BlueSheepdog
10 Years Experience
Around the Way, FL
Male, 40
Cheating death and fighting communism: that is how a fellow officer once described our job. It was meant to be funny, but as time went on it seemed all too true.
I spent more than ten years in law enforcement, all of it on the street in uniform patrol. I've been a patrol officer, instructor, sergeant and lieutenant.
Do not report crimes here. Nothing here should be considered legal advice. All opinions are my own.
The impacts have been studied by many researchers for several decades. The influence of the job on the personal life is significant, and few people are really prepared for it.
Many friends, and even some family, will no longer associate with the new police officer because of the job. The officer's spouse and other family will live in fear that this shift could be the one where the officer is killed or horrifically injured. The officer is confornted by violence, death and evil every shift and begins to worry constantly about the safety of his/her family and loved ones.
It is a high-stress job and you are never really "off duty." Officers with a very strong faith and solid family support tend to fare better than others, but the job has a very strong impact on all relationships, the health of the officer and every other aspect of the officer's life.
You may have heard that officers have high divorce rates and high instances of alcohol abuse. One of the dirty secrets of police work is a relatively high incidence of suicide as well. All of these things obviously impact the family in a severe way.
There is a lot of research out there, but here are a few places to look:
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/163175.pdf
http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1218&context=honors
http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=120&issue_id=102003
http://www.emich.edu/cerns/downloads/papers/PoliceStaff/Shift%20Work,%20%20Stress,%20%20Wellness/Police%20Stress%20and%20the%20Effects%20on%20the%20Family.pdf
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I don't understand the yellow card/red card reference.
Police officers do not know the driver/occupants of a vehicle when stopped. They could be a nice family or it could be a murderous robbing crew. Unit criminals start wearing signs that clearly identify themselves, police officers will back each other up on traffic stops and other calls. It is a safety thing.
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Working in law enforcement is a very toxic environment. When surrounded by members of the criminal element for most of the day, police officers experience and witness violence, depravity and ugliness never shown on TV or adequately depicted in movies.
Unfortunately, what happens at the job never really stays at the job. A new officer will change, and must change, to survive in the environment. If the officer fails to adapt to the violence and brutality, the officer will either not make it through training or will be killed.
Those changes will effect how the officer interacts with other people, including family. The unprepared spouse will not always learn to adapt to the officer and conflict will arise.
For example, a once-talkative person who is now a cop may be a lot less talkative with his or her spouse. That's not a reflection on the relationship per se, rather is often a result of the officer not wanting to expose his/her spouse to the ugliness that he/she works in. The spouse who wants to hear about the cop/spouse's day, however, may not realize that the cop/spouse just doesn't want to relive the child abuse call he/she investigated earlier. So when the cop/spouse doesn't want to talk the non-cop/spouse takes it personally.
There is never enough time as a cop. Even if the police officer isn't on any special units that require additional time and call outs (like SWAT, negotiations, etc.), he/she is always subject to court. And courts NEVER take the officer's schedule into consideration. More than once, I would work a midnight shift, leave the station at 7 am and go straight to court at 8 am. Stinking from all of the fights, foot chases and sweating the night before, I then would sit in court until 5 pm or so. Then go home, try to grab three hour's sleep before heading back into the PD. After another night, right back in court the next morning.
Nearly every police officer I know has to work part time jobs to make the family bills. So, on the nights he/she isn't scheduled to work, he/she is working security at a bar, directing traffic at a church, or working a security detail in a pharmacy.
Sound miserable? It can be. But, that is just life. Every job has its downsides - police work just a few more than others, I suppose.
I highly recommend reading I Love A Cop ( http://tinyurl.com/krvampy ) which deals with a lot of the issues & questions you might expect. It talks about what a family can expect if a spouse is in law enforcement, and offers solid suggestions on how everyone in the family can work to mitigate the problems the job brings.
For what it is worth, my wife has put up with a lot of long hours, very scary situations and crazy problems from my law enforcement career, but we are still happily married.
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Policies vary depending on the department, but generally:
1. If someone is there that the owner would like to take custody of the animal, they can.
2. If no one is close at hand that the owner will allow to take the animal, the animal will be collected by whatever animal control organization is in the area. Some jurisdictions this is operated by the government, in other areas it is contracted out to another organization. Once the owner posts a bond, he or she can then go collect his or her animal.
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Basketball Referee
Do you think the nets should be lower for girls?
TV Meteorologist
Is having a weatherman really better than just throwing to a 5-day forecast screen?
iPhone & iPad Technician
What brand do you think has the poorest quality / workmanship?
I have no idea what the laws of your jurisdiction may be. Contact your local law enforcement agency.
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If you lie to a law enforcement officer about your age, you could be charged with providing false information to the officer. (The exact name of the crime varies from state to state.) Sounds like you took a minor issue and made it into a crime due to your lack of honesty.
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The deployment of one or two officers to a car is largely dependent on the ingrained culture of the department. Many years ago a study suggested officers were no less safe patroling solo as they are with a partner.
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