appreciate the message. didn't do 20. I did 6 yrs, 7 with the dept. in yr 5, a sgt rolled door to door to laugh at me. "haha, you got what, 16 yrs to go," he asked, "I'm out in 2."
I laughed back. you're stuck here 2 more years, the day this job isn't what I want to do, I'm gone. and a little over a year later I left.
appreciate the message. didn't do 20. I did 6 yrs, 7 with the dept. in yr 5, a sgt rolled door to door to laugh at me. "haha, you got what, 16 yrs to go," he asked, "I'm out in 2."
I laughed back. you're stuck here 2 more years, the day this job isn't what I want to do, I'm gone. and a little over a year later I left.
but I carry around my share of the stuff I saw and did. wrote over 1k reports. saw prob 6 fatal ODs a year. most years a suicide or a couple good attempts. hundreds of shootings. dozens of fatal accidents. all of it runs together after a while, a few stand out sharply even almost a decade later.
bosses don't care. they just want beats staffed. my last day I called my agencies mental health unit and spoke to the LT. he told me to get. haven't looked back. family much better for it, me too, most days.
would push back that soldiers leave the battlefield behind. 2 trips to Iraq. still get things every day that kick back old memories. might be a box on the road, or a sound. it's not as bad as living where I worked... but happens.
the big diff between military and policing to me is in the military there are 7 support for every 1 infantry. police will all work the front lines, though some quickly leave the streets and never return (see e.g. my former chief: probe year rode a beat, 2nd yr NPO, by year 3 was in SWAT, year 5 SGT, 8 lt, by 10 was a captain. total time in patrol 3 yrs in a 30+ yr career)
appreciate the message. didn't do 20. I did 6 yrs, 7 with the dept. in yr 5, a sgt rolled door to door to laugh at me. "haha, you got what, 16 yrs to go," he asked, "I'm out in 2."
I laughed back. you're stuck here 2 more years, the day this job isn't what I want to do, I'm gone. and a little over a year later I left.
but I carry around my share of the stuff I saw and did. wrote over 1k reports. saw prob 6 fatal ODs a year. most years a suicide or a couple good attempts. hundreds of shootings. dozens of fatal accidents. all of it runs together after a while, a few stand out sharply even almost a decade later.
bosses don't care. they just want beats staffed. my last day I called my agencies mental health unit and spoke to the LT. he told me to get. haven't looked back. family much better for it, me too, most days.
would push back that soldiers leave the battlefield behind. 2 trips to Iraq. still get things every day that kick back old memories. might be a box on the road, or a sound. it's not as bad as living where I worked... but happens.
the big diff between military and policing to me is in the military there are 7 support for every 1 infantry. police will all work the front lines, though some quickly leave the streets and never return (see e.g. my former chief: probe year rode a beat, 2nd yr NPO, by year 3 was in SWAT, year 5 SGT, 8 lt, by 10 was a captain. total time in patrol 3 yrs in a 30+ yr career)