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

Somebody I know who lives in Michigan just told me he wanted to end his life. I don't know where he lives or any information about him where I can call somebody to tell them. I live in Toronto and feel like Im out of control with this situation

Asked by Desperate about 11 years ago

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

I want to become a police officer one day, but i don't know where to start. I am 19 and attending a community college right now.

Asked by Jack over 11 years ago

Contact the local police department recruiter.  He or she should be able to help.

Have you ever pulled a school bus over? If so what did they do? And if their are kids on the bus, what are there reaction?

Asked by Carter about 11 years ago

No.

Just want to say thanks for your answers. Yeah I know the police and military are smart despite the stereotypes (which might just exist where I live.) I really want to be a navy officer but I don't know if that'll work out because of my asthma.

Asked by Phillip over 11 years ago

The Navy is a good way to go.  My family has had at least one man in the US Navy continuously since 1943.  You definitely want to talk to a recruiter about the asthma, but I don't think it would bar you from service.

Do big-city police radio systems sometimes work like a tree where a dispatcher handles say 20 units in a precinct; another dispatcher communicates with 10 of those dispatchers so an officer can comm with an officer on another district or something?

Asked by Sal over 11 years ago

I've not had the chance to observe the dispatch center of a very large agency (such as a NYPD, LAPD, Chicago, etc.)  What I've seen in medium sized departments (100-200 officers), you would have a dispatcher on each channel.  A single channel might be dedicated to a specific area or precinct, while another might be dedicated to records checks.  

So if a department had three precincts, there might be four channels (a dispatcher for each of the three precincts plus one for running warrant checks, license checks, etc.)  Then there would be at least one supervisor who would make sure everything is running smooth.  There would be call takers (people answering the phones) who might be cross-trained to dispatch.

Typically, there will be extra people available to bring up an extra channel if a special event happened.  For example, lets say you had a vehicle accident with a death.  The traffic homicide unit plus the officers working that scene might go to an extra channel to work and keep their radio traffic off of the precinct channels.

I hope that helps.

 

Do unmarked cars usually have a way of showing that they are the police without full emergency lights? (For example, if they want people to see them if they need help.) Also, are there common instances where something like this is used?

Asked by Roger over 11 years ago

It varies from state to state. 

I'm a professional photographer currently a student at a University in San Francisco. I want to join a police force for a day or two and be embedded with them to capture how the officers conduct daily routine. How can I become embedded ?

Asked by ali about 11 years ago

Call your local police department and ask for their assistance. If they allow it, they will describe the process.