I want to be a cop?

Question

I asked a question last night about this, but I wasn't to satisfied with the answer, so I am asking again! Anyway I have a few questions:

A) is it as dangourus as it is said to be

B) what does it pay

C) where would i start out

D) Do you think I could handle the whole blood and guts thing?

Answer 1

a) it is dangerous no matter where you go.  you cant think this job is only what you see in movies or on television.  you never know who you are coming in to contact with and what they might do or try to do to you.

b)depends on where you go, but you cant do this job based solely on the money.  you have to like what you do, the money alone is not worth it.

c)you need to go to a police academy and then start applying to places or try to get a department to hire you first and pay your way.  some departments start you at the jail and some straight to patrol

d)i dont know what you can handle. not only am i a deputy sheriff but we are all also the coroners so you see everything.  not all departments are the same.  big cities have thier own coroners.  it is something you can deal with or not.  depends on the person.  it is harder when it is children that you see dead and you think about whatever case you had that day when you get home from work.  

good luck to you.

Answer 2

Being a police officer is a dangerous job, but there are other jobs that are more dangerous. Police officers must remember that anything can happen anywhere at anytime. However, some places are generally safer to work than others. For example, if the violent crime rate is higher in a given area, there is probably more danger is that area for the average citizen as well as a police officer working in that area. Police officer salaries vary depending on the department. You should visit the websites of the departments that you are interested in. The sites will usually provide the starting salary for officers. If not, you can call the department. Most new police officers start out as a patrol officer. It is up to you whether or not you could handle blood and guts. Again, how much blood and guts an officer sees on a regular basis varies. Some deal with violent crime almost daily and some rarely have to. Some areas are worse than others. No one but you can decide if you can tolerate that sort of thing. Check out http://www.peaceofficerjobs.com for excellent information about police officer jobs.

Answer 3

A)  Police work is very dangerous.  Like the others said, that danger can be lowered due to good training and experience.  The area you work in does not dictate the danger level, just the amount of times you are subjected to danger.  Part of the job.

B) Officers in my area start at around $19-$24 an hour.

C) After you go to college, pass the POST license exam, and apply for a job, and then get hired somewhere, you would start out on patrol, probably on afternoons or midnights.

D)  There is no way to tell if you can handle the blood and guts until you actually put yourself in the situation.  Go do a ride along with the police or an ambulance service before you go to school.

Answer 4

A) Watching COPS is like watching a fishing show.  They cut out the 90% of your day that nothing happens.

B) Your pay depends on the agency you work for.

C) You would start out as a patrol officer on the street.

D) I have no idea how you would handle blood & guts.

Answer 5

A) Its only as dangerous as the city you are patrolling.  If you live in a small town of 10,000 people then know its not dangerous.  However a NYC or Detroit cop, yes, that is very dangerous.

B) where I live, they start out making I believe around 50,000, but after they get off probabtion there pay goes up, i think a patrol officer maxes out at about 75,000

C) You would start out as a patrol officer, going to calls, writing tickets everything any other cop would do, thats what you start out as.  You can be promoted to detective, lieutenant, captain and lastly chief. these all give pay increases.  However you can become a K-9 officer after a few years of patrolling, or you can become a specialist in narcotics, firearms, SWAT team, traffic investigator and many more.  However you will always start out as a patrol oficer and can stay there your entire career if you want.

D)  I dont know how queasy you are, but cops do see some disturbing things, murder scenes, including decaying bodies which have been dead for days.  You will get use to that all though and you will toughen up with experience

Answer 6

Go to cop school..

Answer 7

A) Excellent training and focus can lessen the level of danger greatly.  To listen to the cop haters here on Y!A, police work is far less dangerous than many other occupations. It's because were trained well and know how to avoid or mitigate the danger.

B) Less in smaller and/or impoverished  communities, and more in larger and/or "well off" communities.  I make nearly $100K per year and there are others that make much less and a bit more.

C) You would start out as a rookie, shagging calls for service and hunting street level criminals.

D) Only you know that.  I never had an issue with dead babies and decapitated corpses, so I can't say if you get used to it.