4 ms·

I can’t imagine it’s the most attractive job. Most people with options are going to do something else. The pay is generally ok in a lot of places but it’s a jo

I can’t imagine it’s the most attractive job. Most people with options are going to do something else. The pay is generally ok in a lot of places but it’s a job where you’re going to work bad hours early on and for the most part you’re dealing with the uglier side of society. Your whole world view is going to be shifted negatively as you encounter so many people with drug issues, mental issues, violent people, etc. Who would want that? Who would want to spend their life interacting with this part of society day in and day out? I can only assume for many that take that job that it’s the best they can do. I interact with thoughtful, nice people every day to the point where I take it for granted. I’m not exposed to the desperate, degenerate, or depraved part of society. And I wouldn’t want to be.

blaser-waffle 6y ago
To take this further, all available stats show that the average tenure of a police officer is <5 years. This is no surprise -- the hours are rough, the work can be exceptionally dangerous or stressful at times, pay is middling (generally 50-70k a year, tho often much lower in poorer counties), and there is an entire class of US society that is blatantly "fuck the police". Why get into fist-fights with crackheads at 4am when I can get an A+ and Network+ and answer tickets all day? Slightly less degrading and no one will try to shoot me. The result is that smart, qualified people rightly fuck-off to better paying or less stressful gigs. Additionally, there is no lateral move into higher levels of police leadership (unless you're transferring from another PD). So your mid-to-senior leadership is often whoever manages to stick around. See pg. 6 https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/wpor_ltpov.pdf https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/wpor_ltpov.pdf ("Why Police Officers Resign") also https://www.bls.gov/ooh/protective-service/police-and-detectives.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/protective-service/police-and-detect... (salary info)

blaser-waffle 6y ago

To take this further, all available stats show that the average tenure of a police officer is <5 years. This is no surprise -- the hours are rough, the work can be exceptionally dangerous or stressful at times, pay is middling (generally 50-70k a year, tho often much lower in poorer counties), and there is an entire class of US society that is blatantly "fuck the police". Why get into fist-fights with crackheads at 4am when I can get an A+ and Network+ and answer tickets all day? Slightly less degrading and no one will try to shoot me. The result is that smart, qualified people rightly fuck-off to better paying or less stressful gigs. Additionally, there is no lateral move into higher levels of police leadership (unless you're transferring from another PD). So your mid-to-senior leadership is often whoever manages to stick around. See pg. 6 https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/wpor_ltpov.pdf https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/wpor_ltpov.pdf ("Why Police Officers Resign") also https://www.bls.gov/ooh/protective-service/police-and-detectives.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/protective-service/police-and-detect... (salary info)