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.
It is situational and individual dependent. The examples you gave are crimes, so "flashing a badge" would not save you. Often, the consequences are worse for an officer since he/she has a sworn oath to uphold the law, not break it. In some jurisdictions, that opens the officer to an additional criminal act of violating the oath of office. But, yes, off-duty officers sometimes get consideration that others do not. (Don't ask me to defend the ethics of such activity, because I cannot. It is what it is.)
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Interesting question, and one I have considered before. Frankly, I'd rather my kids do something that was much safer, was less likely to result in a wrecked marriage, didn't put them in regular contact with the ugliness of humanity and that paid better. However, if they express an interest, then I will make sure they understand what they are getting into. If they wish to continue down the path, then I will encourage them to be the best cops they can possibly be.
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Generally, cops are alpha personalities. Think about it: passive people don't seek out the most violent criminal elements in society and try to stop their anti-social behavior. Some officers are more "touchy-feely" than others, but at the end of the day, you have to be more "hunter" than "nurturer" to do the job. In fact, an FBI study illustrated the more easy-going an officer was, the more likely he would be killed. I think it is very rare for officers seeking power to actually get into police work. Most people craving power are the bully-types, who are ultimately cowards. Cowards don't make it in this profession. Instead, many officers got into the job because they had a fundamental desire to try to help their community. No doubt, there are some unqualified people who seek employment as an officer. Most of these get weeded out in the pre-employment testing. At virtually all law enforcement agencies in the US, candidates have an extensive background investigation plus must pass a polygraph and psychological examination. Even with these safeguards in place, a few idiots make it through. Most of these get weeded out in the training process, but a few do make it into the ranks. As they say, there are bad apples in every profession. Unfortunately, officers have a great deal of power and bad apples in police work can cause major problems.
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Each state varies, but yes a citizen can make an arrest of another citizen in certain circumstances. Typically it is limited to felonies that happened in the citizen's presence, but vary from state to state. Some states allow merchants to detain/arrest shoplifters, for example. Other states have no provision for a citizen's arrest. Generally, you have no civil or criminal liability protections if you attempt to make a citizen's arrest (even if it is legal in your state.)
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Shot, no. Shot at, yes. While I have been injured, thankfully, all of my injuries have been relatively mild. Only one required any kind of "light duty," meaning that I had to work a desk for a few weeks until I was seen and cleared by a surgeon due to a knee injury.
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I've been to a lot, but I hope you will forgive me for not talking about them.
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In the academy, it seems like most people fail out because of firearms or academics (not passing tests) rather than just giving up. In field training (the initial on-the-job training), encountering violence is often what causes a lot of people to rethink their career choice. Law enforcement can be an ugly business and the environment is very toxic. Discovering that evil is something real, and not just stuff from a bad movie, is a real eye-opener. Most people never get into a fight as an adult. Depending on where you work, fighting people on a daily basis is part of the job. For some new officers, they can't handle the physical danger. Most of them decide on their own to move on. It doesn't mean they aren't great people, just not suited for police work. I don't think most people are prepared to encounter violence on a daily basis.
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