Stan, you're a cop, right?

[Alumette]

Because, um... I'm kind of thinking about a career change.


Just kind of wondering what's involved in becoming a police officer.

Thanks in advance.

*feels incredibly self-conscious*

[Blue Bolt]

Ballet dancer --> French teacher --> police officer --> astronaut???

[Sebastian Kain]

He's not a cop anymore, but he does secruity guard work (or something to that effect) and I'm sure he can explain what it takes, if you are really serious about it.

[Druid]

Any particular reason for this possible career change?

[Seraphim]

Ballet dancer --> French teacher --> police officer --> president!

fixed for ya :p

[Alumette]

You guys are very sweet. Thanks. :)

In between ballet dancer and French teacher I did project management and quality control for the language industry (recruiting and hiring translators and interpreters, working with international business and government agencies, etc). I just like to stay busy, I guess.

I'm not sure if it's a change I want to make or not. I've been rattling the idea around in my head for a few years. I like the idea of working as a public servant, which is why I went into teaching; sort of the "give back to society" thing. Somehow I ended up being put on a lot of teams at my school for working with at-risk kids (sorta happened by accident; I started working with a few and my principal and the guidance counselors sorta railroaded me into this program...but I love it!), and the more I got into it the more I felt like it would be rewarding to give back to society in the really gritty stuff.

I would love to be assigned to a poorer neighborhood and become kind of a part of the community; you know, walk around, talk to people, get to know them, be visible. I know it wouldn't end crime forever or anything, but as I learned just recently, "We can do no great things, only small things with great love." (Thanks Wids). Alternatively, I think it would be powerful to work as a liaison officer in a school. But getting out in a neighborhood and becoming a positive fixture there would be a good thing.

I imagine it's different all over the country, but I see police officers here doing that sort of stuff; really rolling up their sleeves and getting into it with people who live on the street. They get to know them, they seem to care about them and about helping them get on their feet. I see that and I think, "I'd like to do that!"

Plus, I'd get to carry a firearm. :)

Maybe eventually someday the list will read

Ballet dancer-->Translation manager-->French teacher-->Police officer-->chef-->goatherder

...as to president...I'm not sure that's a job I want, but thank you very much, Sera, for suggesting it. That made my day.

:)

[coldcut]

This is just what I know from working the emergency circuit a few years back. Most officers start out in a small town or suburb, or in some security position with the city. I'm not quite sure how the transition from small town cop to big city works, but it seems to be very political. You just have to keep your ear to the ground and know when the positions open up. Also, being female means that it's going to be a lot easier for you to go in wherever you want. If you can claim any sort of ethnic background, that would help.

This is a part I'm pretty fuzzy on, but it seems like you'd have to do a different police academy once you went from East Bum**** to New York City or whatnot. Not real sure about that, though.

Shifts are generally 1 on, 2 off, using 24 hour cycles. I think some departments work differently, but that was how Birmingham seemed to work. That's how the medics and firefighters do at least.

As for more philosophical, I would suggest that you completely understand what goes on in that job before you commit yourself to anything. The police don't generally have the kind of latitude to do what you're talking about. They have to play whack-a-mole more often than not, and they have to deal with people that just might not be salvagable. It sort of sounds like you're looking more to be a social worker or maybe a parole officer (I think they get pistols.) You probably know what you're doing here, but I'm just saying.

[Athyna]

Alumette, I want to thank you for posting your list of careers. I don't feel so weird anymore.

Food Service -> Telephone repair/refurbishment -> VCR Tech -> Accountant -> Medical Assistant -> MD (next)

[Alumette]

Sure thing, Athyna. :) Multiple career changes is the norm these days, pretty much. I can't imagine doing the same thing over and over forever; and it looks like you can't either.

Coldcut, thank you. This is the kind of information that helps. I'm also going to talk to people around here and see what to expect. I would rather not do social work. IMO that's an area that's too wrapped up in bureaucracy to do the good it intends to do (much like teaching in some ways).

I have been talking to some other colleagues in our at-risk program at school who have worked in juvenile detention centers and that sort of thing. That might interest me too.

I guess I've just really found the work I've started doing with our at-risk kids to be rewarding, and I kind of want to see how I can expand that out.

I discussed this with one of the guidance counselors at school and he warned against putting all my eggs in that basket. He said the risk of burnout was pretty high if I didn't also have some points in the day where I also got to experience the "best" of society; i.e; he works with messed-up kids and also he helps the high-achieving kids plan for college, so he sees all parts of the spectrum and can therefore resist burnout a little better. It's definitely something to think about.

Currently I spend about half my day with the "knuckleheads" as I lovingly call them, and half my day with my (generally) high-achieving/college-bound French students. It's satisfying, and I think this has the balance to it that the guidance counselor talked about, to avoid burnout. But I just feel like there's more I could be doing; beyond the walls of my school. I dunno.

Maybe I'm looking for something sort of "cop-like," but not. I wonder what kinds of programs are out there.

Ideas? Thoughts?

[Inertial]

...Ballet dancer-->Translation manager-->French teacher-->Police officer-->chef-->goatherder...
:)


Well when you get to that one I can help, you speak french to so half of my food ramblings and terms will even make sense. :)

[Alumette]

Inertial, you're a chef?

*swoons*

I'm an amateur chef myself. Almost did culinary school but got a teaching license instead. I loooove to cook and hope to do it one day for fun and profit. ;) I'm friends with a ton of chefs in my city and I always have random family members showing up for Thanksgiving, assuming I will feed them. ;) Luckily for them, most times they're right. I love to cook for people.

If you are a chef I look forward to talking with you about it.

[Meltman]

Inertial, you're a chef?

You knew that already. I remember you two talking about food for like, an hour straight on the guru channel ingame.

[Blue Bolt]

I dunno Al, if you really want to be a full-fledged cop I'm not sure you could handle the pressure. Not only would you have to endure the normal police resistiveness, but considering you're a petite female you expect some extra harassment from the folks that think they can get away with it. You'll have to grow some extra callusness (aside from an experienced dancer's calluses :p) to put up with that kind of deviance. I'm thinking you have too much heart to turn it cold for this job :(

Then again it could be the alcohol thinking for me right now :chuckle:

[Vendel]

wow....ok Al...you cant be so active anymore. Your makeing the rest of us look bad. :P



Hell if I go outside on a day off I consider it a small victory. :D

[Xielos]

Al, I think its great that you want to help so many people so much, but no one around here would get any sleep knowing you were out on the streets with the chance of getting hurt or worse.

[Graphite]

Hmm. Too much City of Heroes combined with a mid life crisis? :think:
Just a little humor before getting strickly serious.


I like the idea of working as a public servant, which is why I went into teaching; sort of the "give back to society" thing. Somehow I ended up being put on a lot of teams at my school for working with at-risk kids (sorta happened by accident; I started working with a few and my principal and the guidance counselors sorta railroaded me into this program...but I love it!), and the more I got into it the more I felt like it would be rewarding to give back to society in the really gritty stuff.


You all ready are. You already are having a positive impact on those kids and society as a whole. You are making the world a better place. Schools are the melting pot of society. Every child goes to school. Not every child goes to jail. Every child is benefited by teachers. Not every child encounters a cop. Some times the best place to be is right with in the school system. Being in the right place, at the right time, with the right outlook is all it takes. I truely hope you find your right place.

One thing for certain, for me at least, my teachers had a huge impact on myself. I am who I am today because of them. The same could not be said of any cop. The police have always been the enforcers of the law. Their duty is to it while making society safer. That is not to say they don't get their hands dirty and make people better. Its just I think they are the minority and besides that is the role of social workers. See as a civilian, I have never seen a police officer 'walking the beat.' If any thing with the pressed uniforms and highly noticible vehicles they are above and beyond it, rather than a real part of society. As military brat, MPs have standing orders to shoot first ask questions later, so growing up were to be respected and revered, not buddy buddy with.

If you deside to wear a badge, this is how people will look at you. This is how I will look at you. Even if it is mall security, this is how I will look at you. It is an Enforcer. It is a Protector. It is not a Social Worker. My recomidation is to talk with School Security. See what they think and get a feel for what they do. Vollenteer to help them out, maybe ever work part time. If that works out for you, then make the big jump.

Now I am a straight arrow person. Never got in trouble at school. Never got in trouble with the law, ever. So, may be a bit of an anomoly and cannot really talk with perhaps the perspective you are looking for. No matter what, I wish you the best of luck figuring this out.

[Malibu Sally]

Al, check with your local PD or county Sherriff's office and see if they can allow you to "ride along" with an officer or deputy for a shift. A lot of them do that. You just have to pass a background check and sign a release form in most cases. You can see for yourself exactly what goes on and be in a better position to decide if you want to pursue becoming a police officer.

[Twilight]

Ooh, yeah. Ride-alongs are really exciting, depending on who you get to ride shotgun with.

[TOTAL ECLIPSE]

speaking as a security gaurd you get pretty tired of being the "fun buster" that most everybody hates

[Enlightened One]

As I am a member of a family of cops (kinda like those Bronson movies) I can also add that while you have some fairly noble intentions, the job is fairly unpleasant. I think many people who have worked in that field can agree that while their coworkers are not bad people, they aren't precisely "nice". It takes a certain mindset to be a police officer, and to do the things they do. There are also potentially contacts with people as was said that are definately lost causes and worse folks who wouldn't mind making YOU a missing persons case.

There is also the negative public side to it; you are The Man. Like TOTAL ECLIPSE said, you're the anti-fun. You are the system incarnate. You are The Rules which while most of us follow, some pay lip service to, and others break outright... you know?

With being that comes power. You get to have a gun. You get to tell people, "No, you'll THIS and like it, or I put you in for X breaking of the law." There will be paperwork, trial, etc. If a person's a authority freak, it's a pretty good job for them. Not to say they all are, but you get your share of em.

I myself did not choose to become a police officer for a number of the above reasons. Just do what you think you will feel comfortable with, be able to not hate yourself or your job, and you'll do fine.

[Dark AngelHawk]

I have to agree with Enlightened on this one. Just make sure you know 100% of what you are getting into cause not only will you be helping others(which is really awesome), but you'll see a side of humanity everyday possibly that most never dream of in nightmares. I have had a few friends in the police force and one who was a cop and a firefighter. I mean his intentions were good it's just that he hated seeing that part of humanity day in and out.
I'll be supporting ya no matter what you do, just make sure it's what you want first.

Good luck and godspeed to ya! :)

[Gogo-chan]

<---president.

[IamLink]

:sk: <---President

[Druid]

Gogo means that she is president of the Krypto Fan Club. Not President of the World like SK

[8 Ball]

speaking as a security gaurd you get pretty tired of being the "fun buster" that most everybody hates

Did it for a couple years & agreed...also a floor walker for another couple, most depressing thing was arresting someones Grandma for shoplifting.

Back on topic....I really think you'd be a hell lot better in Social work or possibly corrections Alum :D.

[Alumette]

Yeah that's pretty much what Stan told me in game. :-) I guess I never really thought about it that way. Here we do have lots of cops "walking the beat," and I always really liked that. Stan encouraged me to be a firefighter instead for all the reasons you guys brought up.

I do agree that I'm doing a lot of good as a teacher for the reasons Graphite detailed. I just sort of feel like I could do more. I suppose I could see about expanding some of my at-risk duties at school and work more with those kids.

I have looked at job postings seeking teachers for juvenile corrections, or even adult corrections, and that intrigues me too.

I am very satisfied working as a teacher, but aside from working with my at-risk kids and a handful of kids who have it rough and happen to be in my French program, I sometimes feel like it's a lie and I'm working in this happy suburban bubble where "everyone" goes to college and has enough to eat and comes from a loving home. I know that's not true, and even if it were, kids everywhere need teachers to love and guide and inspire them... but I dunno. It's this sense that my skills and personality would be better-used/needed more elsewhere or something. *shrugs*

I think I'm thinking too much.

Anyway, thanks for the comments, guys. Good food for thought.