Okay, I know we have some police officers and associated personnel on the boards.
I'm about to get out of here with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Minor in Sociology. I still intend to go on to graduate school for clinical psychology. I am beginning to consider becoming a police officer, or at least working with law enforcement personnel.
So, here come the questions.

#1: From what I am reading online, rather than being strict like Basic Training, Police Academy training takes longer, about 6 months in some cases, but is attending classes Monday through Friday, 8 to 5. Is this consistent with ya'lls experience?

#2: Would it still be feasible to go to graduate school during my first few years as an officer? I know they encourage education of their officers, but would I have the time?

#3: I enlisted in the Army Reserves, but received an Entry Level Separation, due to getting sick during Basic. I've already tried, and, even with that on my record, I can still get a pistol permit, so would that automatically disqualify me from becoming an officer?

More questions will probably come up, but that's good for starters, I think.

2/3/2009 3:18:05 AM

If it was considered an honorable discharge I don't know why that should have an effect on anything.

2/3/2009 5:25:01 AM

If we lived in a libertarian society, I'd become a police officer without hesitation.
You see, the absolute last thing I'd ever want to do, (the absolute last thing anyone should want to do,) is to initiate force upon another [non-consenting] individual for political or social reasons. Far too many laws today are based on these political or social agendas, and not on actual crimes with actual harms. I could never bust anyone for drugs, prostitution, gambling, consensual fighting, under-age drinking, etc. I couldn't even stand by and watch it happen -- I'd be likely to sabotage other police trying to make such busts, and end up in some serious trouble.

It's really too bad that we've strayed from our constitution into such a nanny-state. I'm certain that police departments around the country are missing out on many bright and talented individuals that oppose our many stupid and unjust laws.

Quote :

"so would that automatically disqualify me from becoming an officer?"

LOL.... These days, practically nothing disqualifies people from becoming police officers.
A sad bunch, they are.

2/3/2009 5:51:55 AM

Contact the recruiter of the agency you would like to work for as they would be able to answer your questions.

[Edited on February 3, 2009 at 10:25 AM. Reason : Cdfsdf]

2/3/2009 10:25:12 AM

Quote :

"If we lived in a libertarian society, I'd become a police officer without hesitation. You see, the absolute last thing I'd ever want to do, (the absolute last thing anyone should want to do,) is to initiate force upon another [non-consenting] individual for political or social reasons. Far too many laws today are based on these political or social agendas, and not on actual crimes with actual harms. I could never bust anyone for drugs, prostitution, gambling, consensual fighting, under-age drinking, etc. I couldn't even stand by and watch it happen -- I'd be likely to sabotage other police trying to make such busts, and end up in some serious trouble. It's really too bad that we've strayed from our constitution into such a nanny-state. I'm certain that police departments around the country are missing out on many bright and talented individuals that oppose our many stupid and unjust laws. Quote : "so would that automatically disqualify me from becoming an officer?" LOL.... These days, practically nothing disqualifies people from becoming police officers. A sad bunch, they are."

Yeah I am glad you're not a cop too.

2/3/2009 10:29:23 AM

Quote :

"If we lived in a libertarian society, I'd become a police officer without hesitation. You see, the absolute last thing I'd ever want to do, (the absolute last thing anyone should want to do,) is to initiate force upon another [non-consenting] individual for political or social reasons. Far too many laws today are based on these political or social agendas, and not on actual crimes with actual harms. I could never bust anyone for drugs, prostitution, gambling, consensual fighting, under-age drinking, etc. I couldn't even stand by and watch it happen -- I'd be likely to sabotage other police trying to make such busts, and end up in some serious trouble. It's really too bad that we've strayed from our constitution into such a nanny-state. I'm certain that police departments around the country are missing out on many bright and talented individuals that oppose our many stupid and unjust laws."

I think we're all glad that was posted. Really contributed to the thread. A+

[Edited on February 3, 2009 at 10:32 AM. Reason : l]

2/3/2009 10:32:20 AM

I'd advise against it

I ain't never met a fucking pig in my life that I ain't wanna catch a body on the jig of my knife

2/3/2009 11:00:53 AM

There are plenty of bright people that are cops

Quote :

"#1: From what I am reading online, rather than being strict like Basic Training, Police Academy training takes longer, about 6 months in some cases, but is attending classes Monday through Friday, 8 to 5. Is this consistent with ya'lls experience?"

The academy, unless you go through community college, is very strict. If you go through any large city academy you will find it is strict and run similar to the military. You can forget the 8-5 crap. Be prepared to be there at 0630 for PT and be prepared to leave whenever they hell they decide to dismiss you. Also be prepared to come in or stay late at night for night driving, night shooting, night patrol techniques, night traffic stops etc. You will do PT, you will have physical standards to meet or you will fail out, you will get yelled at, you will get smoked when someone screws up, you have to have your gear straight each morning, etc etc. Its not like come to class and chill all day, it is structured and plenty of people drop out when they realize this isnt what they wanted to do. Hell the SHP academy is just like Marine boot camp, you sleep there and they fuck with you 24/7, but generally speaking most academies are less intense than military boot camp but dont expect it to just be like some adult education class. Also, be prepared to watch plenty of dash cam videos of officers getting killed LOD, this will be a gut check moment to decide if thats what you really want to do.

Quote :

"#2: Would it still be feasible to go to graduate school during my first few years as an officer? I know they encourage education of their officers, but would I have the time? "

Once you finish the academy and then finish FTO (which is about a year of training plus or minus) it would depend on the schedule of your first assignment whether you took classes, but i think its definitely doable.

Quote :

"#3: I enlisted in the Army Reserves, but received an Entry Level Separation, due to getting sick during Basic. I've already tried, and, even with that on my record, I can still get a pistol permit, so would that automatically disqualify me from becoming an officer?"

I doubt this would keep you out. If it was a medical issue in boot camp and wasnt your fault then you should be fine. If you just however got to boot camp and wussed out, then be prepared for some explaining.

Feel free to PM with any questions

[Edited on February 3, 2009 at 12:45 PM. Reason : .]

2/3/2009 12:38:54 PM

Quote :

"If we lived in a libertarian society, I'd become a police officer without hesitation. You see, the absolute last thing I'd ever want to do, (the absolute last thing anyone should want to do,) is to initiate force upon another [non-consenting] individual for political or social reasons. Far too many laws today are based on these political or social agendas, and not on actual crimes with actual harms. I could never bust anyone for drugs, prostitution, gambling, consensual fighting, under-age drinking, etc. I couldn't even stand by and watch it happen -- I'd be likely to sabotage other police trying to make such busts, and end up in some serious trouble. It's really too bad that we've strayed from our constitution into such a nanny-state. I'm certain that police departments around the country are missing out on many bright and talented individuals that oppose our many stupid and unjust laws."

wah wah wah wah. I can't smoke my pot. wah wah wah. i can't get little girls drunk so I can have sex.

Go on with your bad self

2/3/2009 6:29:59 PM

i was under the assumption there is little to no vetting for police candidates. hell, a third of the police academy graduates in atlanta last year had criminal records.

2/3/2009 6:47:03 PM

Any respectable Dept has a very thorough vetting process

2/3/2009 6:58:53 PM

Quote :

"I enlisted in the Army Reserves, but received an Entry Level Separation, due to getting sick during Basic"

Hmm, this is questionable and will raise some red flags for sure. I've never heard of anyone getting "sick" and getting an ELS. If you got sick you would be sent to a medical hold company then be put back into a line company when you were fit. I've seen cases were people broke legs, had pneumonia, etc and were in a medical company for a few months, then went back to training. When I think of ELS, I think of psychiatric problems, which the vast majority of ELSs are. Of course, I don't know your specifics, but you would need all your medical records, and be able to explain a lot I would think. Any sort of state/federal government job would be very hard to obtain, but local police may be easier, even then a lot of LEOs are prior military.

2/3/2009 7:26:12 PM

Quote :

"Hell the SHP academy is just like Marine boot camp, you sleep there and they fuck with you 24/7, "

No wonder they are such assholes.

2/3/2009 7:34:25 PM

The thorough vetting process makes sure that only dumb, powertripping assholes get through.

2/3/2009 8:09:07 PM

so very mature

2/3/2009 9:08:52 PM

I used to think cops were assholes

Then I stopped breaking the law

2/3/2009 9:24:55 PM

I used to think cops were assholes

Then I stopped breaking the law

2/3/2009 9:37:15 PM

i got my ba in soc
went thru blet...
get hired first rather then putting yourself through
i would go to grad school before but thats just me.
youre going to be doing shift work and grad school would be real difficult

2/3/2009 9:42:24 PM

what's the poiint of getting a college degree to become a cop?

seems like a huge waste of either money and/or the 4+ years you spent on that degree. It's not like police departments have terribly high standards.

2/3/2009 9:45:03 PM

he will def get a job with a degree
also i guarantee he is in the top percentage of his class
its all brownie points

2/3/2009 9:49:57 PM

^^One of my old roomates was in criminology and said it's one of the ways to get into certain fields of the FBI, DEA, etc. Trying to get some field experience as a cop before moving up. A good number of those do require degrees.

[Edited on February 3, 2009 at 9:56 PM. Reason : ^]

2/3/2009 9:56:17 PM

ok, it definitely makes sense for the three letter organizations. i just wasn't thinking about it beyond being a street cop.

2/4/2009 7:12:57 AM

Quote :

"wah wah wah wah. I can't smoke my pot. wah wah wah."

Quit crying. It'll be ok, little boy. Don't worry about me and my pot -- I've never had any trouble finding even the good stuff.

Quote :

"i can't get little girls drunk so I can have sex."

Um.... what? the? fuck?

Quote :

"I used to think cops were assholes Then I stopped breaking the law generalizing"

Good cop, bad cop....doesn't matter -- I'll do whatever the fuck I want to.
That being said, I won't ever do anything that harms anyone's person, property, liberty, or right to the same.

I mean, why don't any of you murder people? Oh, right, because it's illegal.

2/4/2009 9:01:50 AM

Did not you know its the government job's to protect you from yourself?

2/4/2009 1:25:26 PM

Quote :

"I used to think cops were assholes Then I stopped breaking the law"

2/4/2009 1:34:54 PM

Quote :

"Good cop, bad cop....doesn't matter -- I'll do whatever the fuck I want to. That being said, I won't ever do anything that harms anyone's person, property, liberty, or right to the same. I mean, why don't any of you murder people? Oh, right, because it's illegal. "

I'm guessing you had a point in that rant, but I don't see it.

2/4/2009 6:51:35 PM

DO NOT get a degree in crim justice if you want to be in the FBI
they do not want that, they want specialized things like accounting , languages etc

2/4/2009 7:00:09 PM

Quote :

"I could never bust anyone for drugs, prostitution, gambling, consensual fighting, under-age drinking, etc. I couldn't even stand by and watch it happen -- I'd be likely to sabotage other police trying to make such busts, and end up in some serious trouble. It's really too bad that we've strayed from our constitution into such a nanny-state. I'm certain that police departments around the country are missing out on many bright and talented individuals that oppose our many stupid and unjust laws. "

Me too.

I would LOVE working in a crime lab, being a CSI, etc. but I just couldn't bust people for drugs or prostitution.

It's sad what our country has become.

2/4/2009 7:05:25 PM

^
Yeah, CSI and crime forensics is really cool stuff, but I'd never even think of joining a police force or other law enforcement during our nation's current march to becoming a nanny-police-state.

Truly sad.

Quote :

"I'm guessing you had a point in that rant, but I don't see it"

That's ok.
I guess you, like many people, have poor reading comprehension. (maybe you're a math guy...)
Perhaps you could show this thread to some english teachers, and they could help you determine the point or points that I made in my post.
Good luck!

[Edited on February 4, 2009 at 7:54 PM. Reason : ]

2/4/2009 7:50:26 PM

someone bought into ayn rand a little too much...

2/4/2009 8:04:58 PM

^
What an idiotic and incorrect statement.
Myself, and every other liberty-loving individual need not have even heard of Rand or other philosophers to hold the very same opinions I've expressed in this thread. I guess both Vix and I must be (how did joe_schmoe put it?...oh yeah,) "beret-wearing, parent's-basement-dwelling libertarian crackmonkies"


[Edited on February 4, 2009 at 8:34 PM. Reason : ]

2/4/2009 8:20:14 PM

sounds about right

2/4/2009 8:23:22 PM

Please learn to tell the difference between your firearm and your stun gun.

2/4/2009 8:24:02 PM

^
Yes, please.


^^
Whatever, guy.....
However, could you at least explain joe_schmoe's "beret" reference? I googled the word libertarian with the word beret, but it was mostly about the green beret, and not helpful. I also googled with quotes: "beret-wearing libertarian", but only got one result, and again, not helpful. I mean, I stopped making clothing based stereotypes when I was in middle-school, so I must have missed this one.

2/4/2009 8:44:40 PM

i guess so

2/4/2009 9:10:13 PM

Quote :

"I guess you, like many people, have poor reading comprehension. "

No you're just a snarky douchebag with no direction to any of your posts.

2/4/2009 11:07:14 PM

2/4/2009 11:12:05 PM

Quote :

"I stopped making clothing based stereotypes when I was in middle-school, so I must have missed this one. "

cultural awareness ftw

2/5/2009 10:36:39 AM

^
nonsensical stereotype perpetuation for the lose


Also, this "libertarian = beret-wearer" stereotype is extremely uncommon -- I'd bet that most others, like myself, have never even heard of it. It is not a part of our popular culture. In fact, other than some girls fashion crap, upon googling "beret" I'm finding mostly french people and che guevara.

Quote :

"with no direction to any of your posts."

Again, try asking some english teachers to help you understand my post(s). They may be able to provide some remedial tutoring to help with your reading comprehension. Believe in yourself -- you can do it!

[Edited on February 5, 2009 at 11:27 AM. Reason : ]

2/5/2009 11:02:23 AM

The degree helps if you wanna be more then a street cop. masters helps if you wanna be chief or what not. The degree also helps promote you faster with more money. for instance I get more money/promotion every 2 years while someone without a degree gets one every 6 years. it doesn't take long for me to get ahead of people.

2/7/2009 9:34:40 AM

^ Thank you. I was having quite a bit of trouble locking down exactly how much my degree would help me monetarily / promotion-wise.
So the plan seems to be that I get hired through the recruitment office, then go through academy, get paid during academy, work for a few years, and then get education assistance to get my future degree.

2/7/2009 1:34:15 PM

holy hell

i'm mostly a libertarian... but Willy Nilly needs to shut the fuck up. he's contributed absolutely NOTHING of substance to this thread.

2/7/2009 2:20:34 PM

^I would say 1/2 of his first post had some merit as to why he could/would not be a good officer.

After that it went to hell, and it wasn't all his fault.

2/7/2009 2:40:13 PM

Quote :

"I guess both Vix and I must be (how did joe_schmoe put it?...oh yeah,) "beret-wearing, parent's-basement-dwelling libertarian crackmonkies" "

Pretty much

2/10/2009 6:16:07 PM

^
lol.... Do you understand the "beret" reference? I thought berets were for french people and soldiers.

^^^
Nothing? Really? Nothing, evan?
(BTW, thanks for the "substance" that you contributed. Really on-topic there, buddy... )

^^

Quote :

"After that it went to hell, and it wasn't all his fault"

Exactly. OopsPowSrprs, FykalJpn, and other trolls are more responsible than I. When I make a point, then someone says, "I'm guessing you had a point in that rant, but I don't see it." What am I going to do? Ignore it?...or respond? Ignoring it implies that it's ok -- which it's not. Then someone starts to troll libertarians with, "someone bought into ayn rand a little too much...". Am I supposed to let that one go? I can't fucking stand people using stereotypes and thinking they can get away with it. I will call them out on it, because, as I said, ignoring it implies that it's ok -- which it's not. So while some of my posts were off-topic, they were mostly in response to trolls. Trolls are the real problem. You can agree or disagree about my sentiments regarding police officers and the decision to become one (the thread topic), but where does "I'm guessing you had a point in that rant, *snark snark* but I don't see it.", or "someone bought into ayn rand a little too much...*snark snark*" belong in this thread? What do they have to do with the thread topic? Nothing. Those trolls could've kept their off-topic opinions to themselves, or at least pm'ed me any questions or comments they may have had. So it is they, not I, that are most responsible for this thread going to hell.

If trolls don't start shit, there won't be shit.



[edit]
Look at skokiaan and ThePeter trolling this lounge thread right here:
message_topic.aspx?topic=558086&page=1#12614952

This is your TWW, people. If you don't want trolls in the lounge, we can all demand mods do something about it. (message_topic.aspx?topic=557629&page=1#12615246)

[Edited on February 11, 2009 at 8:28 AM. Reason : ]

2/11/2009 8:17:54 AM

tl;dr

2/11/2009 2:06:42 PM

^^ You failed logic didn't you?

The thread topic was about training & continuing education after becoming a LEO. It was not whether he should or should not become one. Therefore, YOU were the first to troll. You

Quote :

"could've kept their off-topic opinions to themselves, or at least pm'ed me any questions or comments they may have had"

Good job trying to pass blame on to others but blame lies purely at your feet. Your opinions of LEOs as people or the profession was completely irrelevant to this thread.

2/11/2009 10:00:57 PM

^

Quote :

"The thread topic was"

Quote :

"Becoming a Police Officer"

point, set and match

[Edited on February 12, 2009 at 3:02 AM. Reason : ]

2/12/2009 2:48:32 AM

I used to think cops were alright

then my car got stolen and they charged me to recover it from impound when it was abandoned illegally parked, it got ran into three times parked across the street from the neighbor's driveway and they "couldn't determine who was responsible," and I got a bunch of pointless traffic infractions that were all dismissed

then I realized they were lazy assholes that power-trip and serve little purpose in society other than revenue generation

[Edited on February 12, 2009 at 10:01 AM. Reason : .]

2/12/2009 10:00:48 AM

set
em
up

2/12/2009 12:39:06 PM