Paperwork, Paperwork, Papwerwork.

And a lifetime of working for bosses insecure in their own "success" and more often than not promoted for reasons other than merit.

Organizations heavy in layers slow to make decisions.

What you see on TV is not reality.  But you can basically work 9-5 (Fed jobs) and get a good retirement.  As a cop, you will probably get overtime.

Still interested?

Cavhan,

Before I got into Law Enforcement I had a completely different idea of what is was like.   I went in pretty blind and got a good smack in the face when I actually began working the job.  It really is NOTHING like what you see on TV.  You can watch cops and you get a 10% idea of what it is like, but in reality the other 90% is so boring and unappealing that it isn't on the show.  

You never see the insane amount of reports and paperwork you have to write.  You never see the officers consistently having to defend themselves from false allegations of misconduct (remember the criminal you just arrested has nothing to lose by claiming you beat them or treated them unfairly).  You will also become sick to your stomach at the inefficiency of the court system as well as the management system within the department.  

You will almost always be working weekends and will usually not be able to attend family functions, holidays, get togethers etc. etc. etc.  You can go your whole career as an exemplary officer and then one day make ONE mistake and your career is OVER.  While this doesn't happen often, it happens and then you have an ex-officer entering a workforce where he is only qualified to be a security guard for 7 dollars an hour.

Catching criminals only to later see them on the street with a slap on the hand also tends to get pretty frustrating (especially when you spent 8 hours writing the reports and paperwork on that particular case).  I won't even get into the amount of protections and rights criminals have vs. the victims.

DEFENSE AND PERSONAL INJURY LAWYERS (you will learn to truly dislike this breed of greedy bastards)

All in all you get to see society at its worst on a daily basis.

Let's not forget that many criminals would rather see you dead and wouldn't hesitate killing you if given the chance. 

http://www.odmp.org/year.php ;  



So now that I made it seem pretty bad I will go into the good part of the job.

Hmmm.... I really have to think about this.  I'm just kidding, in all seriousness I couldn't see myself doing any other job.  I guess it is just in a person to want to do this job.  I can't stand people who prey on the weak and at the end of my day I go home knowing I did my best to protect those who can't protect themselves.

The pay is good depending on which dept you work for.  Overtime also helps increase the take home amount.  There is a higher level of job security than with other jobs.  The retirements are decent, however Federal retirement really is not all that great compared to what some other local departments have.  (Federal does usually pay better though).

I work with a great bunch of people, I have made many friends in LE and can say that the job brings us all closer.  

Action, yes, you will see your share of action, though not as often as one migh think, but after a few years of it , it then becomes more than enough.  

There you have it, it isn't what it is like in the movies, but I really can't imagine doing anything else.