Ask Me About Being a Police Officer - Page 2

jtown1010 · #11 10-08-2007, 06:01 PM

DO those little blue and black stickers that family members of cops get make a differance in how you treat someone? How much slack would you be willing to give someone that was a family member of a cop? For instance, you would let them off for running a stop sign but not speeding, or you would let them off for reckless driving but not a DUI.

Maulik · #12 10-08-2007, 06:01 PM

What is your academic background? Why be an officer and not work for the FBI, NSA, etc? Is it ironic you play online poker when it is "illegal?"

ItalianFX · #13 10-08-2007, 06:01 PM

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Which city Italian? Would u bust a guy for getting an asian massage with happy ending? I mean, do cops even care about little stuff like this? I'm in San Fran and this is quite the common practice out here....Would I go to jail for this?

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It's a small town in western Pennsylvania. I am a municipal police officer.

I do not believe there are any laws like that in Pennsylvania, and there aren't any asian massage parlors around where I'm from. The only Asian people we have are people who are here to own chinese restaurants.

If we did have some kind of law like that, I would assume it wouldn't be a jailable offense.

KingDan · #14 10-08-2007, 06:04 PM

Where did you work? If too specific, city or suburb?

In my experience city cops tend to be way cooler.

ItalianFX · #15 10-08-2007, 06:06 PM

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Were you trained to word things in such a way as to maximize the chances of a person giving up their rights to you?

For instance, asking whether or not you can search someones car in such a way that leads them to believe they do not have a choice when in reality they do.

Please do not take this post the wrong way and I hope that you'll reply. I'm not passing judgement here, it just seems to me a lot of police tend to intimidate people into doing things they do not have to do using creating language etc, and I'm wondering if they were specifically taught this or if its just individual cops etc

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I was never specifically taught to do anything like that. With PBT tests (like a breathalyzer), I will specifically say, "Do you agree to take a PBT test?" I will not say, "Blow in this tube," like they don't have a choice. I make it known that people have a choice. I try not to be deceptive in any way unless I am trying to get some information out of somebody in an investigative way. I will not degrade anybody's rights.

FYI, PBTs are not sufficient evidence to be able to convict anyone for DUI, and everybody has the right to refuse the PBT without recourse.

ItalianFX · #16 10-08-2007, 06:08 PM

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How would you respond if someone yelled "[censored] the police!" within earshot of you driving by?

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Either pretend I didn't hear it, or stop and ask the person if that was necessary. Most likely though I wouldn't do anything. However, if it was in the vicinity of the public, they could be arrested for disorderly conduct, but not because of what they said to me, but because it would annoy or alarm the public with no legitimate purpose.

guids · #17 10-08-2007, 06:10 PM

As a favor to me, would you crack a few hippies across the mouth for me this weekend?

ItalianFX · #18 10-08-2007, 06:12 PM

[ QUOTE ]
DO those little blue and black stickers that family members of cops get make a differance in how you treat someone? How much slack would you be willing to give someone that was a family member of a cop? For instance, you would let them off for running a stop sign but not speeding, or you would let them off for reckless driving but not a DUI.

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This seems to be a question of my character.

I have never seen those blue/black stickers so I don't know. I do treat everyone respectfully with honesty. If I have dealt with someone many times and know their attitude, I will tighten the clamp a little bit.

For family members, it is just accepted that they can be left go with verbal warnings. Traffic violations are not the end of the world. It is just the world of law enforcement and a benefit to those involved. It's not my personal discretion, it is an accepted practice, however, it is left up to the officer with what he wants to do.

My g/f was stopped by the state police for speeding and he cited her. He didn't know she was my g/f (and still doesn't), but there was nothing I could do and she paid the fine.

The son of my Chief was arrested for DUI several years ago by an officer of my department. You can be the judge of that one. I was not working with the department at that time.

ItalianFX · #19 10-08-2007, 06:15 PM

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What is your academic background? Why be an officer and not work for the FBI, NSA, etc? Is it ironic you play online poker when it is "illegal?"

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I'm currently a senior in college in Economics, graduating in December. I was also in the Army National Guard for 6 years, promoted to Sergeant, with a deployment to Kosovo and Louisiana.

I have wanted to be a police officer for as long as I can remember. I'm still in school now so the police job is a stepping stone. I'm not sure where I'll end up.

I played online poker for awhile, but I haven't played in about 2 months maybe? I played on a cash table for about 5 minutes last week, but that is about it. I didn't quit because it is "illegal," I just lost interest in grinding. Plus, I was never successful with poker so I decided to take a break.

ItalianFX · #20 10-08-2007, 06:17 PM

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Where did you work? If too specific, city or suburb?

In my experience city cops tend to be way cooler.

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I still do work, part-time. I work in a rural area of about 4,000 people. I do not want to give away the actual name of the town because of it's small size.

City cops is a general term because we have a city right next to us, with about 10-15,000 people, but it's not a developed city like Pittsburgh. It's just a large town that they call a city.