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.
As was probably already explained to you, it is a civil issue. Contact an attorney and sue them if you so desire.
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Contact the department you wish to work for and see if they require a degree. I would recommend the least expensive degree possible, as they will largely be useless in law enforcement. You can read through my prior answers for additional information on college degrees and law enforcement.
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I've touched on these topics before. In brief:
1. Every department's hiring standards are different. Contact the agency you would want to work for and see what their requirements are. Most are looking for a two year degree or military experience. A few want a four year degree.
2. All other things being equal, the military experience is far more valuable than the piece of paper from some college.
3. A CJ major is not needed to get hired, even if a department requires a college degree. Consider picking a major with practical application beyond law enforcement.
4. Debt is bad. Student debt is extremely bad. A cops salary will not pay off a student loan very quickly at all. Student debt is one of the major problems with the economy in this country now.
If I was just starting out, I would join the military and work on my two-year degree while I was active duty. Then I would come out with a head start on college plus the GI bill if I wanted to continue that. If I wanted to jump right into police work, I would have the experience plus a two year degree. Many departments offer a tuition reimbursement program, so you could go to work for a PD, continue college on their dime and save the GI bill for an advanced school if you so desired.
For example, 4 years military gets the GI bill and a two year degree. 4 years as a law enforcement officer and you get your bachelors degree. Then you could use your GI bill to get a law degree if you wanted. Just my thoughts.
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This is a good starting point: http://www.sjpd.org/BFO/FieldTraining/home.html
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Officers are trained to protect the public. Each incident is differerent, and the risk to the public could be greater by allowing him to leave the restaurant. For example, what if he is parked by the front door and has a bomb in the vehicle? It might be safer to take him down inside.
There is no way to control a situation and completely protect the public. That is an unrealistic, but common, view. Officers will take reasonable actions based on the information they have at the time.
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It should not be a major issue. Make sure you are honest about the incident when applying. Any attempt to conceal or minimize the incident will indicate a lack of honesty. Questions about honesty will absolutely destroy your shot at being hired.
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Yes.
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