SF vet, moving around when in federal LE depends on a several things. I made 3 moves in my first 5 years and although my duty station changed, lived in the same place for my last 22 years. If you want to climb the management ladder most will move several times in their career. I know a Special Agent in Charge who is getting ready to retire and has never moved for over 30 years.
I've decided to pursue an LEO career... advice please!
- Thread starter Sean Dempsey
- Start date
- Status
win71
Member
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2005
- Messages
- 694
Gunsmith
Slow down, you're jumping the gun here. No matter how much you expect cops to be able to spell "Glock" Sean isn't a cop yet. Thanks to you, if he does become a cop he will certainly know how to spell "Glok". He probably won't forget how to spell "Gunsmith" either.
Slow down, you're jumping the gun here. No matter how much you expect cops to be able to spell "Glock" Sean isn't a cop yet. Thanks to you, if he does become a cop he will certainly know how to spell "Glok". He probably won't forget how to spell "Gunsmith" either.
mindwip
Member
I am planning on joining the reserve sheriffs in my county. More for the fact that i want to join search and rescue. I would say join a reserve something before truely joining fulltime.
hankdatank1362
Member
Not that I really care, but I still think he was screwing around on the spelling part. He called rounds "bullets", he called a magazine a "clip" and his GLOCK a "Glok" all in one sentence. If he's been on this forum longer than an hour than he knows the difference, and also knows how to jerk someone's chain.
Back on topic: Is your acadamy really 5 months? Damn. I talked to the Captain here in SC and he said it's only 6 weeks.
Back on topic: Is your acadamy really 5 months? Damn. I talked to the Captain here in SC and he said it's only 6 weeks.
Academies vary. In TN, the state academy is 8 weeks. However, if you hire on at say Knoxville PD, their academy is 6 months. The state academy requires you to stay at the academy during the week, working from 6am to 10pm usually. Knoxville's academy is a 9-5 stint that covers the POST certifications AND KPDs general orders and procedures. I know that most of the larger departments in TN do have their own "academies."
Stay positive, and don't....
start to view all humanity as a massive herd of criminals. Get religion, and cling to it. You're about to immerse yourself in a very murky, potentially depressing world. I say again: STAY POSITIVE ABOUT THE HUMAN RACE. Cops can become unimaginably inhuman.
start to view all humanity as a massive herd of criminals. Get religion, and cling to it. You're about to immerse yourself in a very murky, potentially depressing world. I say again: STAY POSITIVE ABOUT THE HUMAN RACE. Cops can become unimaginably inhuman.
real_name
member
Gunsmith said:
And pardon me, please, if I expect someone using French to actually be able to speak French.
It's 'S'il vous plait'. As in 'if you please'.
And Pardon moi?
Did you mean 'pardonnez-moi' or 'excusez-moi'?
Both make sense but 'pardon moi' is gibberish.
But you spelling it wrong wasn't as funny as him intentionally misspelling Glock and getting you worked up.
ArfinGreebly
Moderator Emeritus
Thread's Starting To Bifurcate
Could we, like, y'know, sort of stay on topic?
Pleeze?
I believe we were discussing a young man's loss of sanity and his decision to subject himself to the darkest recesses of man's inhumanity to man.
No need to wander off down some path of
"did not"
"did too"
"sez you"
"yo momma"
If you must punch each other's noses, could y'all take it outside?
Could we, like, y'know, sort of stay on topic?
Pleeze?
I believe we were discussing a young man's loss of sanity and his decision to subject himself to the darkest recesses of man's inhumanity to man.
No need to wander off down some path of
"did not"
"did too"
"sez you"
"yo momma"
If you must punch each other's noses, could y'all take it outside?
gunsmith
member
I took high school french
about 35 years ago...
I think....hmmm...cant really remember exactly....
'pardonnez-moi' ...yeah thats it.
Thank you Mon Cheri!
;-)
about 35 years ago...
I think....hmmm...cant really remember exactly....
'pardonnez-moi' ...yeah thats it.Thank you Mon Cheri!
;-)
tinygnat219
Member
How bout a job that contributes to the tax base instead of taking from it?
You seem to already have the skills to do so.
Feedthehogs,
I'd love to see you out there pulling over a vehicle on a rainy night, not knowing who, or what you are going to run into, and then get shot at. You also get to enforce laws that everyone hates, working lousy hours and every holiday, never get to see your kids or family, and make a rich 35K a year doing it before paying taxes. :banghead: Yeah, they're such a drain on society.
You seem to already have the skills to do so.
Feedthehogs,
I'd love to see you out there pulling over a vehicle on a rainy night, not knowing who, or what you are going to run into, and then get shot at. You also get to enforce laws that everyone hates, working lousy hours and every holiday, never get to see your kids or family, and make a rich 35K a year doing it before paying taxes. :banghead: Yeah, they're such a drain on society.
03Shadowbob
Member
Amen tinygnat!
Spreadfire Arms
Member
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2005
- Messages
- 1,312
congratulations on taking the first steps into a very honorable line of work. i would for one not ask for advice on how to be an LEO on THR, since THR is fairly rife with anti-LE sentiment. you'll probably be labelled a JBT (jack booted thug) on here shortly. 
If you are in grad school for a PhD, I would suggest that you either become a probation or parole officer. In some states these functions are combined. The hours are more regular so there is less chance they would interfere with part-time schooling. I got too master's degrees while a probation officer.
Not to thread-jack but...
...have to ask, does being a Type 1 (insulin injection dependant) diabetic prevent your application for any form of LEO? It is a big NO sign when attempting to sign up to the armed forces (learned that real fast ) but never investigated the LEO path...
anyone?
...have to ask, does being a Type 1 (insulin injection dependant) diabetic prevent your application for any form of LEO? It is a big NO sign when attempting to sign up to the armed forces (learned that real fast
) but never investigated the LEO path...anyone?
Last edited:
I think its a wonderfull idea.
There are just way to many snot noses out there on the street. What i mean is "KIds"(just out of high school) wet behind the ears, takeing a 2 year course, then trying to out-do each other with the ticket book.
We need more people to step into the field after they know a little more about life. Now we do get good officers now and then but the inexperenced snot noses sure make it hard for the good ones to be seen.
Good luck
We need you
Gbro
There are just way to many snot noses out there on the street. What i mean is "KIds"(just out of high school) wet behind the ears, takeing a 2 year course, then trying to out-do each other with the ticket book.
We need more people to step into the field after they know a little more about life. Now we do get good officers now and then but the inexperenced snot noses sure make it hard for the good ones to be seen.
Good luck
We need you
Gbro
fjolnirsson
Member
Others have mentioned it, and I will repeat.
Run. Get into shape now. Run, run, run. Get yourself into excellent shape. It will make the rest easy. Pushups, situps, running. Weight lifting is ok, but master your own weight, and more than anything else-run! If your cardiovascular system is in good condition, it will make the rest a breeze. It will help your shooting, your PT, defensive training, even classroom time is easier if you are in better shape.
Don't forget to study.
Good luck!
Run. Get into shape now. Run, run, run. Get yourself into excellent shape. It will make the rest easy. Pushups, situps, running. Weight lifting is ok, but master your own weight, and more than anything else-run! If your cardiovascular system is in good condition, it will make the rest a breeze. It will help your shooting, your PT, defensive training, even classroom time is easier if you are in better shape.
Don't forget to study.
Good luck!
Phil DeGraves
Member
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2006
- Messages
- 1,531
"...pay scale not consummate with type of work done."
I am so sick of hearing how "poorly paid" cops are. About 25% of them do all the work and the other 75% spend their time "retired on duty". As has been mentioned, pay is upward of $50,000 base plus a ton of OT if you want it. The retirement plan is 20 years and full pay. I suppose that a lot of it depends what part of the country your in. A long time ago, cops weren't paid much at all, but like school teachers salaries, that at least has changed. They get a pretty good package when you include pay and bennies, for the amount of work done.
I am so sick of hearing how "poorly paid" cops are. About 25% of them do all the work and the other 75% spend their time "retired on duty". As has been mentioned, pay is upward of $50,000 base plus a ton of OT if you want it. The retirement plan is 20 years and full pay. I suppose that a lot of it depends what part of the country your in. A long time ago, cops weren't paid much at all, but like school teachers salaries, that at least has changed. They get a pretty good package when you include pay and bennies, for the amount of work done.
Troutman
member
That pay scale will vary. Where I am, TDPS (small town in Texas) gets about 30k, give or take, you can say a little less. 12 hour shifts and they not only do LE work, also fire. They get their monies worth out of ya'.
But, bottom line you have a choice to take it or leave it. To me, it will depend on what your looking for, a state/city will a Low crime rate, or a high crime rate.
Just a note: the city where I am is a low crime rate 2 homicides in 2 years. No pun intended to the dept. where I am or to the city.
Code Enforcement, you could say, works harder. Honestly, that's the way I like it. I don't like CE giving me tickets for having my grass growing too high (no more than 12 inches), though.
Where I am their is a lot of business for traffic, traffic violations.
But, bottom line you have a choice to take it or leave it. To me, it will depend on what your looking for, a state/city will a Low crime rate, or a high crime rate.
Just a note: the city where I am is a low crime rate 2 homicides in 2 years. No pun intended to the dept. where I am or to the city.
Code Enforcement, you could say, works harder. Honestly, that's the way I like it. I don't like CE giving me tickets for having my grass growing too high (no more than 12 inches), though.
Where I am their is a lot of business for traffic, traffic violations.
CountGlockula
Member
I'm joining too.
I'm planning to apply for my local PD. Want to be active, rather sitting all day.
Excuse me while I run a couple of miles.
I'm planning to apply for my local PD. Want to be active, rather sitting all day.
Excuse me while I run a couple of miles.
feedthehogs
Member
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2003
- Messages
- 1,801
Tiny,
Never said being a cop wasn't an honorable profession.
Never said doing a cops job for 35k a year wasn't a thankless job.
What I was refering to was the ever overbloated payroll that is tax payer supported. And yes it is a drain on society.
You reduce this payroll, you can reduce the amount of money that is stolen from me every year come April 15.
This country was built on private enterprise lest you forget, not public supported payrolls.
The original poster according to his bio, certainly had the qualifications to be part of that private enterprise system.
Never said being a cop wasn't an honorable profession.
Never said doing a cops job for 35k a year wasn't a thankless job.
What I was refering to was the ever overbloated payroll that is tax payer supported. And yes it is a drain on society.
You reduce this payroll, you can reduce the amount of money that is stolen from me every year come April 15.
This country was built on private enterprise lest you forget, not public supported payrolls.
The original poster according to his bio, certainly had the qualifications to be part of that private enterprise system.
Father Knows Best
Member
Holywha! Where do YOU live? 'cause that is most certainly WAY above starting pay in Georgia, which is where my brother is an LEO.Phil DeGraves said:
A citation would be nice, because again, my family's experience (brother is an LEO and dad is ex-LEO) says that's not generally the case.
Um, yeah. Are those figures from Beverly Hills, maybe?
Seriously, my brother has been with his department for 12 years now. He's got all kinds of special certifications and is a member of the SWAT team. He made Sargeant quite a while ago, and does stints as a training officer. He's just now breaking the 50k mark, and his retirement plan sucks.
On the other hand, I am well aware that pay scales for police officers are higher in the midwest than they are in the south, but I still don't think the typical entry level LEO makes 50k/year base outside of perhaps a few major city departments, or ultra-competitive state patrols.
Jeff22
Member
Law Enforcement Career
Everything in law enforcement depends on where you live and what agency you work for. The person who began this thread lives in southern Utah. If he is interested in being a cop in that area, then much of this other commentary is pointless because it doesn't address his situation.
When shopping for an agency:
(1.) Find out what they pay
(2.) How much VOLUNTARY overtime is available?
(3.) How often might you be ordered in or held over? It happens to all of us sometimes, and in some places, becuse of the staffing level and the amount of calls for service it happens A LOT. That makes it difficult to plan anything outside of work and can interfere with daycare.
(4.) Do they rotate shifts or do they work straight shifts? Some places have you rotate from days to evenings to midnights. Some places may have you rotate in relief between two shifts, and others just have straight shifts.
(5.) How does the days off rotation work?
(6.) How easy is it to get time off and how much notice do you have to give?
(7.) Do shifts get picked on an annual basis, or do you get hired and put into a spot and don't have an oppertunity to move until their is a vacancy?
(8.) Do you have a union? How detailed is your contract?
(9.) How much leave time do you get in a year? How much sick time? Does sick time accumulate?
(10.) Being a cop means nights, weekends, and holidays. Depending on circumstance and your expectations, that can be really hard on family life. Or not that big a deal.
(11.) Rookies in most places start on the midnight shift. If you can't get accustomed to working the late shift, being awake at night and sleeping during the day, maybe being the police is NOT a good idea for you.
(12.) If you work the evening shift you won't see your wife & kid much.
(13.) What kind of arrangements can you make for child care?
(14.) How well is the agency staffed? How well are they equipped? Do you have a reasonable oppertunity for specialized training? Do they pay education incentive for your degrees?
(15.) How is the retirement program?
It's hard to make any kind of blanket statement about police work as a career because there are WAY too many variables from agency to agency and from one part of the country to another.
(I'm fortunate. I've been on straight 11p-7a BY CHOICE since 1977, because I'm a night person. I like the flexibility of working nights. My evnings are free to do things with family & friends and to do recreational things EXCEPT that I can't drink before going to work. We have rotating days off, reasonable pay and benefits and reasonable oppertunity for voluntary overtime. As much as a few of the guys at my PD bitch and whine about everything, we have it pretty good, and they're too dumb to realize it)
If you're married and have a wife & child, then you also have resonsibilities as a husband and father. Which means you need to be home sometimes. Don't make the mistake lots of guys do, and get hired on, work evenings so you don't see your family much anyway, and THEN get on specialized units like SWAT or Search & Rescue or Narcotics or something, which places even more of a demand on your time. Take a good interest in your career, feel free to pursue interesting training & education on your own time and at your own expense once in a while, but don't let the job become your life. If you have kids, having a job assignment where you have to carry a pager and be on call all the time may NOT be a good idea . . .
Lots of guys work all night and then babysit all day, and then try to catch a nap before going back to work at 11pm. They spend their whole life all jet lagged and burned out, and they never get to see their wife. Try to avoid that at all costs if you want to be effective at work and stay married.
And if your non-police friends become uncomfortable or act weird around you because you're a cop, you probably need new friends . . .
Everything in law enforcement depends on where you live and what agency you work for. The person who began this thread lives in southern Utah. If he is interested in being a cop in that area, then much of this other commentary is pointless because it doesn't address his situation.
When shopping for an agency:
(1.) Find out what they pay
(2.) How much VOLUNTARY overtime is available?
(3.) How often might you be ordered in or held over? It happens to all of us sometimes, and in some places, becuse of the staffing level and the amount of calls for service it happens A LOT. That makes it difficult to plan anything outside of work and can interfere with daycare.
(4.) Do they rotate shifts or do they work straight shifts? Some places have you rotate from days to evenings to midnights. Some places may have you rotate in relief between two shifts, and others just have straight shifts.
(5.) How does the days off rotation work?
(6.) How easy is it to get time off and how much notice do you have to give?
(7.) Do shifts get picked on an annual basis, or do you get hired and put into a spot and don't have an oppertunity to move until their is a vacancy?
(8.) Do you have a union? How detailed is your contract?
(9.) How much leave time do you get in a year? How much sick time? Does sick time accumulate?
(10.) Being a cop means nights, weekends, and holidays. Depending on circumstance and your expectations, that can be really hard on family life. Or not that big a deal.
(11.) Rookies in most places start on the midnight shift. If you can't get accustomed to working the late shift, being awake at night and sleeping during the day, maybe being the police is NOT a good idea for you.
(12.) If you work the evening shift you won't see your wife & kid much.
(13.) What kind of arrangements can you make for child care?
(14.) How well is the agency staffed? How well are they equipped? Do you have a reasonable oppertunity for specialized training? Do they pay education incentive for your degrees?
(15.) How is the retirement program?
It's hard to make any kind of blanket statement about police work as a career because there are WAY too many variables from agency to agency and from one part of the country to another.
(I'm fortunate. I've been on straight 11p-7a BY CHOICE since 1977, because I'm a night person. I like the flexibility of working nights. My evnings are free to do things with family & friends and to do recreational things EXCEPT that I can't drink before going to work. We have rotating days off, reasonable pay and benefits and reasonable oppertunity for voluntary overtime. As much as a few of the guys at my PD bitch and whine about everything, we have it pretty good, and they're too dumb to realize it)
If you're married and have a wife & child, then you also have resonsibilities as a husband and father. Which means you need to be home sometimes. Don't make the mistake lots of guys do, and get hired on, work evenings so you don't see your family much anyway, and THEN get on specialized units like SWAT or Search & Rescue or Narcotics or something, which places even more of a demand on your time. Take a good interest in your career, feel free to pursue interesting training & education on your own time and at your own expense once in a while, but don't let the job become your life. If you have kids, having a job assignment where you have to carry a pager and be on call all the time may NOT be a good idea . . .
Lots of guys work all night and then babysit all day, and then try to catch a nap before going back to work at 11pm. They spend their whole life all jet lagged and burned out, and they never get to see their wife. Try to avoid that at all costs if you want to be effective at work and stay married.
And if your non-police friends become uncomfortable or act weird around you because you're a cop, you probably need new friends . . .
Blackfork
Member
Retiring officers
I've got a good friend who is at the end of his Federal Marshall career, another guy just retired from the Texas DPS, another has ridden motors in Dallas PD for 20+ years, another 18-year vet in the Abilene PD and a few more. To a man they say it isn't like it used to be. Every one of them thought it was an honorable profession when they went in. Now the ones close to retirement are counting the days and trying to stay out of sight. I don't think many of them make an argument that its the honorable profession they thought it was when they went in. Most of them have been in trouble with their departments to the edge of being fired. The fed three years ago got assigned to run the evidence locker and announced his intention to audit it, run it straight up and let the chips fall as they might. That was some trouble. After many threats they sent him to Iraq instead.
The fed was a sniper at Ruby Ridge, by the way, and the DPS guy watched the FBI load the famous metal doors, both of them, into a truck and drive off the Davidian Compound. (He testified about it in the trail, and endured several years of cold faces in the dept.) The Dallas motor cop stopped chasing people if they ran ten years ago. The Abilene PD guy refuses to shoot people, though he has the chance to about once a month. He says the young officers all shave their heads and "want to make their bones."
They have had interesting careers. But it's cost them.
I think if you were a single guy, that's one thing, but you would be taking your family into this. All of my friends are great guys but all of them have been married multiple times. The Fed has been married FIVE times, and isn't happy with the wife he has now. My friend I went to high school with that is the local public affairs officer is a secret drunk.
Every legislature in the country, plus the Feds, are cranking out an amazing cacophony of laws and regulations...and guess who is charged with enforcing those laws? And the rate of lawmaking is going up, up, up. Are you really sure you want to go into that mixmaster? Help enforce that.....stuff...against the population?
I'm sure you saw the video of the CHP guy mugging the lady in NO while lots of fed, local PD, armyMP and other LEOs stood around...and watched. Nobody lifted a hand or said a word. Because they thought it was RIGHT- to mug little old ladies. That's modern policing. Do you want to be part of that? Go behind that wall? It's going to get worse, not better.
There are plenty of interesting lives to be lived. Join the Army Reserve. Be a fireman. Join the Marines. Join the Coast Guard. Go to law school. Keep doing what you are doing but ramp it up to become a millionaire. Be an American. But please be very cautious about taking your family into law enforcement. It's not what it used to be.
But of course, if you do decide to do this, good luck and best wishes to you, your wife and that baby. Just don't go in with your eyes closed. As you have heard from many of the threads above, it's an exceedingly difficult, complex, conflicting and stressful career choice.
I've got a good friend who is at the end of his Federal Marshall career, another guy just retired from the Texas DPS, another has ridden motors in Dallas PD for 20+ years, another 18-year vet in the Abilene PD and a few more. To a man they say it isn't like it used to be. Every one of them thought it was an honorable profession when they went in. Now the ones close to retirement are counting the days and trying to stay out of sight. I don't think many of them make an argument that its the honorable profession they thought it was when they went in. Most of them have been in trouble with their departments to the edge of being fired. The fed three years ago got assigned to run the evidence locker and announced his intention to audit it, run it straight up and let the chips fall as they might. That was some trouble. After many threats they sent him to Iraq instead.
The fed was a sniper at Ruby Ridge, by the way, and the DPS guy watched the FBI load the famous metal doors, both of them, into a truck and drive off the Davidian Compound. (He testified about it in the trail, and endured several years of cold faces in the dept.) The Dallas motor cop stopped chasing people if they ran ten years ago. The Abilene PD guy refuses to shoot people, though he has the chance to about once a month. He says the young officers all shave their heads and "want to make their bones."
They have had interesting careers. But it's cost them.
I think if you were a single guy, that's one thing, but you would be taking your family into this. All of my friends are great guys but all of them have been married multiple times. The Fed has been married FIVE times, and isn't happy with the wife he has now. My friend I went to high school with that is the local public affairs officer is a secret drunk.
Every legislature in the country, plus the Feds, are cranking out an amazing cacophony of laws and regulations...and guess who is charged with enforcing those laws? And the rate of lawmaking is going up, up, up. Are you really sure you want to go into that mixmaster? Help enforce that.....stuff...against the population?
I'm sure you saw the video of the CHP guy mugging the lady in NO while lots of fed, local PD, armyMP and other LEOs stood around...and watched. Nobody lifted a hand or said a word. Because they thought it was RIGHT- to mug little old ladies. That's modern policing. Do you want to be part of that? Go behind that wall? It's going to get worse, not better.
There are plenty of interesting lives to be lived. Join the Army Reserve. Be a fireman. Join the Marines. Join the Coast Guard. Go to law school. Keep doing what you are doing but ramp it up to become a millionaire. Be an American. But please be very cautious about taking your family into law enforcement. It's not what it used to be.
But of course, if you do decide to do this, good luck and best wishes to you, your wife and that baby. Just don't go in with your eyes closed. As you have heard from many of the threads above, it's an exceedingly difficult, complex, conflicting and stressful career choice.
I applied and did the written for Chicago Police 2 months ago. Their starting pay is about $44K a year, a bump to $54K after 1 year and then $57K after 18 months. Not too bad but you have to live in the city.
Am I going to do it for life? Honestly, I don't know. What I do know is that I want to go back for my Masters degree eventually and maybe get into something higher paying with less risk. But I'm a single, 27 year old guy and I want to live life some.
Am I going to do it for life? Honestly, I don't know. What I do know is that I want to go back for my Masters degree eventually and maybe get into something higher paying with less risk. But I'm a single, 27 year old guy and I want to live life some.
TYY
Member
I can't help but comment on some of the statements complaining about low pay in the law enforcement field.
Pay in most careers has little to do with "how hard" the job is, but much more do with how much training and experience the job requires. $35K sounds pretty low, but what do you expect about a job that requires 6 weeks of training? Surgeons don't get paid surgeon money because it is SUCH a hard job (it certainly can be hard), but because surgeons have 14 years of education/training AFTER high school.
Ask a fruit picker what they make. And although it has little risk involved (unlike some law enforcement positions), it is a tough job too.
Pay in most careers has little to do with "how hard" the job is, but much more do with how much training and experience the job requires. $35K sounds pretty low, but what do you expect about a job that requires 6 weeks of training? Surgeons don't get paid surgeon money because it is SUCH a hard job (it certainly can be hard), but because surgeons have 14 years of education/training AFTER high school.
Ask a fruit picker what they make. And although it has little risk involved (unlike some law enforcement positions), it is a tough job too.
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