Police Officer

Police Officer

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.

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Last Answer on October 29, 2014

Best Rated

What offense or violation would land someone only a 3 month sentence in prison maximum? One of my friends says he went to jail for 3 months but when we ask what he did, silence. I think he's lying. Help a gal win a bet here. Thanks. :-)

Asked by Kali about 12 years ago

Any misdemeanor offense can carry a penalty of three months.  So, pretty much anything from driving with a suspended license to shoplifting to punching his wife.

Do big-city police radio systems sometimes work like a tree where a dispatcher handles say 20 units in a precinct; another dispatcher communicates with 10 of those dispatchers so an officer can comm with an officer on another district or something?

Asked by Sal about 12 years ago

I've not had the chance to observe the dispatch center of a very large agency (such as a NYPD, LAPD, Chicago, etc.)  What I've seen in medium sized departments (100-200 officers), you would have a dispatcher on each channel.  A single channel might be dedicated to a specific area or precinct, while another might be dedicated to records checks.  

So if a department had three precincts, there might be four channels (a dispatcher for each of the three precincts plus one for running warrant checks, license checks, etc.)  Then there would be at least one supervisor who would make sure everything is running smooth.  There would be call takers (people answering the phones) who might be cross-trained to dispatch.

Typically, there will be extra people available to bring up an extra channel if a special event happened.  For example, lets say you had a vehicle accident with a death.  The traffic homicide unit plus the officers working that scene might go to an extra channel to work and keep their radio traffic off of the precinct channels.

I hope that helps.

 

Hello! Im currently on my way to deciding what I really want to do for the rest of my life. At this point im intrested in the Law Enforcement. I just have a couple of questions on how you would decribe being a police officer is?

Asked by Sierra David almost 12 years ago

Feel free to ask anything you like.

In tx is the age of consent 17 ? I've looked it up and everywhere it says 17 but this one post said even if they have sex at 17 the other person involved can still get in trouble if older

Asked by Dershowitz almost 12 years ago

I don't know.  Contact a police or sheriff's department in Texas.

Just want to say thanks for your answers. Yeah I know the police and military are smart despite the stereotypes (which might just exist where I live.) I really want to be a navy officer but I don't know if that'll work out because of my asthma.

Asked by Phillip about 12 years ago

The Navy is a good way to go.  My family has had at least one man in the US Navy continuously since 1943.  You definitely want to talk to a recruiter about the asthma, but I don't think it would bar you from service.

I am just curious if a person is under 18 but at legal age of consent is sexually assaulted, do the police have to go to the minor's parents?

Asked by Pixie over 11 years ago

Call your local police department and ask for their assistance. They will know what to do.

In the police force, how do you value the following: experience (time), education, and someone's natural ability to do the job?

Asked by Josbtr almost 12 years ago

I value them all.  If you are asking me to arbitrarily rank them in order of importance, I cannot.  What duty is the officer trying to perform?  Every task is different and requires varying degrees of each of the above.  Also time in grade does not equate to experience.  Also, experiences vary widely.  Are the experiences in roles as a trainer, investigator, narcotics officer, or what?  A highly educated homicide investigator with ten years of violent crime investigations may get his butt kicked the first night he rotates back to patrol and goes to a bar disturbance, while the two-year officer with nothing more than a high school diploma saves him.  There is no neat way of quantifying police officers.