Are you in the Police force?

Question

I was just wondering if anyone on these forums was in the police force & what your job involves on a day to day basis? Is it a very difficult job? Have you ever been in a near death experience? etc.

Answer 1

I am answering this on behalf of my boyfriend because I get most of the details of his work.
Most of what he does involves minor calls such as noise disturbances and neighborhood annoyances. The much more serious and dangerous calls happen with less frequency, with the exception of domestic violence, which happens to be the most dangerous call an officer can go on because it's highly volatile and unpredictible. Traffic stops make up a large part of the day to day work to fill in time between emergency and non-emergency calls, and you'd be surprised how many arrested come out of traffic stops. They are also a very dangerous situation for cops because until the license is run through the database the officer doesn't know who they are dealing with (felony stops excepted).
Paperwork (reports) take up a large chunk of time because they have to be thorough and pretty close to perfect in order to get a conviction. There are also a lot of face to face interviews to add to the paperwork.
My boyfriend has not been in a near death situation (at least not on the force), but he had his gun pulled on multiple occasions and definitely had to get more than a little physical at times.

Answer 2

Most of what we do is boring. The chances of stumbling across a crime in progress are so minute, apparently a police officer/pcso n patrol will come across a crime once every 8 years. I had mine3 years ago, so got a little while to wait. Most of the time we will either be on patrol or completing paperwork. The majority of jobs we attend are either domestic or youth related, most of our work is generated by couples or people under the age of 21. If you're lucky to cover 4 major roads like I do you also spend a lot of time at car accidents. Sometimes someone will ring in to say they've seen a burglar or something so that's always more exciting, especially if you're first there!

Answer 3

most of my near death experiences came in high speed car chaes but not from criminals trying to kill me.I retired three years ago after 30years service.The job is difficult but can be rewarding .The life expectancy of most police officers is very low due to stress.The average life expectancy now in the UK is about six years it used to be four following retirement.When you think we can be retired by 48 thats pretty bad.If I had my time again - I would do it again even though sometimes you wonder who youre doing it for when you get so many negative comments on sites like this!.
I loved putting criminals away and contrary to some peoples opinions I didnt pick on motorists as an easy target maybe if they'd help me pick the remains of a child from the front bumper of a car they'd appreciate why traffic needs to be strictly policed.I found that assisting the public left me feeling satisfied and would go out of my way to do so even going on my days off to fit locks on elderly peoples homes etc.The worst thing for me was going to tell people their loived ones had been killed.But in the end you usually remember the good times so yes it was difficult but could be rewarding and even fun at times

Answer 4

I am a full time certified officer in Michigan. Our day to day job can be summed up as this. 90 percent boredom and paperwork and 10 percent sheer terror and excitement. The job does have some boring aspects such as taking two hours to write a report and you are still doing this while someone has already bonded out the bad guy you are doing the report on!

This job is not for everyone and the mental stress is worse than the physical stress. I have had a few experiences where you look back and think to yourself that you could have bought the farm if things had turned out differently. The key is to mentally prepare for the unexpected. Always be aware of your surrounding and when that hair stands up on the back of your neck and the bells and whistles go off in your head...LISTEN to them and call for backup.

I wouldn't trade it for the world. Locking up two murderers and having a mother thank me for all my hard work has made it all worth while.

Answer 5

I am a sworn officer but am investigating after the fact or in the lab. I don't have 1/100th of the danger many of my co-workers do. I pray for them everyday and night. My biggest danger is if I have to work with body fluids (blood, semen) of someone that may have had a disease like hep C or aides. I wear 3 pairs of gloves, protective goggles and a mask when I work around this type of forensic material.

Answer 6

My hubby is a police officer and I as well get a dose of what he does on a daily basis.

I think that the worst thing he ever had to do was watch someone die and be unable to help him. It was a small airplane crash in the outskirts of town and he just happened to be in the neighborhood when the call was dispatched. The man that was flying the plane was thrown from the cockpit, my hubby found the man and he was very visibly mortally wounded, but he had not yet passed and was still conscious. My hubby had to tell him that he was going to be o.k. (even though he knew that the man was dying) the man died shortly there after. There was nothing my hubby could do to save him. That makes my heart hurt every time I think of what that man and my hubby had to go through that day, and I know that my hubby thinks about it too.


On the lighter side of things.....we were in Wal-Mart and (shortly after 9-11) and there were two young children about 10years old asking him for his autograph, even though we do not live in that part of the country.

He is a hero to me and our children. I am proud of him everyday he goes to work and puts on that uniform.

Answer 7

basicly retired from police, was a manager and a patrol officer.
Been shot at, stabbed but nothing near death

Answer 8

Nope, but have a good friend who is an armed responce officer & he's a real nice guy & a top cop.

Answer 9

There are quite a few active and retired law enforcement people answering questions on this site. Unfortunately there are many more ignorant, irresponsible, whining, jerks who ask ridiculous questions about how to avoid civic responsibility, invade the privacy of others, get out of paying their tickets, etc. The lack of integrity and level of ignorance of today's youth is appalling.

Answer 10

no,
but my brother is Detective Inspector in strathclyde police force