why do people become police officers?

Question

Dont these people have any ambition in life Why they dont make very much money if they actualy do there job there is a possibility of getting shot they work crap hours and people only respect them because they can write tickets I understand large cities like LA they work hard but every where else they are a bunch of mindless people ridding around in a crown vic with enough switches that dont do anything just to keep them entertained and if you are a cop dont be so cocky I was making more than you were when I was 16 running a snow cone stand during the summer I know that a police force is important so why dont we raise the salaryies and the standards so we can get these cuff and gun toting power tripping monkeys working another crap they are not qualified for like a crash dummy or something

Im saying raise the salaries and standard so it would be a incentive to get better people we need cops but the ones here are a little slow

Answer 1

Well kid, First I'd recommend you stay in school; your grammar and spelling are atrocious. That being said, there are a variety of reasons people become police officers. Family pride, service to the community, ego but most take the job because of a consistent pay check and decent benefits.

It wasn't always like that. For many years, police officers were very underpaid. And today, depending on your locale, some still are underpaid.

I don't know why your opinions of the police are so negative. Do you get in trouble often? If not, I'd be hard pressed to believe you have formulated your opinion based on anything other than personal experience.

Today's police officers are better trained, better educated and better paid that those of our past. I can't complain. I make 100K and my schedule is hardly tough to take. I work Monday through Friday, 7:00am to 3:00pm. Not bad for a cuff n gun toting monkey huh?

Answer 2

My dad's a police officer in Newark, NJ. It's a large city. He became a cop to help keep criminals off the street, which I'm sure that's why other people become cops. Even in a small city, their are criminals. Imagine living in a small town and someone robs you at gun point but there isn't anyone to help you. I'm sure you wouldn't want to live somewhere like that. Neither would I. My dad's been a cop for 12 years now and not once has he been shot at. He makes a good amount of money too. I'm not quite sure where you get your information about the salary but it's enought for us to have a house, several cars, and vacations out of the country. This isn't ment to sound mean or anything. Hope this answer helped.

Answer 3

Just a FYI, I have a masters degree in Communications Systems Technology and Policy, I could work for just about any Fortune 500 company managing a network operations center making 6 figures no problem.

But I don't, instead every day I wake up put on 38lbs of equipment and leave the house not knowing if I will come home to see my wife and kids that day.

Why? Because it is the most noble profession in the world. Everyday I get a chance to go out and make a difference in someones life.

No matter if that means the 5 mins I'm in the gas station getting something to eat and drink that the clerk can feel safe and know that no one in their right mind would try something, to responding to a report of an injury accident where I might need to pull someone out of a burning car, or taking a theft report from an elderly lady who had her social security check stolen by a scum bag.

It is hard, it is draining, it is physically and emotionally taxing. But I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Have a snow cone and don't get brain freeze, although I'm not sure you have the required equipment.

Answer 4

What would we do without the police? Your question is incredibly hard to read without punctuation, but I'll try to decipher it. Yes, there is always a very real possibility of getting shot, but that's what they're paid to do in their chosen career path. Very noble, if you ask me, and I don't only respect them "because they write tickets"- that doesn't make sense, how is writing tickets worthy of respect and not all the other things that their job entails?

You think their "switches" (??) serve only an entertainment purpose. Yeah, I guess the police scanner doesn't alert them of 911 calls from dispatchers or anything like that, they must listen to the radio on it and tell jokes.

If you made more than a cop at 16 on a snow cone stand, the snow cone must have been filled with an illicit drug. You don't have to outright lie to make a point. By the way, what is your point? Did you get arrested recently or something?

Answer 5

To answer your main question, most become police officers because they are natural born control freaks.

That said, you are right.

We do need a police force, but the sad thing is that whenever a bad officer infiltrates a force, well, have you heard the old expression that one bad apple spoils the whole bunch?

I worked as an Emergency Room clerk, in my younger days, and I found that once you see blood and gore, you change your whole way of thinking.

People need you to not get all queezy at a gorey sight so you can have the strength to help save their lives.

After awhile you become calloused to a bloody sight, and instead of noticing the blood you notice the person that needs care.

It's the same thing with police officers.

They have a job to perform, and most of them do their jobs with honor.

However, there are those bad apples, who get calloused at the sight of doing harm to people.

After awhile they don't care who they beat up, or write a fraudulent ticket to, and they know that their Dept. will cover up for their corrupt actions.

It's sort of like being in the military.

Once you kill a man, it comes easy after that.

The major problem is that so many officers get swelled heads and they think they are arresting officers, judges, juries, and executioners.

This is the very reason that so many police officers and sheriff deputies have major problems with their marriages, and a huge percentage of them end up in divorce.

EDIT: By the way, the average response time of L.A.P.D. is 3 hours, if they ever do show up, unless you are a business, then they respond immediately.

They will tell you that crime is down in Los Angeles, or so say the statistics.

What they fail to take into consideration, is that much of the crime in Los Angeles is committed against undocumented residents, and since they don't have papers, they are afraid to report these crimes.

.

Answer 6

O...M...G...Periods are not just for women man. You gotta use them in order to speak and form what we in the world like to call "Sentences".

To answer your question...I don't feel like answering your question. It's a dumb question. People like to know that they make a difference in the community, and a very good way of doing that is being a police officer. That's one of many reasons for joining the police force or becoming a firemen, or anything like that. It's sad that some people don't see that helping out and making a place safer is important...

Answer 7

Police Officers do have ambition in life, it just depends on what your ambition is in life. Making money is not always everyone's first priority. I would rather be in a job that I love and enjoy than be in some cubicle by myself. If eveyone had the mindset you have there would be no teachers, military, police, firefighters, etc. You should get to know some cops besides when you get pulled over. Most cops are just enforcing the law and trying to make sure eveyone gets home safe.

Answer 8

Do you even have a clue how many police officers there are in the US ? When one has an issue, the media jumps on it and applies it to all cops.

Where do you get your information ?

I will stake my reputation on, that there is a higher percentage of crooked snow cone stand operators out there than crooked cops. You don't hear of them because the public does not have such high expectations for snow cone stand operators.

Standards ? There are standards. Not everyone can apply for this job. Not everyone can make it through the process. Not everyone has the proper background or moral integrity to apply for this job.

Power tripping monkeys... You have no clue of the demands of this line of work.

Answer 9

Actually police officers make fairly comfortable living doing what they enjoy doing, with people they enjoy being around. They have a great pension system that allows them to retire at a very early age, have job security, and as the old saying goes "Do a job you like and never have to work a day in your life". P.s. I seriously doubt you made $70000 a year selling snocones.

Answer 10

Why do people become school teachers?

Why do people work in Wal-Mart stores?

Why do people work as garbage collectors?

If they just paid those people more money than a sno-cone vendor, then maybe "better" people would choose to work there, as well...

Salaries are not set simply by what people think is a "fair" amount of money. Salaries are decided, in part, by supply-and-demand factors. If lots of people are lining up to do a job, then salaries will be lower. If few people are qualified, or if few WANT to do the job, then salaries will be higher to attract those few people.