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.
At one department, there were three patrol zones and only a single station. A sergeant plus three or four officers were on duty at any given time. (Not including any specialty units.)
At a larger agency, there were six patrol zones with multiple officers assigned to each zone. There were three "sector offices" plus the main station. There were up to 24 patrol officers on the road. Generally there were 2-3 sergeants on duty at any given time plus a lieutenant and possibly a captain depending on time of day/day of week. Those staffing numbers did not include specialty units that might have also been working. For example, three traffic units plus a sergeant, a gang unit plus sergeant, etc.
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If you believe a crime has been committed, I would encourage you to contact the police.
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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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When I did the job for 8-12 hours a day, I had no interest in watching more of it on the tv.
Besides, the way the editors cut the reality shows like Cops up to make them fit between commercials is not realistic. You only see a fraction of a case, say 10 minutes of something that took the officers hourse to resolve. It might be exciting, but it builds a very unrealistic expecation in the public.
Oh, and about 95% of what you see in CSI is b.s. I can't tell you how many times I had someone tell me to do something impossible that they saw in that show.
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Meter Maid
Is it tough to have a job that consists exclusively of ruining peoples' days?
I cover this information further up the page. Good luck.
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It depends on the agency. Some departments require no college, while others might require a two or four year degree. Read through the prior posts and you can get additional information on college and hiring.
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Call your local police department and ask for their assistance. They will know what to do.
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