Any TBers work in law enforcement?

[casualmadness]

Any cops out there? If so, I wanna pick your brain a bit.
As I've mentioned on here before, I've been thinking that a career change is in order. I'm really not interested in what I do and I cant' imagine doing it for another 20 years or so. So I've been looking at other alternatives that I could reasonably do.

I considered teaching for a while. But after doing some research I got a bit discouraged. Though I would still like to teach part time; as an adjunct. But full time, just didn't really appeal to me much after I started seriously looking into it.

So lately, I've been thinking about past jobs, and which ones I loved and which ones I hated. I remember that for all the nonsense that one has to endure in the military, I actually kinda enjoyed the job itself. The biggest reason I left the military was because I was married and my wife was not cut out to be an Army wife. Plus, I knew that she couldn't handle another deployment. So I got out. But I miss the bond between co-workers. Sure, it's kinda cheesy but it's true.

Now, I had thought about returning to the military but in all honesty, I've just lost the desire to do that anymore. Plus the pay is terrible. (though the benefits are second to none).

But lately I've been thinking that police work might be something interesting. One reason I'm interested is because I am finishing up a master's degree in cybersecurity, in just a few months. I've been looking for IT jobs but because I have no IT experience, no one will give me the time of day. No one. So I was thinking that if I got into law enforcement, maybe I could parlay my shiny new degree into a cyber crime unit or something like that. Maybe I could be the guy on the computer posing as a 12 year old girl, catching scum bags by luring them to some sting operation somewhere. Maybe I could work with Chris Hansen ()

In all seriousness though, I would like to actually use my degree and the thought of using it to help clean up the streets a bit sounds good to me.

Also, since I'm prior military, apparently I can sell my military time to the police department and use that towards retirement. And the starting salary for a master's degree (they pay more for education) is not too shabby. So I'm thinking it might be what I'm looking for.

So are any of you working in law enforcement? If so, do you like it/love it/hate it?
Any advice to someone considering it? What's something you love about it? WHat do you hate about it? Do you feel that there is plenty of room for advancement?
I'm specifically interested in the specialized units. (e.g. SWAT, Scuba, Marine, etc.) Is getting into a specialized unit extremely difficult? Is it over rated? What do they look for?
Could I spend some time in some of these units and still work my way into a cyber crime unit? Or would that be a different career track.
I don't know if a cyber crime unit is something that all police agencies have but I know that some do. Honestly, I don't know if my local place has one or not but I assume they do.

Anyway, thanks for reading and if any cops or former cops or people who have cop friends/family care to chime in and offer some advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

[MakiSupaStar]

A lot of the cyber security law enforcement has been falling under the jurisdiction of the secret service. Especially when it comes to credit card fraud and identity theft. I have a buddy that's in the secret service and that's what he's doing. Although, he could be lying to me to keep his cover.

[cheezewiz]

I've been in law enforcement for 23 years. Honestly, I REALLY don't like it. It was fun for about 10 years, but it really is a young mans game. I'm counting the minutes until retirement. It can occasionally be interesting, but mostly not. You pretty much are dealing with drunken morons about 80 percent of the time.

There is room for advancement, but you have to put your time in first. Also, unless you are on a very large department, any specialization is on top of your regular duties. You aren't going to do SWAT, or whatever, fulltime, unless you are on a very large department. On top of that, unless you "know" someone running those units, it's tough to get on. Having said that, specialization is the way to keep things interesting. I've never been much of a "guns and fights" sort of guy, so SWAT was not for me. However, I am a trained negotiator, and I do some work with the local mental health community as kind of a liason. I try to get as much training as possible in that area, including instructing at local CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) training.

Speaking of large departments. This may not be PC, but it's very true. Are you african american, hispanic, or female? If not, GOOD LUCK getting hired. I know a guy (admittedly this was 20 years ago, but I seriously doubt things have changed), who tried to get on LA Sheriff's Department. He finished in the 96th percentile in the testing process, and was told he would probably never come up for hire, while blacks, hispanics, and women in the 70th percentile were getting hired. I also know of another department that maintains six eligibility lists. Black male/female. Hispanic male/female. White male/female. After one white male is hired, no others can be until AT LEAST one off of every other list is hired.

Probably the worst part about it, is hating cops is PC. Just read talk bass for a day. You can call cops whatever you want. You can rail for days on a thread about how bad cops suck, how they are all liars, how they are all power hungry, how they are all dishonest, how it is OK to hate them just for wearing blue. Try the same thing about a racial, religious, or ethnic group and you'd be banned instantly. Talk bass reflects the rest of society. So, if you want to be hated by a majority of the population, even if you do your job 100 percent correctly, take your next civil service test.

Admittedly, I probably would have gave you an entirely different view of the work 20 years ago, but the years have definitely jaded me and burned me out. There comes a day, when you just get completely sick of taking people's crap day in and day out. You see EVERYONE at their worst. Regardless if they are a victim, a traffic offender, a witness, or a criminal, if you are seeing them, they probably aren't having a good day. It just gets old after a while.

And having said all this, I didn't even get into Department cronyism, politics, etc. My advice. Reconsider teaching.

[casualmadness]

Originally Posted by cheezewiz

I've been in law enforcement for 23 years. Honestly, I REALLY don't like it. It was fun for about 10 years, but it really is a young mans game. I'm counting the minutes until retirement. It can occasionally be interesting, but mostly not. You pretty much are dealing with drunken morons about 80 percent of the time.

There is room for advancement, but you have to put your time in first. Also, unless you are on a very large department, any specialization is on top of your regular duties. You aren't going to do SWAT, or whatever, fulltime, unless you are on a very large department. On top of that, unless you "know" someone running those units, it's tough to get on. Having said that, specialization is the way to keep things interesting. I've never been much of a "guns and fights" sort of guy, so SWAT was not for me. However, I am a trained negotiator, and I do some work with the local mental health community as kind of a liason. I try to get as much training as possible in that area, including instructing at local CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) training.

Speaking of large departments. This may not be PC, but it's very true. Are you african american, hispanic, or female? If not, GOOD LUCK getting hired. I know a guy (admittedly this was 20 years ago, but I seriously doubt things have changed), who tried to get on LA Sheriff's Department. He finished in the 96th percentile in the testing process, and was told he would probably never come up for hire, while blacks, hispanics, and women in the 70th percentile were getting hired. I also know of another department that maintains six eligibility lists. Black male/female. Hispanic male/female. White male/female. After one white male is hired, no others can be until AT LEAST one off of every other list is hired.

Probably the worst part about it, is hating cops is PC. Just read talk bass for a day. You can call cops whatever you want. You can rail for days on a thread about how bad cops suck, how they are all liars, how they are all power hungry, how they are all dishonest, how it is OK to hate them just for wearing blue. Try the same thing about a racial, religious, or ethnic group and you'd be banned instantly. Talk bass reflects the rest of society. So, if you want to be hated by a majority of the population, even if you do your job 100 percent correctly, take your next civil service test.

Admittedly, I probably would have gave you an entirely different view of the work 20 years ago, but the years have definitely jaded me and burned me out. There comes a day, when you just get completely sick of taking people's crap day in and day out. You see EVERYONE at their worst. Regardless if they are a victim, a traffic offender, a witness, or a criminal, if you are seeing them, they probably aren't having a good day. It just gets old after a while.

And having said all this, I didn't even get into Department cronyism, politics, etc. My advice. Reconsider teaching.

Wow, you paint a very thorough picture. Thanks for the detailed response. I can certainly see how that would get old after a while.

[cheezewiz]

In all fairness, there are guys I work with and guys I know on other departments, who love the job and think it's the greatest thing in the world. I think they just have a different personality than I do.

One other negative I forgot to mention also. Do you gig? Do you like to spend weekends and evenings with your family? Forget that. As a new guy, you will have the worst of the worst. Resign yourself to working nights/weekends/holidays. I had to stop gigging for my first FIFTEEN years on my Department, due to my schedule. I wasn't able to get back into the local music scene until I was in my mid 30's.

[blackstang351c]

While similar to LE in some areas, like crap for a schedule for the first 15 years or so. I have really enjoyed my 20 years in air traffic control. The DC area has lot's of positions available. The training lasts 2 - 4 years, then you're looking to make 80-100K. You can buy your military time, as well as get a military hiring preference. Think about it.

[casualmadness]

Originally Posted by blackstang351c

While similar to LE in some areas, like crap for a schedule for the first 15 years or so. I have really enjoyed my 20 years in air traffic control. The DC area has lot's of positions available. The training lasts 2 - 4 years, then you're looking to make 80-100K. You can buy your military time, as well as get a military hiring preference. Think about it.

Never thought about it. I've always heard that's one of the most stressful jobs around. But I know nothing about it other than what I've heard.
I am looking change careers and therefore willing to consider anything...unfortunately, I still dont' really know what I want to be when I grow up.
So how would someone with no ATC experience/training go about breaking into that field?
I see ads constantly on some of the fed sites for ATCs. But as I said; no experience, no training.

[blackstang351c]

First off, I don't know how old you are, if you're over 30, you wont get picked up. Thye are hiring many people right now with ZERO ATC experience. You would make arranggments to take the test. After you pass the test, you take your physical, same as a second class flight physical, do mountains of paperwork, and get an academy class date. The acedemy is in Oklahoma City. You go there for about 3 months, and reprt to your facility to begin your career. PM me if you want specifics, I'm happy to help. You already know how it is working for the gov't, so no surprizes there. Good luck with whatever you decide.