If you were a cop.....

[Catman]

Ah yes, I vaguely recall that. My deepest apologies.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Not far from Boston.  Town of Billerica.  About 40,000 pop and 26 sq mi.  Check the edit in the last post.

Ah yes, it seems Boston police are some of the highest paid. The median salary is 9k higher than than little town I live in.

[Champ]

Catman, less SRT and more Porsche

[Catman]

Catman, less SRT and more Porsche

Hey America needs some representation too!  I have a good AMG one ready to go.

[ro51092]

Quit.       

[dazzleman]

Ah yes, it seems Boston police are some of the highest paid. The median salary is 9k higher than than little town I live in.

Their cost of living is probably a lot higher than where you are located.  I'm guessing that the $9K doesn't make up for the difference in housing prices between the two areas.

[dazzleman]

Kind of depends on assignments...if I was given a choice, I'd like to work more as a detective.? I wouldn't enjoy walking around town, dealing with all the drunks/punks, and I think I would go crazy if I had to sit in my car all day.? Investigative work, that sounds fascinating and seems to be a good mental workout.

Dude, if you were a cop, you'd have to lock yourself up....

[Eye of the Tiger]

Their cost of living is probably a lot higher than where you are located.? I'm guessing that the $9K doesn't make up for the difference in housing prices between the two areas.

You're probably right. I only pay $700 a month here to rent a house with 3 beds, 2 baths, 2 car garage and about .5 acres in a relatively nice neighborhood. Two years ago, I lived in a 2 bed duplex that was $250 a month.

[Catman]

You're probably right. I only pay $700 a month here to rent a house with 3 beds, 2 baths, 2 car garage and about .5 acres in a relatively nice neighborhood. Two years ago, I lived in a 2 bed duplex that was $250 a month.

$700 won't get you a pizza around here. :P

[J86]

You're probably right. I only pay $700 a month here to rent a house with 3 beds, 2 baths, 2 car garage and about .5 acres in a relatively nice neighborhood. Two years ago, I lived in a 2 bed duplex that was $250 a month.

holy shit thats nothing!

[Raza]

I guess if I could procure a used Camaro SS with government funds, I could be a high speed pursuitist. 

I admit, it would be strange to be on the other side for once.

[JYODER240]

I guess if I could procure a used Camaro SS with government funds, I could be a high speed pursuitist.?

I admit, it would be strange to be on the other side for once.

I give them a head start though, make things more fun.

[Raza]

I give them a head start though, make things more fun.

It's so strange.  I've been breaking laws for so long, I don't know what it would be like enforcing them.  In a more than somewhat frank fashion, I think I could kill someone, though. 

[Speed_Racer]

It's so strange.  I've been breaking laws for so long, I don't know what it would be like enforcing them.  In a more than somewhat frank fashion, I think I could kill someone, though. 

If I were a cop (armed) going against an armed criminal, I think I could kill him/her purely out of instinct.

[The Pirate]

In a more than somewhat frank fashion,

aka, Quite Frankly!!

[JYODER240]

If I were a cop (armed) going against an armed criminal, I think I could kill him/her purely out of instinct.

I could too, the moment they pull a gun i'd have no problem shooting someone.

[hounddog]

Hounddog, what's with the sig?

I learned that from my original senior officer.  Back then we did not call them FTO's.  I trained with him for about 2 weeks.  He used to say that to at least one person a night!  He said he learned it from his old trainer.  After he retired I took it upon myself to carry on the tradition.  Now one of my trainees uses it regularly.  Only these days it gets him in trouble, but he says he does it to carry on the tradition!

[hounddog]

I could too, the moment they pull a gun i'd have no problem shooting someone.

That all sounds great.  the problem is your immediate thoughts are, "If I hit him, how much will I have to pay out?"  and "How long will I have to pay it for."

Two rules to leathal force delivery,
1) You will be extremely sorrow filled.  (trust me on that)
2) You will be sued.

[hounddog]

... and I know that he has had to knock on people's doors to inform them that a loved one was dead.? I don't know if I could do that...

That is the easy part.  It is the blood and guts on scene stuff that is harder.

It's a noble career for sure.

Who sold you on that line of bs???????
I have heard that for years, what the heck is so noble about it?  I am being serious, I would not consider LE as noble.  And I did it for 17 years.

[Catman]

That is the easy part.  It is the blood and guts on scene stuff that is harder.
Who sold you on that line of bs???????
I have heard that for years, what the heck is so noble about it?  I am being serious, I would not consider LE as noble.  And I did it for 17 years.

It's noble before you actually do the job.

[dazzleman]

It's noble before you actually do the job.

Nothing is noble to the people who are actually doing it, day in and day out.

But being a police officer is a noble job, nonetheless.  Not to say that every officer is good and noble, but the job, done right, is one of the bedrocks of a civilized society.  Don't underestimate it.

[sparkplug]

$700 won't get you a pizza around here. :P

One of my high school teachers used to be a cop and he started at around 1980's around $8000.00 a year.

[The Pirate]

That is the easy part.  It is the blood and guts on scene stuff that is harder.
Who sold you on that line of bs???????
I have heard that for years, what the heck is so noble about it?  I am being serious, I would not consider LE as noble.  And I did it for 17 years.

It's ironic that you ask that, as I typed it, I looked at the word and thought that maybe there was a better one to use, but couldn't think of any.  At the same time, I've never been an LEO (obviously), only heard snippets here and there of the job.  As an outsider looking in, seeing the condition of society today, and your guys' role in helping to better the quality of life for everybody, it is a noble job.  Of course, I'm sure there are many parts of it where noble is a poor descriptor.  I stand by it though.  Essentially, an LEO knows he is fighting a losing battle, there will always be crime.  But the fact that somebody still feels a need to play a part in reducing society's problems is worthy of some recognition, IMO.


Naturally, when I get pulled over and issued a speeding ticket, I can't say that noble is the word that comes to mind.   

[SVT_Power]

Pull over ferris during his 100+mph runs :P

[L. ed foote]

What would you do everyday if you were a cop?  It is an open ended question, so answer it honestly.

NYPD Harbor or Highway Patrol.

My main interest would be seeing things that other people don't get to see, or going places where people don't normally get to go.

But @ 25k? 

I respectfully, and graciously decline.

[850CSi]

Pull over ferris during his 100+mph runs :P

That's nice of you to ask that. I'd be fucked. 

[Submariner]

I would pull only nice cars over...and offer bribes in return for no tickets.

[SaltyDog]

I would pull only hairy men over...and offer bribes in return for no tickets.

Oh my!

[dazzleman]

I would pull only hairy men over...and offer bribes in return for no tickets.

Can you be a little more explicit about what you would seek from these hairy men in exchange for not giving them a ticket? 

[dazzleman]

Back to the original topic --

Hounddog -- what type of cop are you talking about?

-Highway patrol
-Suburban town
-Rural town/state police
-High-crime city
-Beat cop vs. special detail cop

BTW, what type of cop were you hounddog when you were on the force?

If I had to choose, I'd probably want to be a cop in a suburban town.  Not too much ugly stuff to deal with.  Next choice would be highway cop.  I guess you could meet a lot of interesting people when you spend your days pulling cars over.  Maybe.

I actually took a Citizen's Police Academy Class in my town (a low-crime, suburban town) and it was pretty interesting.  They'd never let me on the force, though, for good reason. 

When we did shooting practice, the officer showing me how the use the gun emphasized that after firing, the gun would kick up a little so.  So I overcompensated on repeat shots, and in aiming at the figure I was supposed to hit in the upper torso area, I went a little low.  Let's just say the guy wouldn't be able to have any kids after I was done with him.    I also f'ed up the dusting for fingerprints part by using too much dust.  The lieutenant must have really been shaking his head.  I'd have been booted out of the Police Academy in my first week.

The ride-alongs were a lot of fun.  I did two different ones, one with a seasoned veteran cop, and one with a rookie.  Both were cool guys.  The first ride-along was on a weekend in the winter when there had been a thaw after a lot of snow, so there was a lot of mud.  We got called to cover backup on a burglar alarm (false) at a house in a very rich section of town.  The house had a big property, with a guest house and horse stable (empty) in the back.  Because we had to check out the whole property, we drove down to the back, and the paved driveway ended.  Both police cars (we were backup to the primary officer answering the car) got stuck in the mud, and nothing we could do was able to dislodge them.  We finally had to call a towtruck with a winch to pull both cars out.  The cop I was with (his name was Greg, just like Catman  ) was cursing a bluestreak that would have made a longshoreman blush.  It was pretty funny.  When we got back, the commanding officer was ready to rip Greg a new a-hole, and only my presence kept him from doing so the minute we walked in the door.

Earlier that night, we had gotten a call to back up an officer who had pulled over an ex-con for improper plates.  It turned out that the guy had a suspended license, no registration, no insurance, and was on parole.  He was supposedly very upset because he was saying that this would cause him to be sent back to the joint on parole violations.  This was a lights and sirens episode, and we had to go about 2 miles with the sirens and lights going.  It was pretty fun, and a little nerve-wracking.

One thing I hadn't realized was how many plates get run by the police.  We had a computer right in the car, and Greg was running plates randomly on a ton of cars to make sure the plate matched the vehicle.

On the second ride-along, which I did with a rookie office (Ed) we got a call right away to get to a house in another rich section because a 15-year-old boy there had lit a roll of toilet paper on fire and was threatening to burn down the house.  He had gotten in trouble at school, and was supposed to go to Saturday detention that day, and when he didn't go, he got into a big fight with his mother and pulled the toilet paper caper, so she called the police.  That was another lights and siren episode.

It was funny how different the two officers were.  Greg was pretty hard-nosed and cursed up a blue streak the entire time, while Ed was much quieter, only cursed once, and excused himself when he did.  From the stories they told, I also got the impression that Ed was much kinder to motorists that he pulled over, while Greg liked to write a lot of tickets.