Question for SevenSixtyTwo

[SixInARow]

First of all, hello again everybody.  Been playing 43 with Deathgod, where is everyone?


Seven,
  I am graduating 2010 with a political science degree, which doesn't really convert into anything except more school.  I don't have money/desire for more school.  I have been heavily considering joining the police department (and picking up a Criminal Justice minor) upon graduating. 

I know that you have been a police officer for almost a year now and I just wanted to ask what you thought about it, do you enjoy your line of work?  If you had any advice having gone through the process of becoming an officer, what would it be?  And are there any sources or books which offer a good insight into the life/were meaningful to you about the life of being a cop?


Thank  you for your time in advance.

[SevenSixtyTwo]

First of all let me just say to avoid the CJ minor like the plague.  If you think your polisci degree is useless in the real world, wait until you get a CJ degree.  Not sure how it is where you're at, but 99% of the police departments here don't require a CJ degree, just any degree, or some college hours in whatever you wanted.  (Some even take military experience and people with nothing more than HS diplomas)  The only use for a CJ degree in TX is for someone looking to stay in school and teach CJ. 

Now that being said, I'll tell you that I honestly really like my job.  During the academy and the field training I wasn't so sure, but once I got out on my own and found my group of friends to run around with, the job really opened up and became a lot of fun.  It's sorta hard to describe why it's such a fun job, aside from the obvious (you get to drive fast, carry a gun, take bad guys off the street, etc. etc.)  There are times, like the other night when I had to pull two burglary suspects out of a car at gunpoint, that you feel really awesome about the job and yourself and the job.  Of course like any job there are times when it sucks, like when you can't get the day off you needed, or you some lady is griping at you because she doesn't realize her report of kids throwing rocks at her house is way low on the priority list and it's been 3 hours before anyone could get out there and talk to her.

As far as advice for becoming an officer goes, I really don't have a whole lot.  The first place I applied at hired me, and before that I had no real knowledge of police work or police procedure just a bunch of guesses and assumptions that mostly turned out to be wrong.  I would recommend hiring on at a larger sized city, rather than a suburb, if only for activity reasons.  Don't apply for a sheriffs office unless you want to work in a jail for 3 years before getting to go do any police work.  I would also guess that no matter where you go the academy and the training aren't going to be a lot of fun, the academy especially.  It's sorta dumb in my opinion but a lot of academies actually are like the one on the reality show The Academy (it's on Hulu) where they treat it like boot camp.  If yours does suck, just grin and bear it, it's worth it once you get to the streets.

As far as books, I can't really recommend any (I suck I know)  The only books I read before getting hired were my CJ books and that didn't help with the job, it may have made the tests at the academy a little easier, but not by a whole lot.  I'm sure you could find a book that would help you out, but really I'd say it just depends on what you're looking for in a career and your personality type.  I became a cop because I wanted a rewarding career that made me feel like when I retire I've actually done something productive for society...whether or not that will happen is up in the air, but there have been plenty of times when I felt like I've done some good in the world that day, whereas when I worked at a desk or worked for Coca-Cola, I never got that feeling.  Financially, it's not that great and there are plenty of times I have nothing to do at work, or theres someone that works there that's driving me crazy, but that's pretty much any job.

I wish I could help you out more, but the bottom line for me is this: being a cop is fun and rewarding because I get to do and see cool stuff and work with some good people to get bad guys off of the street and that way outweighs the downsides.

If you have any more questions I'll be glad to answer them for you.

[SixInARow]

Hey, been awhile but still planning on doing it, few more questions.

What does your average work week look like (hours/days off/etc)?

Do people with college degrees have an edge over other recruits (just based on credentials, personal ability not being a factor)?

What is your personal career plan, do you plan on being a uni (is that the right slang?) and going up through the ranks like that?  How does fast tracking to becoming a detective or becoming part of a special unit work?

Once again, I appreciate your input and time.

[SevenSixtyTwo]

Hey, been awhile but still planning on doing it, few more questions.

What does your average work week look like (hours/days off/etc)?

I work 12am-8am Thursday through Monday.  When you first start the hours and days off are going to suck, but it's actually more fun because those hours and days are when the majority of the stuff is happening.  Some departments work 12 hour days.  I worked a 10 hour day on training and I hated it, I can't imagine working 12 hours, especially since it's usually the suburbs that do that and there isn't anything going on for the duration of the 12 hours.

Do people with college degrees have an edge over other recruits (just based on credentials, personal ability not being a factor)?

In Dallas the only edge someone with a degree has is a slight increase in pay (I think it's $100 a month more)  In Texas in general the degree is required at a few departments, but the differential in pay isn't enough to really justify the cost.  There are a lot of departments that actually only require a HS diploma, although I'm not sure I'd want to work there.

What is your personal career plan, do you plan on being a uni (is that the right slang?) and going up through the ranks like that?  How does fast tracking to becoming a detective or becoming part of a special unit work?

We don't say uni here, we just say patrol, but who knows what they say there in america's wang.  As for my personal goal, I'm not sure what it is right now, there are a lot of options.  I am going to promote to the next rank as soon as I can (another 18 months or so), since it's required in dallas to move around into other divisions.  From there...who knows.  When it comes to fast tracking, there isn't a lot of that available.  There are 3 things that mainly control your ability to go where you want: 1) Seniority 2) Your reputation (arrest record, discipline actions, commendations, etc) 3) The people you know.  All of those take a little time to develop.  For the most part, if you put in 5 years you should be able to go pretty much wherever you want (save for Homocide, Narcotics, and SWAT)  Of course all of that varies based on the size of the department, budget constraints, employee turnover etc.  Patrol is probably one of the most challenging jobs on the department, and one of the most fun, and you get to do that right out of the gate.  The vast majority of officers will never leave patrol and it's by choice.

Once again, I appreciate your input and time.

No problem...any more questions feel free to ask.