10 days


Swamphunter

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Your not going to miss it?

Oh how naive yet "grasshopper" :D.... take 20 years of your life and give them to public service. Do an honest days work and try and be fair and treat people like you would want to be treated in times of stress.. and in return for that get sued several times, hurt in car accidents, have your house shot at, death threats to your family, scumbags showing up at your house intoxicated wanting you to come out and fight (hehehe I actually enjoyed that one:boxing:), named dragged through the media when you are involved in a legally justified shooting situation but yet somehow you use enough restraint and have a big enough set to avoid killing someone who undoubtedly is trying to provoke you too. In return for that have a notice of claim filed because the "scumbag", is now suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, when at least he is still alive to suffer from it!! Get called names almost every day, sneered upon by those who you would consider decent people with donut jokes, defend yourself against lawyers, and try and rationalize with spoiled kids mommies and daddies. All the while you are supervising a platoon of men who like to argue about everything and keep them from making bad decisions. Try and prevent them from getting under the Chief's scrutiny by being lazy, keep the Chief happy with them getting their work done and performing well, the whole time trying to talk them out of complaining about the amount of work they have to do for the salaries they make...the whole time having a police committee that is not happy with ANYTHING! :jaw:Sorry, you asked...

Will I miss it?? When I actually retire and walk away, probably yes.. its all I have ever done and all I know. Law enforcement and decision making in times of stress has become a daily part of my life and the answer is yes, I will miss certain things. I am not retiring the day I have my 20, I will just be glad to "have the retirement in the bag", should I choose to go. In todays day and age it is cheaper and more cost effective to fire a police officer (esp those with a lot of time on), than to try and defend them in a legal suit. Get rid of an officer at the top of the food chain and replace him with a brand new recruit.

I wish you the best Kyle, maybe Alaska is different than NY but somehow I doubt it is, all that much.

They say the burnout rate for officers is 3-5 years... I agree with that. Watching many young officers come, and go over the last 2 decades burned out and leave for other jobs, or even the attitudes change of those who choose to stay, I agree with that time frame.

You will LOVE the job when you start.. for the first few years you will think to yourself "Man, was Swampy wrong... I LOVE THIS!!!!"

Then after you get second guessed for the third or fourth time, you will start to look around and say... this is not what it was like when I started.....

I remember a guy that came on the job with me back in Feb of 1990. About 2 years into he said to a 20 year veteran cop, "They don't have to pay me to do this, I would do this job for FREE if I had too"... he would have been eligible to retire with me this year but he quit the department three years ago and took a job elsewhere.

I do wish you guys looking towards law enforcement the best, don't get me wrong.. law enforcement is a good paying job and everything I have is because of what I have endured over the last 20 years. I am just getting tired and want to look for something in the private sector...

Go to youtube and look at ANY video of a police officer doing something good for the community. Maybe a good arrest, maybe rescuing a kid or an animal and read the comments underneath. You will see what I mean about the anti law enforcement mentality. It is discouraging...

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Oh how naive yet "grasshopper" :D.... take 20 years of your life and give them to public service. Do an honest days work and try and be fair and treat people like you would want to be treated in times of stress.. and in return for that get sued several times, hurt in car accidents, have your house shot at, death threats to your family, scumbags showing up at your house intoxicated wanting you to come out and fight (hehehe I actually enjoyed that one:boxing:), named dragged through the media when you are involved in a legally justified shooting situation but yet somehow you use enough restraint and have a big enough set to avoid killing someone who undoubtedly is trying to provoke you too. In return for that have a notice of claim filed because the "scumbag", is now suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, when at least he is still alive to suffer from it!! Get called names almost every day, sneered upon by those who you would consider decent people with donut jokes, defend yourself against lawyers, and try and rationalize with spoiled kids mommies and daddies. All the while you are supervising a platoon of men who like to argue about everything and keep them from making bad decisions. Try and prevent them from getting under the Chief's scrutiny by being lazy, keep the Chief happy with them getting their work done and performing well, the whole time trying to talk them out of complaining about the amount of work they have to do for the salaries they make...the whole time having a police committee that is not happy with ANYTHING! :jaw:Sorry, you asked...

Will I miss it?? When I actually retire and walk away, probably yes.. its all I have ever done and all I know. Law enforcement and decision making in times of stress has become a daily part of my life and the answer is yes, I will miss certain things. I am not retiring the day I have my 20, I will just be glad to "have the retirement in the bag", should I choose to go. In todays day and age it is cheaper and more cost effective to fire a police officer (esp those with a lot of time on), than to try and defend them in a legal suit. Get rid of an officer at the top of the food chain and replace him with a brand new recruit.

I wish you the best Kyle, maybe Alaska is different than NY but somehow I doubt it is, all that much.

They say the burnout rate for officers is 3-5 years... I agree with that. Watching many young officers come, and go over the last 2 decades burned out and leave for other jobs, or even the attitudes change of those who choose to stay, I agree with that time frame.

You will LOVE the job when you start.. for the first few years you will think to yourself "Man, was Swampy wrong... I LOVE THIS!!!!"

Then after you get second guessed for the third or fourth time, you will start to look around and say... this is not what it was like when I started.....

I remember a guy that came on the job with me back in Feb of 1990. About 2 years into he said to a 20 year veteran cop, "They don't have to pay me to do this, I would do this job for FREE if I had too"... he would have been eligible to retire with me this year but he quit the department three years ago and took a job elsewhere.

I do wish you guys looking towards law enforcement the best, don't get me wrong.. law enforcement is a good paying job and everything I have is because of what I have endured over the last 20 years. I am just getting tired and want to look for something in the private sector...

Go to youtube and look at ANY video of a police officer doing something good for the community. Maybe a good arrest, maybe rescuing a kid or an animal and read the comments underneath. You will see what I mean about the anti law enforcement mentality. It is discouraging...

Great post bud. Your not the first vet who has said that very thing. You don't to go far to find anti-law enforcement attitudes....theres plenty on this very forum.

Enjoy retirement! If ya move to Oklahoma, I know you could get an awesome job working in private security for all these indian casinos. They pay pretty well for their upper management.

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Will I miss it?? Law enforcement and decision making in times of stress has become a daily part of my life and the answer is yes, I will miss certain things.

I have a friend who is a Sargent with the Dallas PD who is in his 19th year. I asked him recently about retirement and he said something similiar to this. He told me that his body has become accustomed to daily doses of adrenaline. It will be tough for him to walk away from that. He said he is almost addiction.

Good luck with everything Ken!

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