Moose wants to be a cop!

Martial Arts Training Forums The Armory: Weapons, Military, LEO, and Self Defen
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Ladies and gentleman,

My time with the Marine Corps is coming to a close. 6 glorious years, ending with a medical retirement. After I worked through my five steps, I decided to think about what I want to do.

I’ve always wanted to be a cop, and a doctor. So, I figured why not both? I need a job while I go through my pre reqs, and I’d get bored with anything else. Luckily, my local sheriff’s department is hiring like hot cakes, and they encouraged me to apply!

So, tell me about being a LEO. The good, the bad, the ugly.

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[QUOTE=3moose1;2862079]Ladies and gentleman,

My time with the Marine Corps is coming to a close. 6 glorious years, ending with a medical retirement. After I worked through my five steps, I decided to think about what I want to do.

I’ve always wanted to be a cop, and a doctor. So, I figured why not both? I need a job while I go through my pre reqs, and I’d get bored with anything else. Luckily, my local sheriff’s department is hiring like hot cakes, and they encouraged me to apply!

So, tell me about being a LEO. The good, the bad, the ugly.[/QUOTE]

So let me get this straight.

You plan to get a 4 year college (pre-med) degree (I’m assuming you don’t have one already).

You want to go through (I assume) California P.O.S.T training to get your basic patrol certification (several weeks), go through FTO, and work as a Deputy Sheriff ?

And you want to go through both at the same time ?

So, criminal justice 4 year degree, then med school ??? What do you plan to major in while getting your degree ?

Then I assume you will quit as a deputy sheriff to slog your way through 4 years of medical school. Because unless you are a bonafied genius with a near-eidict memory, you won’t be working much in med school.

If you are not independently wealthy, I suggest you think deeply about how much in debt you want to be. Unless you are thinking GI bill or something similar.

Too bad you are getting medically discharged. The Marine Corps might have paid your way…

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[QUOTE=BKR;2862085]So let me get this straight.

You plan to get a 4 year college (pre-med) degree (I’m assuming you don’t have one already).

You want to go through (I assume) California P.O.S.T training to get your basic patrol certification (several weeks), go through FTO, and work as a Deputy Sheriff ?

And you want to go through both at the same time ?

So, criminal justice 4 year degree, then med school ??? What do you plan to major in while getting your degree ?

Then I assume you will quit as a deputy sheriff to slog your way through 4 years of medical school. Because unless you are a bonafied genius with a near-eidict memory, you won’t be working much in med school.

If you are not independently wealthy, I suggest you think deeply about how much in debt you want to be. Unless you are thinking GI bill or something similar.

Too bad you are getting medically discharged. The Marine Corps might have paid your way…[/QUOTE]

I had gotten from his post that he plans on applying at a Sheriff’s agency that would be sponsoring his getting a California POST. But either way, going through all that just to fund more (and increasingly expensive) schooling does seem to be a tad impractical.

Additionally, even for departments that are hiring like crazy, a candidate that doesn’t seem like they’re planning on being with them for the long haul isn’t going to seem terribly attractive.

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[QUOTE=Lanner Hunt;2862090]I had gotten from his post that he plans on applying at a Sheriff’s agency that would be sponsoring his getting a California POST. But either way, going through all that just to fund more (and increasingly expensive) schooling does seem to be a tad impractical.

Additionally, even for departments that are hiring like crazy, a candidate that doesn’t seem like they’re planning on being with them for the long haul isn’t going to seem terribly attractive.[/QUOTE]

I wasn’t looking at it from the point of view of him self sponsoring through P.O.S.T. That expense is negligible compared to 4 years of college, 4 years of med school, then whatever residency (although those are paid) for whatever he would decide to specialize in.

If the Marine Corps is paying the way (GI Bill? I have no idea), then best use of funds would be to just go to college, IMO,or trade school (be a cop or whatever).

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I have a bachelor’s, I just need around a year or so of pre reqs. I’d take a break from school for the academy and training.

I’m saving my GI bill for med school.

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Just clarifying. Now please talk about being a cop, and not my plans to become one

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Plus who knows? I might love being a cop and forget about med school lol

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What do you want to know?

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

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[QUOTE=3moose1;2862097]I have a bachelor’s, I just need around a year or so of pre reqs. I’d take a break from school for the academy and training.

I’m saving my GI bill for med school.[/QUOTE]

OK, that makes more sense. What is your degree in ? If it’s not a science degree, you will be taking some tough courses for pre-med work. Even then, organic chemistry is not a fun course…

yeah, saving GI Bill for med school is a great option !

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[QUOTE=3moose1;2862100]Plus who knows? I might love being a cop and forget about med school lol[/QUOTE]

That is true.

I guess where I’m coming from is that the LEO training is a big commitment of time and personal energy to invest if you are kind of just “trying it out”.

I know, you went through Marine Corps basic and all that, so the physical aspects won’t be that big a deal to you.

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[QUOTE=tgace;2862102]What do you want to know?

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]
Tell him about badge bunnies…

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[QUOTE=BKR;2862110]Tell him about badge bunnies…[/QUOTE]

Lol. Those are sort of a mix of myth and reality.

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[QUOTE=BKR;2862109]
I know, you went through Marine Corps basic and all that, so the physical aspects won’t be that big a deal to you.[/QUOTE]

Maybe.

Moose - what was your medical discharge for? Are you fucked up physically?

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And you might not care to talk about the logistics, but we’re going to anyway. It sounds like you’re trying to bite off more than anyone can chew.

Do you know what kind of schedule you’d be working? For instance, my buddy is a sheriff’s deputy and they work a crazy fucking schedule. Two weeks on day shift, then two weeks on night shift. Four days on. Four days off. I’m sure your schedule could very well be different, but if you don’t know you better ask. That’s some crazy shit for a student to try to deal with.

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[QUOTE=Devil;2862115]And you might not care to talk about the logistics, but we’re going to anyway. It sounds like you’re trying to bite off more than anyone can chew.

Do you know what kind of schedule you’d be working? For instance, my buddy is a sheriff’s deputy and they work a crazy fucking schedule. Two weeks on day shift, then two weeks on night shift. Four days on. Four days off. I’m sure your schedule could very well be different, but if you don’t know you better ask. That’s some crazy shit for a student to try to deal with.[/QUOTE]

I feel like the timeline isn’t adequately conveyed. I’m 24, and the only career I ever wanted is kicking me out earlier then anticipated.

Right now I’m in a great position, I have a ba in psych, paid for by TA, so I only have about a year and a half of god awful classes before I can apply to med school.

I still don’t know what I want to do. Luckily, I’m young enough to be able to try both. Becoming a deputy will not put any undue strain on me, and 6 months isn’t that much time at all, for training.

I’m not sure I want to be a doctor, I’m not sure I want to be a cop. I can’t decide. I guess it’s the naivety of youth that is driving me to try both. If I drop a few years into being a deputy and realize I hate it, I can still attend med school.

As for school while working, that’s something I’m going to have to test out. Obviously my first priority will be becoming a competent deputy.

I appreciate the insight, gentleman.

As for the reasons of my medical retirement, I don’t feel comfortable posting them on an open forum.

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[QUOTE=3moose1;2862117]I feel like the timeline isn’t adequately conveyed. I’m 24, and the only career I ever wanted is kicking me out earlier then anticipated.

Right now I’m in a great position, I have a ba in psych, paid for by TA, so I only have about a year and a half of god awful classes before I can apply to med school.

I still don’t know what I want to do. Luckily, I’m young enough to be able to try both. Becoming a deputy will not put any undue strain on me, and 6 months isn’t that much time at all, for training.

I’m not sure I want to be a doctor, I’m not sure I want to be a cop. I can’t decide. I guess it’s the naivety of youth that is driving me to try both. If I drop a few years into being a deputy and realize I hate it, I can still attend med school.

As for school while working, that’s something I’m going to have to test out. Obviously my first priority will be becoming a competent deputy.

I appreciate the insight, gentleman.

As for the reasons of my medical retirement, I don’t feel comfortable posting them on an open forum.[/QUOTE]

Be advised again that it takes more than six months of training to become a cop.

If you get hired, it’ll likely take about four to six months. After that, you’ll have to wait a couple months (probably) to start your academy. THEN you have 6 months of the academy. THEEEN you have another 4-6 months of FTO, which involves your every action being watched and scrutinized by a senior officer who is training you.

So the total training time to be a cop out on your own is closer to a year, not counting how long it takes to actually get through an incredibly long and competitive hiring process.

And while it’s cool that you wanna figure things out, as I mentioned before, don’t let on at all that you’re just ‘trying it’ to the powers that are hiring you, because then I can guarantee you won’t get picked.

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I’m starting the hiring process now, so if I’m selected, I’ll start the academy shortly after I retire.

So what is being a cop like?

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[QUOTE=3moose1;2862119]
So what is being a cop like?[/QUOTE]

When I graduated the police academy, the instructor who gave the keynote speech opened up with, ‘Being a cop is going to work everyday with a ticket to the greatest show on earth.’

I think that’s a pretty apt description, on the surface.

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Its hard to define because its different for everyone. Its different for me now as a detective Lt than it was as a patrolman, Sergeant, Patrol Lt. And my perspective has changed over the last 15 years.

While the politics of police leadership and dealing with a less than stellar DAs office has been making me more cynical these days, I still remind myself that I make a good living seeing and doing things most people will never see or do and that I still enjoy the “work”.

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What did you enjoy most?