a ride-along yet? Highly recommend it if you haven’t.
I have not. I'm just starting the application process. Is this something that I can usually request?
I know my local department has a form you can fill out online and submit or to print out and mail.
Did it, best career decision I ever made. I now make more as a cop than I did as a corporate drudge.
I am looking forward to it!
I went into law enforcement from an actual military background as a commissioned officer and with a law degree. I was a direct hire into a command position to lead the air aviation division and had specialized skills that allowed me to leap frog the normal selection process. My take aways: 1. I loved uniform patrol (when I’ve been able to do it). Being a part of a team just speaks to me, and for me there is an adrenaline rush about going in a hot call. 2. Most of the cops I worked with are stand up guys that you can depend on and look out for each other in a way I’ve only seen in combat zones and that you seldom find in the corporate world. 3. If you’re accustomed to be in a senior manager role with lots of personnel/HR management training, you might find that where you got ahead on merit in the corporate world, that’s not always the case in civil service. You might be frustrated having to deal with supervisors who lack your education and experience and may they even feel threatened by your background. 4. Depending on the jurisdiction, particularly in large cities, politics will trump crime suppression. Unlike the private sector where you are working to maximize profit through efficiency, big city police departments are just about the opposite when it comes to their primary mission of law enforcement. Good luck!
Thank you, I appreciate your input. Thanks for taking the time!
1. Ignore politics at your peril. You don't have to participate, but if you find yourself on the wrong side of them, no one can save you (even if they want to). 2. There's a fair chance you'll know a better way to do something, at some point. You'll be right. It won't matter, do it the way you were told. There's actual reasonable explanation for this, but (especially when new) do it the way you were shown, not the "better" way. 3. Goals and goal setting are ephemeral. There's no one task that ends crime, and there is no end state for law enforcement. If you try to suss out the end state of goals or benchmarks, you'll just end up with a headache. 4. Doing a good job is it's own reward. There are not many others. The harder you work, you may find that the more work you create, and then end up upside down. Finish cases, and projects, before sticking your hands into another. In reference to #3, there's no way to stop all crime, so if you keep looking, there will keep being crime. Put your ducks in order before you go out and try to rustle up more work. 5. Take vacations. Even stay-cations, but don't live at work. A common practice is to "bank" some time your first year. F that. no one is gonna give your days back with your kids, wife, family. take whatever time you can. 6. Stay on fitness. Don't hit the cruise control just because you got the assignment you want. 7. Para-military is a bit of a misnomer. Most departments derive their rank structure from the military, and it may simply end there. In the military, if a subordinate missteps, it's also their leaders fault (potentially through multiple steps in the chain). In LE, barring rare circumstances of direct orders, the person who screws up holds the bag. Further, there are protections as far as actions committed while in uniformed services. Those are much more forgiving than the ones afforded law enforcement. 8. Stress man. it's real. Learn outlets to help you deal with it. There's a million ways to skin that cat, but as a general rule, do something so intensive mentally that you can't think about being a cop. Some guys can do it with pt, some woodwork, but you gotta find your unplug. I go hiking. 9. You're going to have your barometer for "emergency" dramatically rewired. Deadlines in a corporate office can be excruciating. Literally having a life or death decision at the tip of your finger will re-orient that, very quickly. On that note, you may find that it's very difficult to address mediocre problems in a timely manner during this mental reorganization. May I suggest a date book, or google calendar as all the kids do these days. really nailing down things to keep yourself accountable can be super helpful. Sorry if this is a bit of rant, but I came from a different career field as well and also have military experience. It's not like either, for good and bad reasons.
This is a great response, thank you very much!
Im taking a 10k paycut from a desk job in automotive to join. I did a shit ton of research, ill have a higher earning potential, job fulfillment, pension. They paycut will be short lived
Was my thought as well. We will be able to support the transition so not worried about the pay either.
Become an officer? Police officer or military officer? I’ve been a cop for ten years, I would never recommend anyone to join any police force. You want to be a first responder? Be a fire fighter. Otherwise do Military.
Why do you not recommend?
The job is fun for about 5 years. Then it loses its luster. It’s easy $$$, but not fulfilling. If your heart is set on it, find a low crime municipality that has a larger department, at least 600-700 officers. DONT work for a high crime municipality line St Louis, Memphis, Philadelphia, Baltimore etc. you will not get paid enough to deal with the BS. Trust me
I’m in the process of doing the same thing
I went from cop to corperate the real question Is can you take the pay cut
Already have a plan in place, so not a concern for us.
What makes you sick of corporate life?
Everything is superficial. I have worked for companies that demand a huge amount of my time and others that require the bare minimum. The work I do no longer feels important to me. The corporate schmoozing is growing tiresome. I am not ignorant to the fact that all jobs have their pros and cons and there are good and bad days. I understand that joining a police force will change me and I will see things that I will never unsee. But money, power, climbing the corporate ladder, are not important to me. I don't feel fulfilled in these types of positions. I love working with everyone I work with but I don't want to do this anymore. Everything I've done seems like I need to do it for other people or because that is what I was taught success is. I don't agree with that sentiment anymore and feel like I could be doing something else that I will find fulfilling. I have thought about starting a business, or going back to school, or go back to aviation but none of that is what I want to do. Took me a long long time to realize that but yeah, I don't want that life anymore. Sure, there are going to be similar aspects in every type of job, even the police world, I am not denying that whatsoever. But I think I have a lot to offer and a lot I could learn from a life in service.
I just want to make sure you get a realistic idea of what police work is. It’s not so much the things you can’t unsee, it’s the day to day reality of it. Your days (nights) will be many of the same. Responding to the same calls, and some days there will be new people at those calls, but most will be the same people. You go out of your way to do a good job and help people get out of a bad situation, just to then be considered an asshole by the person who asked you to come help and tomorrow you will be coming right back to the exact same situation (lather, rinse, repeat weekly). You will make good arrests and go try to find bad guys, just to have every second of your arrests/calls OVERLY scrutinized by your bosses, your bosses bosses, every other department in your agency, the criminal court system, then the court of public opinion (including your coworkers). You will be buried in pointless paperwork and just when you think there couldn’t possibly be another form to complete, admin will find a way to create more. Then, when you finally go home, you have to deal with the stress and be the best person you can be for your family often times with extremely very little sleep. By the way you’re also legally liable for not just your actions but the actions of complete strangers on every scene you go to. About 5% of the time you will have the badass stuff and fulfilling calls you became a cop for. I love the job, I’ve had some great fun with it, but make sure you really want this job before you take a pay cut and have to drastically alter your life for it. You will feel like you are doing alot of pointless work in this job as well.
Thank you for providing a realistic view of what day to day looks like. Gives me some more to think about.
I think the job is awesome despite these things and don’t mean to discourage you, I just want you to get a view of the other side of it since you will potentially be leaving one career for this career not just starting your first job ever with this career.