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.
When I did the job for 8-12 hours a day, I had no interest in watching more of it on the tv.
Besides, the way the editors cut the reality shows like Cops up to make them fit between commercials is not realistic. You only see a fraction of a case, say 10 minutes of something that took the officers hourse to resolve. It might be exciting, but it builds a very unrealistic expecation in the public.
Oh, and about 95% of what you see in CSI is b.s. I can't tell you how many times I had someone tell me to do something impossible that they saw in that show.
I don't know.
I'd say about 1/4 to 1/3 of the officers I have worked with are former military. Of those about 90% were enlisted/NCOs.
At one department, there were three patrol zones and only a single station. A sergeant plus three or four officers were on duty at any given time. (Not including any specialty units.)
At a larger agency, there were six patrol zones with multiple officers assigned to each zone. There were three "sector offices" plus the main station. There were up to 24 patrol officers on the road. Generally there were 2-3 sergeants on duty at any given time plus a lieutenant and possibly a captain depending on time of day/day of week. Those staffing numbers did not include specialty units that might have also been working. For example, three traffic units plus a sergeant, a gang unit plus sergeant, etc.
Navy Officer (Former)
Just how educated is the typical US military serviceman?
School Teacher
How do you see parents failing in their children's education?
Hospice Nurse
How did you feel with the passing of your first patient?
From a legal perspective, a fine, probation or jail time are all possibilities.
There are a lot of good aspects to being a police officer. If you are interested in the job, I highly recommend doing a ride-along with a few different departments and see what the job is like.
Call your local police department and ask for their assistance. They will know what to do.
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