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 value them all. If you are asking me to arbitrarily rank them in order of importance, I cannot. What duty is the officer trying to perform? Every task is different and requires varying degrees of each of the above. Also time in grade does not equate to experience. Also, experiences vary widely. Are the experiences in roles as a trainer, investigator, narcotics officer, or what? A highly educated homicide investigator with ten years of violent crime investigations may get his butt kicked the first night he rotates back to patrol and goes to a bar disturbance, while the two-year officer with nothing more than a high school diploma saves him. There is no neat way of quantifying police officers.
Unless they have been adjudicated to be mentally ill, then probably. Laws vary from state to state, and many states ignore the Second Amendment anyway. So, check your local laws and don't take legal advice (which this is not) from a guy on the internet.
Yes.
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.
Dry Cleaner
Why do dry cleaners have autographed pictures on their walls?
Small Website Owner
What made you go the entrepreneur route after college instead of a typical job?
Birthday Party Clown
OK seriously, how DOES the clown car thing work?
All arrests must be based on probable cause.
Call your local police department and ask for their assistance. They will know what to do.
You can probably still enter an academy, but it will be difficult to get a department to hire you. Three speeding citations and an at-fault accident is a fairly significant indicator of poor driving. Few agencies would want to put an officer into a patrol car for 40+ hours a week and expose themselves to the potential liability of his or her foreseeable bad driving.
As time passes, the citations become less of a problem for getting hired. For example, two years since the last citation looks like you have improved your driving. Five years looks even better. Different departments will have different guidelines based on the agency's risk tolerance.
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