Police Officer

Police Officer

BlueSheepdog

10 Years Experience

Around the Way, FL

Male, 40

Cheating death and fighting communism: that is how a fellow officer once described our job. It was meant to be funny, but as time went on it seemed all too true.

I spent more than ten years in law enforcement, all of it on the street in uniform patrol. I've been a patrol officer, instructor, sergeant and lieutenant.

Do not report crimes here. Nothing here should be considered legal advice. All opinions are my own.

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Last Answer on October 29, 2014

Best Rated

just saying if I seen some one do a hit & run on another car three years ago & didn't report it because it was my boss & didn't want to lose my job over it & would really like to report it now! Would I be in trouble for not reporting it?

Asked by G.F over 11 years ago

I don't know the circumstances of the case or the laws that might apply to your case.  I do know what the right thing is, but it is up to you to do it.

i let my sister use my debit card once but new she won't give it back what should i do

Asked by camelia over 10 years ago

Call your local police department and ask for their assistance. They will know what to do.

If I am studying criminal justice in California but I want to move to Tampa florida would the requirements be the same as LAPD if i want to become a police officer in tampa ?

Asked by Michelle over 11 years ago

I suspect the requirements are very similar.  Click here for the Tampa PD recruiting page.

I bought alcohol for my roommate once, I don't plan on ever doing it again, but can I get in trouble for something i did over a week ago?

Asked by Aleria over 11 years ago

I assume your roommate is underage.  If so, you can still get in trouble, but probably only if he/she does something stupid such as gets alcohol poisoning, gets hurt while intoxicated, is DUI, etc.  There could be some pretty heavy reprecusions for that.

I'm thinking about becoming a police officer. Should I join a small suburban department, or should I join the LAPD, NYPD, or CPD?

Asked by AZlift over 11 years ago

It is impossible for me to tell you where you might like to work.  If you've never lived in a large city, you might love - or hate- it.  Same thing about working in a smaller area.

From my personal experience, I would prefer a smaller department of 50-75 officers if I was starting all over.  Ideally, it would be suburban to rural.  I've worked for a very urban area and for a smaller department in a suburban bordering on rural area.  You get a lot more of the exciting calls in a short amount of time in the urban areas, but you can also burn out much quicker.

The upside to a large agency is you get a lot of opportunity to work in specialized units that you don't have in smaller areas/departments.  For example, a marine unit, aviation unit, SWAT unit, etc.  But smaller areas will sometimes pool resources for multi-jurisdictional units (like SWAT teams formed with officers from several regional departments.)

I'd suggest doing a few ride-alongs with different departments in different areas and get a feel for what things are like.

My friend's family called the police on her boyfriend for physical abuse. But when the police tried to ask her questions she didnt say anything. What I wanna know would that go on his criminal record even if there wasnt a follow through investigation

Asked by Anonymous over 11 years ago

If no arrest was made, then there is no arrest record (at least regarding this incident.)  Without the victim's cooperation, the officers probably were not able to establish probable cause to make an arrest.

Hi, can you explain what police sergeants', police lieutenants', and police captains' specific responsibilities are? It seems like its more than just different levels of leadership. (More info in next question.)

Asked by 123 almost 11 years ago

There is no single answer to your question.  You may as well ask "what does a middle manager in a company do."  The only real answer is "it depends."  Different agencies have different rank structures and assign job duties/responsibilities in different ways.  At one department something might be assigned to an officer, while it is assigned to a captain at another department.