Ask Me About Being a Police Officer

[Indiana]

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I currently make $11.50/hr, which isn't much. Full-timers start out at $15.09.


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OMG that is so [censored] wrong. Putting your life on the line you should get more than that bro.

[Bond18]

Italian,

Sounds like you're in a pretty quiet area, would you imagine being a cop in a major city is 'harder'? More exciting?

What's your best cop story?

[ItalianFX]

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I currently make $11.50/hr, which isn't much. Full-timers start out at $15.09.


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OMG that is so [censored] wrong. Putting your life on the line you should get more than that bro.

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Some dept. nearby have part-timers at $13/hr., which I agree is pretty bad given that one of those towns is smaller than mine. It all comes down to the budget though and how much the borough council wants to allocate to us.

[ItalianFX]

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Italian,

Sounds like you're in a pretty quiet area, would you imagine being a cop in a major city is 'harder'? More exciting?

What's your best cop story?

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Being an officer in a major city would be more stressful and dangerous. I can't say it would be harder. In bigger cities there is a more diverse population and so you run into more and more violence, drug wars..etc. I would think it is more exciting though because when I'm busy, time moves so fast that you don't even have enough time to do everything you need to do. I personally like being busy, but sometimes I eat my words. However, in bigger depts. there are more regulations and standards, so that would make it harder.

What do you mean by best?

[suzzer99]

Is it true that if a cop starts writing a ticket he has to issue it, or could he still rip it up at the last minute?

If you walked out of a store and saw two men with ski masks running out of a bank across the street with guns drawn, what would you do? Is it the same thing if you are in uniform or not? (assume the men haven't seen you and you have your gun both times)

If you got a call for a shooting at the high school, were the first to arrive, and heard shots coming from inside, what would you do?

[guids]

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Ok serious question here and this one really burns me up good....Why the hell do the police spend so much time trying to give me speeding tickets on the wealthy side of town (let's face it speeding 10-15 miles over is no crime) when on the other side of town guys are slinging crack rock and killing guys?

I mean it seems the cops give tickets to make moniez....hell, aren't i the guy paying your salary after all? who cares if my license plate is a month overdue or if i do a rolling stop. Its not serious crime.

Also, why do cops give me these tickets and then have the balls to call my house asking for donations to the police dept? R they just insane? What they need donations for when they make a damn fortune giving tickets?

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I dont know abotu your city, but here in st louis, they divide things up into districts, the cops dont venture too far out of thier districts when on patrol, on teh rich side of town, they have nothing better to do but give tickets, on teh poor side where all the fun is, its rare to get pulled over for speeding....becuae they are focusing on more major crimes.

[ItalianFX]

[ QUOTE ]
Is it true that if a cop starts writing a ticket he has to issue it, or could he still rip it up at the last minute?

If you walked out of a store and saw two men with ski masks running out of a bank across the street with guns drawn, what would you do? Is it the same thing if you are in uniform or not? (assume the men haven't seen you and you have your gun both times)

If you got a call for a shooting at the high school, were the first to arrive, and heard shots coming from inside, what would you do?

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If an officer starts writing a citation, he can rip it up at any time. The only time his hands are tied are when the citation is already in the system. Most officers take the stance that they won't withdraw a citation and the person will have to plead not guilty if they want to fight it. Basically, we say, "Let the judge decide."

If I saw two men in ski masks running out of a bank with guns drawn and I had mine, I'd probably see where they were going first. I wouldn't get out and start firing or try to stop them. My approach would probably different depending on if I was in my own vehicle or in the police car because if I'm in my own vehicle, I am more concealed from my identity. With the police car, I'd have to stop short and watch from a distance. I'd definitely be calling for backup in both cases. But if someone robbed a bank, I would bet that the police are already being called. Backup would be a must in both cases.

If I got a call to a shooting in a high school and I heard shots, I'd have no choice, but to stay outside and wait for backup. A plan would have to be made before entry is made. I definitely wouldn't go running into the school though. I'll spare the details.

[onoble]

What do cops do with seized drugs?

Have you ever heard of a cop pocketing some confiscated drug money or drugs?

Have you ever been tempted?

What is your biggest complaint with your department?

[ItalianFX]

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What do cops do with seized drugs?

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We send them to the State Police crime lab for testing. Other departments may do something different if they have their own drug testing equipment.

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Have you ever heard of a cop pocketing some confiscated drug money or drugs?

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Yes, but not in my area. When I was in the police academy, one of our instructors worked for a department where he turned in 2 officer's for using confiscated cocaine.

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Have you ever been tempted?

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I'm not tempted by drugs at all. I've never had to deal with drugs.

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What is your biggest complaint with your department?

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We are too small. I think we need to expand so that we have at least 2 guys on at all time so that we cover a bigger area and always have backup. We currently only have 1 guy on from 4pm - 8pm during the week. On Saturday's we have 1 guy on from 4am - 8pm. On Sunday's we only have 1 guy on all day until Monday at 8AM. So if anything major happens when you're by yourself, you either have to suck it up and deal without backup, call the State Police, or our neighboring department that is a city, they are always willing to come over because they know we are usually "understaffed."

[Rococo]

I watched The Departed. Is it true that cops hate firefighters and vice versa?