Any LEO's out here?

I'm still around....

 

Well my mom is a dispatcher for the agency I am going after so she is used to it all already. I have been a firefighter for the last 3 years and I think that has scared her more than anything will. I am single as of right now with no kids so I am not too worried about the family life right now. Just thinking about the future and what it will be like and what I might have to deal with. Sorry to hear about having to go out due to medical, thats no fun. I'm sure you had fun in those 3 years though.

I am not too worried about this being as I already have these views on most of the people I run into out here. Like said before I am in firefighting and 90% of the calls we go on are for the dirt balls who have shit all over the place and cant even take care of their own kids. So I have learned how to shut a lot of things out, I learned that one right off the bat. Wont go into detail but a really bad Structure fire where 5 people were shot and a 6th one died with smoke inhalation. I saw stuff that guys with 20+ years have never seen. They all kind of turned to me making sure I wasnt gonna break down and it was that day I realized you cant take things personally. I think that will help me out a lot in law enforcment. I already drive down the street and see the kids assuming they are punks, or the drunk, or the stoner, or the low life who is buying cigarettes and beer instead of milk for the kid. So I guess that wont be a huge shock to me lol.

I understand this completely. I have been in the process of this job for about a year now and it is sad to say but I have blocked long time friends out because of the paths they choose. Not saying they are bad people but they are constantly buying underage people beer and always drinking and driving, or getting drunk at a movie theatre, and I understand to them that is fun, but it was too much of a risk for me to get caught and lose everything that I have been working so hard for. I understand how it being difficult to let someone into your life who has been in trouble in theiir past, or has something on their record. I know it is going to be a career that is going to have very many ups and downs, but being able to see a lot of what you guys are talking about before someone goes into law enforcment will help them out big time.

Im in the same boat, no wife/gf and no kids. I cant wait to work the nights. My brother is really not doing anything with his life so I think she worries more about him than me all the time. But I am lucky because my whole family is behind me 100% so far, and I know I have only been through the application process, but they seem to actually be excited about it.

How many years?

 

..just over 8 yrs and going strong.

 

Good for you, thanks for keepin the streets clean

 

Well from the looks of it, you're in public safety yourself. Fire Fighter?

 

<- State Trooper

 

LEO here going on 4 years. Greatest job in the world, hands down. Yeah, you get in in fights, everyone hates you, and there is a ton of paperwork. But when you get to do the service part, and it changes someones life and they look at you with tears in their eyes, and say thank you. That makes everything worth it. Drunks are hard work, but can be DAMN entertaining. I do have to agree with the cynical part. Everyone that says hi, and nods at you is guilty for something, at least it will seem that way. You get to drive a cool car, drive fast with lights and sirens, etc etc, and are responsible for every person you pass.

A couple other things, that are very opinion based. When you are doing the job if you aren't a little scared at times, or have some level of fear it is time to get out. I believe that to an extent fear is what keeps us alert and keeps us alive. Also, I tell/ask all the rookies this; in life some people get an opportunity to make a decision; you can either be someone, or do something. It is your choice which, but you will never be anyone in this line of work, but you can damn sure do something. Make sure you are doing it for the right reasons.

JMHO. There are alot of guys on here that have been doing this ALOT longer than I have. I wish you luck, and nothing but the best with it. Stay alert, stay alive.

 

<---Almost 8 years in murder central. Its a great job, even though we have just about zero public support here, and lead the nation in line of duty deaths.

 

Started in Hawaii 3 1/2 yrs then Miami, 3 1/2 yrs now St. Pete Fl last yr and counting...

 

Yes sir, 4 years as a firefighter

Nice, how do you like the trooper side of it?

Thanks. I understand completely what your saying about doing something. I have always wanted to do something in the emergency services world. What you said I think hits it right on the nose. You wont get a whole lot of support all the time, but as long as your doing somehting is all that matters. Thanks for the input, I will remember all that.

Wow, that is insane, glad you have managed to stay safe. I will hopefully be in the L.A. area when all is said and done.

That is quite the move to go from Hawaii to Fl.

So did your dept. put on the academy or did you have to go to one at a college? (Police academy's around where I live are all at colleges) I understand what you mean about feeling like you've done something. I have been a volunteer firefighter for 4 years and a paid for 3 years and when people ask why I volunteer it is simply to help, and of course get more experience. Overdue but congrats on the promotion.

 

I miss the old academy days and had to do 23 weeks of 8-5pm training. After graduation I entered the streets with a 16 week field training officer program. We do 8 weeks on one shift and then the last 8 weeks on a different shift. If you pass then you can ride solo however are usually paired up with other officers until you get your years probation period completed.

Now it feels like I am one of the old-timers and many of us will go visit the new recruit classes. It is funny to watch the new guys as they seem so "green" however it is just as funny to imagine myself as once being just the same.

Cossi you mentioned the fear factor and you are very correct. I have seen many good officers who have been hurt simply because they believed they were invincible. You can be a well rounded, and brave officer, yet still be afraid at times. When I first started I thought I was impressing my co-workers by running full speed ahead into any situation. Many times I checked that open door without back-up feeling I was tough enough to handle myself. I was simply very lucky and over time learned from others mistakes. Take a step back and call for back-up and you can still be brave however you stand a much better chance of going home each night.

I also told myself that if I ever lose my fear I too will retire as I will be a danger to myself as well as my co-workers.

 

I think your academy is longer than a lot of the ones around here. I know that some of them are 4 months long. The particular one I will be attending with be 27 weeks , with liberty on Wednesday night if you dont screw up and weekends off if you dont have any studying to do. But I am not looking at it as something bad, I am going into it with a good mondset in my opinion. I am excited to go throuh a lot of the stuff. The only thing that scares me is the classroom stuff. I have a tendency to yawn a lot in class and I know they will eat me alive.

Glad you never got hurt doing that stuff. I know this is going to be a dangerous line of work and think about safety first when I think about it. I know it will probably change and i'll get a little cocky when I first get out there, but I hope it doesnt affect me that bad .

Wow that sounds like you get passed around . I think that is good for you though, gives you an idea of the whole situation instead of just being a traffic officer.

In southern California where I want to start out, if you work the night shift you are paired up from the start of your shift. I think you go through a 4 or 5 phase Field Training Officer (FTO) program with each phase 10 days or something like that.

 

It's interesting/it's boring/it's fascinating/it's full of b.s...basically it's got everything.

 

It's a great job, it has its good and bad.

I am a cop. That means that the pains and joys of my personal life are
often muted by my work. I resent the intrusion but I confuse myself with
my job almost as often as you do. The label "police officer" creates a
false image of who I really am. Sometimes I feel like I'm floating
between two worlds.

My work is not just protecting and serving. It's preserving that buffer
that exists in the space between what you think the world is, and what
the world really is.

My job isn't like television. The action is less frequent, and more
graphic.

It is not exhilarating to point a gun at someone. Pooled blood has a
disgusting metallic smell and steams a little when the temperature
drops. CPR isn't an instant miracle and it's no fun listening to an
elderly grandmother's ribs break while I keep her heart beating.

I'm not flattered by your curiosity about my work. I don't keep a record
of which incident was the most frightening, or the strangest, or the
bloodiest, or even the funniest. I don't tell you about my day because I
don't want to share the images that haunt me.

But I do have some confessions to make:

Sometimes my stereo is too loud. Andrea Boccelli's voice makes it easier
to forget the wasted body of the young man who died alone in a rented
room because his family feared the stigma of AIDS. Beethoven's 9th
symphony erases the sight of the nurses who sobbed as they scrubbed
layers of dirt and slime from a neglected 2-year-old's skin.

The Rolling Stones' angry beat assures me that it was ignorance that
drove a young mother to draw blood when she bit her toddler on the cheek
in an attempt to teach him not to bite.

Sometimes I set a bad example. I exceeded the speed limit on my way home
from work because I had trouble shedding the adrenalin that kicked in
when I discovered that the man I handcuffed during a drug raid was
sitting on a loaded 9mm pistol.

Sometimes I seem rude. I was distracted and forgot to smile when you
greeted me in the store because I was remembering the anguished,
whispered confession of a teenager who pushed away his drowning brother
to save his own life.

Sometimes I'm not as sympathetic as you'd like. I'm not concerned that
your 15-year-old daughter is dating an 18-year-old because I just
comforted the parents of a young man who slashed his own throat while
they slept in the next bedroom.

I was terse on the phone because I resented the burden of having to
weigh the value of two lives when I was pointing my gun at an armed man
who kept begging me to kill him.

I laugh when you cringe away from the mess in your teen's room because I
know the revulsion of feeling a heroin addict's blood trickling toward
an open cut on my arm.

If I was silent when you whined about your overbearing mother it's
because I really wanted to tell you that I spoke to one of our high
school friends today. I found her mother slumped behind the wheel of her
car in a tightly closed garage. She had dressed in her best outfit
before rolling down the windows and starting the engine.

On the other hand, if I seem totally oblivious to the blood on my
uniform, or the names people call me, or the hateful editorials, it's
because I am remembering the lessons my job has taught me.

I learned not to sweat the small stuff. Grape juice on the beige sofa
and puppy pee on the oriental carpet don't faze me because I know what
arterial bleeding and decaying bodies can do to one's decor.

I learned when to shut out the world and take a mental health day. I
skipped your daughter's 4th birthday party because I was thinking about
the six children under the age of 10 whose mother left them unattended
to go out with a friend. When the 3-year-old offered the dog the milk
from her cereal bowl, the dog attacked her, tearing open her head and
staining the sandbox with blood. The little girl's siblings had to pry
her head out of the dog's jaws - twice.

I learned that everyone has a lesson to teach me. Two mothers engaged in
custody battles taught me not to judge a book by its cover. The teenage
mother on welfare mustered the strength to refrain from crying in front
of her worried child while the well-dressed, upper-class mother
literally played tug of war with her toddler before running into traffic
with the shrieking child in her arms.

I learned that nothing given from the heart is truly gone. A hug, a
smile, a reassuring word, or an attentive ear can bring an injured or
distraught person back to the surface, and help me refocus.

And I learned not to give up EVER! That split second of terror when I
think I have finally engaged the one who is young enough and strong
enough to take me down taught me that I have only one restriction: my
own mortality.

One week in May has been set aside as Police Memorial Week, a time to
remember those officers who didn't make it home after their shift. But
why wait? Take a moment to tell an officer that you appreciate their
work. Smile and say "Hi" when he's getting coffee. Bite your tongue when
you start to tell a "bad cop" story. Better yet, find the time to tell a
"good cop" story. The family at the next table may be a cop's family.

Nothing given from the heart is truly gone. It is kept in the hearts of
the recipients. Give from the heart. Give something back to the officers
who risk everything they have.

 

Well, its been a month, who won the bet?

Ya, I realized that when I found out you dont have fires everyday and dont rescue babies from houses

Doakes- I didnt want to quote that long post, but I think it was well put.

 

Politics, politics, politics. Worst part if you can take the rest.