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.
The availablility and use of helicopters vary widely from area to area. Some departments have access to helicopters in a relatively short amount of time, while other departments never have access to their assistance.
At my former agency, I worked in a very urban area with dozens of cities and counties in the immediate area. We had access to a helicopter that was operated by the sheriff's department, and was normally only up during the evening hours. It was available during other parts of the day, but would often take some time to get up and to you.
For a vehicle or foot pursuit, we would generally want the assistance of the helicopter, and most often they would be enroute to us before we even asked. They monitored our radio channels and would start our way if they could be of assistance. If we had to call for one, that would be cleared through a supervisor.
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Any misdemeanor offense can carry a penalty of three months. So, pretty much anything from driving with a suspended license to shoplifting to punching his wife.
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Call your local police department and ask for their assistance. They will know what to do.
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Yes.
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Call Center Representative
Are you allowed to hang up on a caller if they're being very rude?
Bar Mitzvah DJ
What's the craziest thing you've seen at a bar mitzvah?
Bartender
What's the best way to get a bartender's attention?
To be a K-9 handler you will need to be in great shape. I daresay that handlers have to be in better shape than the average SWAT cop because they (the handler) is often running through the dark every night chasing his/her dog who is chasing a suspect. Then the handler has to be able to fight once the suspect is located. Imagine running three miles and then getting into a fight for your life. You need a lot of cardio work to get ready for that.
I'd suggest being involved in sports and finding a local explorer unit to join would be the best two things to do now. College classes are completely up to you. Other than certain federal agencies, I'm not aware of any department that requires any specific major or classes in college.
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I don't know. Contact an attorney in Michigan.
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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.
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