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.
Most frequent question: "Shoot anybody?"
The most annoying thing people do is loudly announce "I didn't do it!" when you walk into any store or business in uniform. The folks making these announcements seem to think it is both original and funny. What they don't realize is it is hardly original: I probably would hear it 10 times a day. At that point it is about as funny as a toothache.
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For specific questions of law, you should contact an attorney in your jurisdiction.
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It depends on the laws of the state. In many states, a retired officer has citizen's arrest authority. If you believe his/her behavior is abusive, contact the local law enforcement agency and file a complaint.
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Working in law enforcement is a very toxic environment. When surrounded by members of the criminal element for most of the day, police officers experience and witness violence, depravity and ugliness never shown on TV or adequately depicted in movies.
Unfortunately, what happens at the job never really stays at the job. A new officer will change, and must change, to survive in the environment. If the officer fails to adapt to the violence and brutality, the officer will either not make it through training or will be killed.
Those changes will effect how the officer interacts with other people, including family. The unprepared spouse will not always learn to adapt to the officer and conflict will arise.
For example, a once-talkative person who is now a cop may be a lot less talkative with his or her spouse. That's not a reflection on the relationship per se, rather is often a result of the officer not wanting to expose his/her spouse to the ugliness that he/she works in. The spouse who wants to hear about the cop/spouse's day, however, may not realize that the cop/spouse just doesn't want to relive the child abuse call he/she investigated earlier. So when the cop/spouse doesn't want to talk the non-cop/spouse takes it personally.
There is never enough time as a cop. Even if the police officer isn't on any special units that require additional time and call outs (like SWAT, negotiations, etc.), he/she is always subject to court. And courts NEVER take the officer's schedule into consideration. More than once, I would work a midnight shift, leave the station at 7 am and go straight to court at 8 am. Stinking from all of the fights, foot chases and sweating the night before, I then would sit in court until 5 pm or so. Then go home, try to grab three hour's sleep before heading back into the PD. After another night, right back in court the next morning.
Nearly every police officer I know has to work part time jobs to make the family bills. So, on the nights he/she isn't scheduled to work, he/she is working security at a bar, directing traffic at a church, or working a security detail in a pharmacy.
Sound miserable? It can be. But, that is just life. Every job has its downsides - police work just a few more than others, I suppose.
I highly recommend reading I Love A Cop ( http://tinyurl.com/krvampy ) which deals with a lot of the issues & questions you might expect. It talks about what a family can expect if a spouse is in law enforcement, and offers solid suggestions on how everyone in the family can work to mitigate the problems the job brings.
For what it is worth, my wife has put up with a lot of long hours, very scary situations and crazy problems from my law enforcement career, but we are still happily married.
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Small Website Owner
What made you go the entrepreneur route after college instead of a typical job?
Correctional Officer
Why does gang formation and racial segregation happen so much in prisons?
CPR Trainer
Just how effective is the Heimlich, really?
It depends on what state the story happens in. Murder is a state level offense in most cases, so there is no real uniformity from state to state. In many states, a life term with some opportunity for parole later in life is the maximum sentence.
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Depends. If you keep them all handy having them already isn't a bad idea. If you are going to have to dig for them, leave them where they are and when the officer asks for them, explain what you are doing. For example, "Officer, my registration is in my glove box. Is it ok to reach in there and grab it?" It just lets him or her know what you are doing and prevents any unexpected movement.
When in doubt, just sit tight and ask the officer to tell you what he or she would like for you to do. It is a courtesy that can help reduce the tension. The officer doesn't know who you are - good citizen or murderous fugitive - when he or she stops you.
Politeness and helping to reduce the tension have even been known to change a ticket into a warning. :)
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I'm guessing this is a rhetorical question.
There is a lot going on in this country that I don't agree with. Arresting people for peaceably assembling or for exercising their freedom of speech in public is unconscionable. All law enforcement officers have taken an oath, which includes upholding the Constitution. Any law enforcement officer who violates his or her oath should be held accountable.
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