The grass is greener on the other side.

[k9mp4jc]

question?
I am looking at saying goodbye to the army. it been great as a Military Police officer but out of the 6 years I have been in, I have been gone for 3 years. I love my family and want to spend more time with my kids and wife. so i was wondering if i could get some insight about being a Police officer. is the role the same as being a MP. do you get more time for family, I think you get paid overtime unlike the Army. Just wondering if the grass is greener on the other side.
thanks

[ditchdoc24]

I've never been a MP so I can't really address the similarities between that and civilian LE. I've been in LE now for about 4 years and it's been a good thing. I have a lot more time at home with the family which has been one of the biggest benefits. I work for the same county I live in and my agency has no problem with me stopping by the house for a few minutes during the course of my shift. Law Enforcement is what you make of it. I work for a small agency in a rural area so it's obviously going to be significantly different from LAPD, NYPD or any other big agency. Best of luck to you and thank you for your service.

[Scott941]

Just remember this. If the grass is that much greener on the other side -- it could be they're spreading too much manure around.

[David Hineline]

You get housing allowance and total medical coverage for your family now, that's expensive on this side.

[k9mp4jc]

I have always wanted to be a police officer and yeah the medical coverage might come out of my pay but if I can get a chance to have more family time then it would be worth it. The military has been great but my kids don't really know me and I am not going work 20 years for a pay check and lose my family. Besides I look at it as a way to help people. If I can get a chance to change one persons life i think it would be worth it. so yeah the grass may not be a green as the army when it comes to money but the hope of family time is worth the risk.


Pro's in my mind
1. get to drive fast.
2. more family time.
3. get paid over time.
4. get to help people everyday.
5.I can stay in one place longer than 3 years and no more year deployments
6. like the army you have a brotherhood with your battle's or co workers
7. you still get to kick in doors and take down bad guys.
8. after a couple of years I could go back to K-9

[fun.]

Pro's in my mind
1. get to drive fast.
2. more family time.
3. get paid over time.
4. get to help people everyday.
5.I can stay in one place longer than 3 years and no more year deployments
6. like the army you have a brotherhood with your battle's or co workers
7. you still get to kick in doors and take down bad guys.
8. after a couple of years I could go back to K-9

I hope those aren't in order of importance to you.

[k9mp4jc]

Well if I had to put it in order, It would be
1 Jesus
2 Family
3.America
4 Texas
5. Helping people & maybe kicking some doors and having a little fun once in a while,
the rest will fall in place and thinking because of experience some would give insight on how to prepare from going from Military to civilian life or even better some tips for preparing for the force or something along those lines. "not trying to counsel me." thanks...

[mookster]

I have always wanted to be a police officer and yeah the medical coverage might come out of my pay but if I can get a chance to have more family time then it would be worth it. The military has been great but my kids don't really know me and I am not going work 20 years for a pay check and lose my family. Besides I look at it as a way to help people. If I can get a chance to change one persons life i think it would be worth it. so yeah the grass may not be a green as the army when it comes to money but the hope of family time is worth the risk.


Pro's in my mind
1. get to drive fast.
2. more family time.
3. get paid over time.
4. get to help people everyday.
5.I can stay in one place longer than 3 years and no more year deployments
6. like the army you have a brotherhood with your battle's or co workers
7. you still get to kick in doors and take down bad guys.
8. after a couple of years I could go back to K-9

1. Lots of agencies are slowing their guys down and have GPS trackers in cars. No driving fast most of the time.
2. Rotating shifts and court on your days off. Don't forget getting stuck on graveyards working on the weekends.
3. What's overtime? Havent's seen that in years.
4. People hate you and don't want your help.
5. Hope you like where you go or you're screwed.
6. We eat our own.
7. In 6 years I've yet to kick a door and the ACLU screams if you hug thugs too hard these days.
8. Lots of agencies don't have K-9's.

Now my counterpoints aren't universal but $10 bucks sez that there's a passing resemblance for each agency out there. I never had the privilege of serving in the military, I went into corrections and then patrol. I would never want to do anything else but don't assume that the grass is greener here.

Think it through, weigh the pros and cons. Do some ride alongs and try to find real flesh and blood people you can knock a beer back with and they can tell you what it was like for them making the transition. They may share some things and challenges in person that someone won't tell you over the internetz.

Best of luck.

[asullivan]

Well if I had to put it in order, It would be
1 Jesus
2 Family
3.America
4 Texas
5. Helping people & maybe kicking some doors and having a little fun once in a while,
the rest will fall in place and thinking because of experience some would give insight on how to prepare from going from Military to civilian life or even better some tips for preparing for the force or something along those lines. "not trying to counsel me." thanks...

So your say'in Ya' wud' let somethang or some country etc. blow America off tha' face of the earth to save your family?

[Che]

.. The military has been great but my kids don't really know me and I am not going work 20 years for a pay check and lose my family.

Think about it. I am a divorcee, most of my police friends are divorcees. Being a former MP I wanted a lot of action. After 30+ years in 20/20 hindsight, Petticoat Junction PD or Mayberry Sheriffs with Andy and Barney might have been a better choice.

Think about this, you think being the new guy you will get Saturday and Sundays off? It took 7 years for me to get "Day Shift". Day shift with weekends off about 20 years seniority. Now in the MPs we had rotating weekends off. So there I had two weekends off a month and that was true for everyone in my platoon including the PFCs. You think the rookie gets his choice of vacation period? Seniority rules and the old timers want their's for the holidays and summer. So rookies get the off season BUT the children are in school. You got Oct 1-15 off as vacation so you paint the house and on the weekend take the kids to Six Flags.

Good luck YMMV

[Jeff22]

Everything in law enforcement depends on where you live and what agency you work for.

When researching for an agency, here are some things to consider (in no particular order):
(1.) Find out what they pay. What’s the cost of living in that locality?
(2.) How much VOLUNTARY overtime is available?
(3.) How often might you be ordered in or held over? It happens to all of us sometimes, and in some places, because of the staffing level and the amount of calls for service it happens A LOT. That makes it difficult to plan anything outside of work and can interfere with daycare.
(4.) Do they rotate shifts or do they work straight shifts? Some places have you rotate from days to evenings to midnights. Some places may have you rotate in relief between two shifts, and others just have straight shifts.
(5.) How does the days off rotation work?
(6.) How easy is it to get time off and how much notice do you have to give?
(7.) Do shifts get picked on an annual basis, or do you get hired and put into a spot and don't have an opportunity to move until there is a vacancy?
(8.) Do you have a union? How detailed is your contract?
(9.) How much leave time do you get in a year? How much sick time? Does sick time accumulate?
(10.) Being a cop means nights, weekends, and holidays. Depending on circumstance and your expectations, that can be really hard on family life. Or not that big a deal.
(11.) Rookies in most places start on the midnight shift. If you can't get accustomed to working the late shift, being awake at night and sleeping during the day, maybe being the police is NOT a good idea for you.
(12.) If you work the evening shift you won't see your wife & kid much.
(13.) What kind of arrangements can you make for child care?
(14.) How well is the agency staffed? How well are they equipped? Do you have a reasonable opportunity for specialized training? Do they pay education incentive for your degrees?
(15.) How is the retirement program?

It's hard to make any kind of blanket statement about police work as a career because there are WAY too many variables from agency to agency and from one part of the country to another.

(I'm fortunate. I've been on straight 11p-7a BY CHOICE since 1977, because I'm a night person. I like the flexibility of working nights. My evenings are free to do things with family & friends and to do recreational things EXCEPT that I can't drink before going to work. We have rotating days off, reasonable pay and benefits and reasonable opportunity for voluntary overtime. As much as a few of the guys at my PD bitch and whine about everything, we have it pretty good, and they're too dumb to realize it)

If you're married and have a wife & child, then you also have responsibilities as a husband and father. Which means you need to be home sometimes. Don't make the mistake lots of guys do, and get hired on, work evenings so you don't see your family much anyway, and THEN get on specialized units like SWAT or Search & Rescue or Narcotics or something, which places even more of a demand on your time. Take a good interest in your career, feel free to pursue interesting training & education on your own time and at your own expense once in a while, but don't let the job become your life. If you have kids, having a job assignment where you have to carry a pager and be on call all the time may NOT be a good idea . . .

Lots of guys work all night and then babysit all day, and then try to catch a nap before going back to work at 11pm. They spend their whole life all jet lagged and burned out, and they never get to see their wife. Try to avoid that at all costs if you want to be effective at work and stay married.

And if your non-police friends become uncomfortable or act weird around you because you're a cop, you probably need new friends . . .

[Jeff22]

Another thing to consider might be continuing on in the National Guard or the Reserve. Maybe not right now, but in the future. You've already got 6 years of active duty in -- 14 more years as a weekend warrior and you've got a pension when you hit 60.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

BTDT - wish I'd have stayed AD. Mookster's #6 is a very real, oft unspoken garish truth. I haven't found the brotherhood bond like I had in the Corps. That's not saying it's not out there, just that I haven't run across it.

[Ex Army MP]

1

6. We eat our own.

And even if you didn't the DA's office would make sure that you did.

[Che]

Everything in law enforcement depends on where you live and what agency you work for.

That was very well done. Potential cops really need o think about it.

[Che]

BTDT - wish I'd have stayed AD. Mookster's #6 is a very real, oft unspoken garish truth. I haven't found the brotherhood bond like I had in the Corps. That's not saying it's not out there, just that I haven't run across it.

1000% true. Former Marine 0311/5811.

I have been on four different departments since 1981. The brotherhood in law enforcement is more like the 'good old boy network'. Depending on who the Chief and/or Captain was; One year, "officer of the year" next year after a power struggle, "smart*****". I think most of us just want to be good cops.

[careerchange#2]

Everyone else on here has pretty much hit all the points, but it's been said elsewhere that policing is regional.

My department has rural, suburban and urban areas. I'm fortunate in that my current assignment allows me total flexibility to do what I want, when I want within reasons. But it took a while to get to that position. Depending on your agency you may never see your coworkers except for super hot calls because of distance. Could you tolerate day in and day out of "copy a past vandalism" for the next 20 years if you get on with a small department?

[elchorizo]

Well if I had to put it in order, It would be
1 Jesus
2 Family
3.America
4 Texas

Wait a tic....I know you.
president-george-w-bush-hook-em-horns-hand-gesture.jpg

[k9mp4jc]

Thanks Guys, Years of wisdom and all for the taking. As for me there is much to think about and consider when making my decision . In truth I will be getting out and looking at Central Texas to call home. What department, not for sure yet. I do know that you guys have given me a lot to think about when deciding what department to apply for. thanks.

[jannino]

The war is winding down so why now? Have you looked into a different MOS?

Mookster countered all your points perfectly. Spend some time browsing the site.. you will see that public safety is very fluid and subject to the political climate (local and national).

There are number threads on the topic of MP vs civilian LE and you will see they can be vastly different.

Best of luck to you