Careers

Police Officer as a Career option?

  • Last Updated:
  • Jun 13th, 2017 7:36 pm
Deal Addict
Nov 9, 2011
1067 posts
436 upvotes
Toronto, ON
WOWMAN wrote: wat?
What's unclear?

It's saying police cannot be hired as bouncers, or as roaming security. They aren't hired as staff, they're hired for presence.

In other words, you can't hire them to replace your own staff for checking ID at the door, etc.
They're there as deterrence for people who would otherwise cause a stir if police weren't there.

Also if you're going to copy/paste in your replies, please make sure you're including the source for context - in this case the information is relevant only to London, Ontario.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Aug 27, 2012
6228 posts
1592 upvotes
Toronto
iPhoneSTER wrote: During interview process, be prepared to answer questions such as but not limited to:
- Have you ever done any drugs ?
- Have you ever stolen anything ?
- Have you ever watched porn ?
If you answer no to any of the above, they know you are lying.
Then say yes and get over with it.
Jr. Member
Apr 29, 2016
176 posts
48 upvotes
iPhoneSTER wrote: During interview process, be prepared to answer questions such as but not limited to:
- Have you ever done any drugs ?
- Have you ever stolen anything ?
- Have you ever watched porn ?
If you answer no to any of the above, they know you are lying.
Because every single person who applies to be a police officer has done drugs before...
Deal Addict
Feb 14, 2016
1832 posts
1223 upvotes
WOWMAN wrote: Because every single person who applies to be a police officer has done drugs before...
ah, I thought it was porn question,
Deal Addict
Feb 16, 2010
1088 posts
352 upvotes
JIB9022 wrote: ah, I thought it was porn question,
have you ever watch gay porn? if not, that's discrimination. You have to say "yes" to get the Job while passing polygraph test Smiling Face With Open Mouth And Smiling Eyes
Deal Addict
Dec 11, 2007
2419 posts
177 upvotes
Clayden wrote: Trades workers have a right to refuse unsafe work (otherwise you chalk it up to "danger pay").
For law enforcement, firefighters, and health care workers that's all in a day's work.
But there is a concept of officer safety.

A cop wouldn't confront 20 shady people in a dark alley alone.

I remember watching Cops and there were times when the officer would wait for backup if something's too dangerous.
Newbie
Oct 7, 2016
89 posts
91 upvotes
Gregorich wrote: In my opinion, don’t become a cop for the money. Most do, but that’s true of the majority of careers. It can be a rewarding, interesting and dangerous career. I’ve met a lot of police in southwestern Ontario - both rural and municipal - through my work and hobbies, so I’m basing this off what they’ve told me over the years and what I’ve seen.

Pros:
- Very good money, especially when you get into overtime or when private business hire you. For example, bars will hire cops to stand at the door to deter violence. (https://www.londonpolice.ca/en/services ... ficer.aspx)
- Extremely good benefits, pension and you’ll retire young.
- Good job security and it’s tough to get fired from.
- Police unions are extremely strong and the force also stands with one another. For example, think of how many times an officer’s parked in a handicap spot or done something that looks bad in public that turns up on social media. Their name rarely if ever gets out. I had a retired officer once tell me the worst punishment they’ll get is forever being ripped by the rest of their police force for doing something stupid. Cops are pretty funny people, in my experience, so they love ragging on their fellow officers.
- Despite people thinking it’s violent, it’s a very safe job. You’re more likely to get injured in a construction job than policing in Canada. (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/workplace ... -1.2622466) (http://canada.odmp.org/browse.php?abbr=ON)
- In my opinion, I find most middle-class and up people fall over themselves to thank/salute/applaud what you do for little to no reason. It can be a good ego boost.
- In my opinion again, I find many police are often bullies, more in the I’ve got more power than you sense. They’re very quick to crack jokes at you, but try doing the same to an officer and see the response.
- There’s a good chance you’ll never pull your gun on another person as a Canadian officer due to the relative safeness of the job and the fact we don’t really have that many violent crimes. Most large American cities annually have more violent crimes than the whole of Canada.
- In Ontario, municipal police board largely bend over backwards and let the police command walk over them - especially around budget time - so policing get a lot of resources.
- There’s constant training, maybe more than any other job with the exception of other emergency medical services, so you do get a lot of information and help to do your job.
- This might change from force to force, but it’s my understanding there’s relatively good support networks in place.

Cons:
- It’s hard to become a cop in Ontario (not sure of other provinces, but I’ve heard Albertan cities are easier to get into, for example).
- You might be on the Sunshine List (in Ontario) at some point and your neighbours, friends, etc.. will know exactly what you make if you’re over $100,000.
- It can be tough on your mental health and hard on your family from the type of things (victims of violence, domestic abuse victims, car accident scenes, etc..) you’ll see.
- People will look at you differently. Whenever a police car drives by or an officer walks through an area, everyone will act differently around you.
- The shifts can be rough. They’re normally 12 hours and four days a week and they can shift all over the place. That can be hard on you, mentally and physically, and your family. You can miss a lot of big moments in your family life because of shifts being all over the place.
- You can feel like you’re not making a difference. For example, I knew a guy who worked up north with the OPP and they were constantly arresting the same guy for drunkenness. They knew he needed counselling for his addiction, but there wasn’t much they could do. They didn’t like being part of the cycle of futility.
- You’ll be called to court quite a bit from everything like traffic tickets to serious crimes. Defence lawyers can be ruthless if you make one mistake on the stand.
- There’s a lot of paperwork and I don’t think people realize how much needs to be done. It’s an incredible amount. I’ve known officers who have left because they couldn’t handle the bureaucratic side. If you look at police board agendas/minutes, large cities often have an officer each month leaving on their own accord. I was told by many officers they’re overwhelmed and unprepared for the mountain of paperwork.
- A lot of a constable’s job the first few years on the job is handing out tickets to hit your performance targets. I’ve met a lot of former police who left the job less than a few years in because they didn’t like giving them out since they knew tickets are costly for the price that comes with them and for things like auto insurance.
- You’ll get a lot calls for little things like neighbours arguing, the house next door is playing music too loud, people think they heard/saw something, etc.. I had neighbours call the police last year because their other neighbour’s dog was barking too loud one afternoon.
- You’re dealing with criminals or the mentally ill. Someone wrote earlier it’s like being a social worker with a gun, that’s not far off at times.
- Imagine going to a domestic abuse scene where the husband has beat up his wife, but the wife won’t press charges or talk. Now imagine going to the same house two or three times a month and there’s a few kids involved.
- I knew another OPP officer who went to Armstrong, Ontario for the first two years of his career. It’s a mining town and there’s not much to do but drink, fight and work. There were two OPP officers and the outgoing one told him (he’s 6’4”) the first time he went to the local bar, the locals would look him up and down and challenge him. He’d have to beat the hell out of the first guy that went at him or he’d never have respect. He said after two years he could’ve fought George Forman with all the experience he got.
- Ever seen the aftermath of a fatal car collision? Try seeing a few of those a year and now you get to go to the next of kin and tell them their husband/wife/partner/child are dead.
How long did it take you to write that bullcrap? An hour? Two hours?
Deal Addict
Nov 9, 2011
1067 posts
436 upvotes
Toronto, ON
HausPoor wrote: How long did it take you to write that bullcrap? An hour? Two hours?
What's your contribution, or objection to what he added to the conversation?
Deal Addict
Nov 9, 2011
1067 posts
436 upvotes
Toronto, ON
umop wrote: But there is a concept of officer safety.

A cop wouldn't confront 20 shady people in a dark alley alone.

I remember watching Cops and there were times when the officer would wait for backup if something's too dangerous.
Cops is American television.

Reality is no, you don't go into situations vastly outnumbered - what stops an active situation from growing/causing you to become outnumbered though? A simple traffic stop in a residential area for example draws every neighboring home resident to their front window. An altercation could easily provoke them to get involved, either to assist the officer or to join the latest fad of screaming use of force violations.
Deal Addict
Feb 14, 2016
1832 posts
1223 upvotes
Clayden wrote: draws every neighboring home resident to their front window. An altercation could easily provoke them to get involved, either to assist the officer or to join the latest fad of screaming use of force violations.
i don't know, man
We are talking about Canada here right?, thought you are talking about ghetto harlem or like 8 miles detroit
Let's try to keep the discussion to Canadian cities; worse place in Canada like jane and finch and rural native areas are probably not even as bad as normal American cities
Deal Addict
Nov 9, 2011
1067 posts
436 upvotes
Toronto, ON
JIB9022 wrote: i don't know, man
We are talking about Canada here right?, thought you are talking about ghetto harlem or like 8 miles detroit
Let's try to keep the discussion to Canadian cities; worse place in Canada like jane and finch and rural native areas are probably not even as bad as normal American cities
Sure, in a city like Toronto or the GTA/suburbs where people living side-by-side don't know one another I doubt the neighbor will care. You'll see it on TV if it's important right?
If you live in a small town, you can be sure everyone around is going to want to know what's happening, or get involved - word has to get around somehow.

I wasn't inferring or trying to create imagery of a neighborhood riot by any stretch. You're right Canada doesn't generally see that type of drama - it was moreso a comparison of my experience living in the city vs. a town. The extremes will vary with population/size obviously.

Not that we're venturing wildly off-topic, but many of my recent posts (for those who haven't picked up on it) have largely been trying to help discern policing communities in Canada's towns, municipalities and cities. Should be helpful to potential applicants in deciding what may speak to them most.
Deal Addict
Dec 15, 2013
1218 posts
601 upvotes
North of Toronto
HausPoor wrote: How long did it take you to write that bullcrap? An hour? Two hours?
So let's see your contribution?

Or can you actually form an argument? Based on your response. Doubtful.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
May 11, 2009
8554 posts
5570 upvotes
Trudostan
LeisureSuitL wrote: Those kind of stats definitely come from someone who has never actually known a police officer. I've known many in my life, and I don't envy them.

They deal with the shit that most of us get to ignore. When a domestic violence call comes in, and the husband is beating the shit out of his wife, cop comes in to wrestle him to the ground because he's drunk and violent, and she starts slapping and pulling at the cop screaming "leave my husband alone".

Or the cops know almost all of the common criminals by name and are constantly arresting them, only having the courts release them almost immediately (or within a few days). They get in trouble again and are re-arrested and the cycle continues.

Cops are constantly being questioned for how they dealt with a person that is acting violent, or threatening, and you never know when a sucker punch or a knife will get pulled in a split second. Everyone slams the cop until he gets killed on duty and then they run a newspaper column and everyone acts like they give a damn, but they don't.

I wouldn't want to be a cop in today's landscape.
This is very true, lots of people bash cops but I wonder how fast their views would change if they were forced into the job for a year. You deal with the worst elements of society and have to very vigilant at all times, you never know what's waiting for you when you respond to a call for service. Shift work and experiences take their toll on your mental and physical health, lots of substance abuse and increased risk of cardiovascular disease and suicide.

Running into people you arrest is also another aspect, especially if you live in the same region as you work. To illustrate this, one cop I know told me it's not uncommon to be threatened and intimidated, he had to get an ATC to carry his service pistol home at one point because there was a credible threat against him. He said it's also very unpleasant to be in a store with your kids when you run into someone you arrested, get called names and baited into a confrontation while you're off duty and with your family.
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Deal Addict
Nov 9, 2011
1067 posts
436 upvotes
Toronto, ON
adamtheman wrote: This thread is advice on how to become a police officer from 14 year olds
For every few good posts, there's been someone like yourself who feels threatened by the discussion and tries to derail the thread with baseless attacks.

The discussion hasn't even been about recruiting, but I think we're all aware you haven't actually read the thread.

Why not contribute if you were interested enough to post in the first place?
Sr. Member
Feb 7, 2004
593 posts
425 upvotes
St Thomas
Unless something really intrigues you about being in policing why not just become a firefighter? Safer, less work, same pay and benefits, and the public will love you.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Apr 15, 2011
5834 posts
1219 upvotes
aGincourt
Labrie wrote: Unless something really intrigues you about being in policing why not just become a firefighter? Safer, less work, same pay and benefits, and the public will love you.
Cops get a gun
Cops have authority over ordinary citizens
Your word is law

Simple biology and evolution, the stronger males with more power and authority in the tribe have a higher chance of survival. I swear 95% of the guys I know want / wanted to be cops.
Deal Fanatic
Jul 4, 2004
7429 posts
4676 upvotes
Ottawa
Swswswish wrote: ... I swear 95% of the guys I know want / wanted to be cops.
Must be the group of people you know; personally, I'd be surprised if 5% of the guys I know would want to be a cop (I suspect it might not even be 1%).
Newbie
Jan 17, 2017
1 posts
Um..... am I crazy or are all those cons justification for an officer's salary?
Deal Addict
Nov 9, 2011
1067 posts
436 upvotes
Toronto, ON
Smrtguy wrote: Um..... am I crazy or are all those cons justification for an officer's salary?
Aren't cons used as justification of salary for almost every job these days?

Anyone who has ever worked in a customer or front line role is essentially paid to put up with people regardless whether they're right or wrong (typically completely misinformed, irresponsible and not accountable).

Complain to your direct report (in most any industry): "What do you think you're paid for?".
Penalty Box
Jan 1, 2017
39 posts
10 upvotes
Choosing police officer as a career option is not a bad idea but you have to be very disciplined in every aspect of your life.
Pros: Good salary, life security, disciplined life
Cons: Family and personal relations get disturbed somehow due to emergency calls.

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