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.
I don't know what the specific rates of divorce are, but I suspect the numbers are higher in law enforcement than in other professions. There are probably many more people that are better qualified to answer the "why," but I can give you a few things that don't help: shift work, working on holidays, working on off days, sitting in court all day instead of taking the kids to the beach, rarely seeing your spouse due to your work schedule, the high-stress environment tends to negatively affect the home life, spouses don't like the idea of their cop being hurt or killed and pressure them to leave the job, etc. There are a lot of things about police work that negatively impact a marriage. Many cops will tell you that you're still a rookie if you are still on your first marriage. Sad, but closer to reality than comfortable.
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Everywhere is different. Some departments have a defined pay advancement plan (sometimes called a step plan), while others do not. My agency does not have such a plan, and we negotiate with the city for annual raises. How promotions are handles also varies. Often, there are minimum standards set for a position, such as X number of years with the department, certain training classes completed, etc. College degrees may be required for some/all advancement positions. Many police officers stay in uniform patrol for their entire career. Patrol is the backbone of an agency, and accounts for the majority of the officers. Only a few can move out of patrol into other positions. For many officers, patrol is what they like, and where they want to be. I prefer patrol over most specialty positions for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the ability to respond to incidents and help people in crisis. By the time a detective shows up to a scene, I've already done a lot to shape the course of the investigation.
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Yes. This allows time for the agency to investigate the incident and evaluate the officer's fitness for duty. Involvement in a deadly force encounter is extremely draining, emotionally and physically, and even when everything happend "by the book," it can be very hard on the officer.
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Yes - there is a lot of training that goes into defeating disarming attempts. Should anyone try to take my firearm, they should expect an immediate and extremely violent reaction. Someone trying to take my firearm is a imminent threat to my life and the lives of the citizens around me, and any officer will respond appropriately to that. Also, departments generally issue or require the use of special duty holsters that also have a series of movements, snaps, levers, locks and/or other devices that prevent an unauthorized person from removing the firearm from the holster.
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Zookeeper and Animal Trainer
Are a lot of people in your line of work vegetarian/vegan?
Forensic Scientist
When did you know you wanted to work with the dead?
HR Executive
What's the worst reaction you ever witnessed during a lay-off?
The short answer is "That's the way the laws are written." If you believe that police officers should not be allowed to exercise discretion, work with your elected representatives to change the law. I think, however, most people want police officers to be able to exercise discretion. For example, if I stop a parent rushing to the hospital after their child was taken to the emergency room, I'm not handing them a speeding ticket. There are a whole host of reasons why I might not issue someone a citation. The point of traffic enforcement is to modify behavior. In other words, it should not be about generating income for the jurisdiction, it should be about encouraging the safe operation of motor vehicles for the purpose of reducing accidents and traffic fatalities. If I can get someone to drive in a more safe manner with an encouraging word, why should I instead drop a $200 fine on them?
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Your premise is incorrect. Just because someone is a suspect doesn't mean that you have to read the Miranda warning to him or her. As a police officer, I can talk to a lot of suspects, and usually will, without ever reading the Miranda warning to them and the statements are completely admissible.
If a suspect is in custody, and I am questioning them, then they need to voluntarily waive the rights enumerated in the Miranda warning. But, even if they do not waive their rights, or if I never read the warning to them, any spontaneous statements are still admissible.
If a suspect is not in custody, i might need to read the Miranda warning to them, but it is a wide, gray area that is interpreted by the courts based on the totality of the circumstances.
If I am questioning a subject who is under arrest or otherwise in a position where I would be required to read the Miranda warning, and the subject exercises his or her right not to talk to me, then any evidence that I coerce from the individual...and anything that develops from that including physical evidence that I would not have found anyway...would be inadmissible.
Keep in mind these are generalities, every case is different, there is more than 200 years of case law interpreting this area of the law in the United States, and I am not an attorney.
Also keep in mind that "Miranda rights" do not exist. You may understand this, but many people do not. The Miranda case did not grant any new rights to people. Rather it was an interpretation of the rights conferred by natural law and codified in the Bill of Rights. The Miranda warning is merely a procedural reading of some of the rights that the accused has.
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In my state, the possession of marijuana is a crime. So, yes, as a general rule, people committing crimes are arrested.
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