Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

Why did you move up? Other then reasons of pay, was there any other reason behind it? I'm sure all everyone did it so they could sit in an office and do 8 hours of paperwork right? :p

Was there some type of test? What type of questions were on it? Was it a competitive spot or were you the only one for it?



Just curious on different departments from all over the country/world how it is.

I am not the type to have done the same thing ( regular patrol) for 25 years.

Hired in 1986.

1986 accepted on our SWAT team ( was on it for 4 1/2 years)

1991 became FTO ( ended up training 8 officers in 10 yrs , 3 of which are now FTO's themselves)

1995 Advanced Accident Investigation ( a lot of math but neat stuff to prove people are lying about their speed)

1999 Motor Carrier Enforcement Cert ( DOT)

1999 Promoted to Corporal 5% payraise

2003 Promoted to Sgt. 10% payraise


I had to read three thick college textbooks, take a written exam and an oral exam for promotion. ( ecah time). I did so to do something new , and I felt that with my knowledge and experience , I could contribute more to the dept. And of course the 5 and than 10 percent payraises dont hurt.

I do spend more time now at a desk reviewing reports , handling citizen complaints but I still like to get out on the street. I made 5 traffic stops yeaterday :)

I looked at some of the numpties in higher positions than me and thought "I can do better than that".

Involved a huge exam on law, legislation and procedure then a LONG application procedure. Start to finish only 25% get through. I've still got to survive 12 months of continuous assessment and appraisals, happy days. The extra money hardly seems worth it you know!

From the Federal (at least ATF) side, I can tell you why I never will go into management: DC. A GS-14 RAC and/or Group Supervisor will almost always have to go to DC. It's not a bad option if you already live in a high cost of living area but I don't, and I don't want to VOLUNTEER to go to one. If they make me that's fine, I agreed to the mobility agreement, but I love the SE United States too much to volunteer to leave (unless my wife can ever be convinced to move to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Wyoming, or Montana simply so I can hunt and fish more, which is very unlikely:mad: ). But Federal Civil Service management tends to ALWAYS operate on the "**** rolls downhill" principle so that the first level supervisor (the RAC or Group Sup) is always the scapegoat b/c they are still seen as "sacrificial". I don't operate like that and I would not be compatible in that type of scenario. Another reason is that when you decide to enter management in the federal arena, your number is even more likely to be called up to move again. I work with guys and girls (who've been through 4 directors of our agency but are still in the same office. They don't cause problems, they are productive, and they don't VOLUNTEER themselves. Of course, they also produce the ever important stats (which seems to change b/w defendants and convictions on an annual basis) which makes them a valuable commodity (there's a lesson for you right there, the agency only loves you when you are doing something good for it, otherwise you're just a heartbeat with a paycheck). Very few people go into management, especially if they go into it early in their career, and stay in first level management.

.......

I just recently became a LT. The real reason I tested was simple. My agency is growing, it has new leadership, new missions and needs new ideas. Lots of the young officers have those new ideas, but if there is no one mid line to pass them up, no one will ever hear them. That is my job. To help the line officers to pass the ideas up. Many of the mid levels in my agency have not kept up with progress or current law changes. I help them by pointing out new changes and ways to motivate the officers.

Hopefully I will be sucsessful. Time will tell.

when you make lieutenant, your days of doing police work are over. Maybe they should require that the brass get out of the station and go on patrol one week each month - Would anyone really miss them at the station? :D

Seems like even in our small town, they have too many supervisors who sit at the station all the time - I have no idea what they do (maybe handle personnel issues, file cases and re-write budgets & policies all day? - Seems to me that the Chief and his staff could do most of that), but it's pretty obvious what the patrol officers do.

I know for a fact that the supervisors could be used out on the street at busy times - Like the busy Saturday last year when they took 15 minutes to arrive at a Domestic Dispute because all the patrol officers were tied up, and when someone finally got there both the husband & wife were dead.

Maybe they could have prevented it if a supervisor had got up from behind his desk and responded in 10 minutes instead of 15, maybe not - but now we'll never know (of course that assumes that any of them were working on a Saturday - It seems like it's pretty much a 8-5 weekday job after they get high up in the ranks, beyond the Sergeant level, but that's just from casual observance while I was volunteering. I'm sure they would have been greatly insulted if I had asked them all this).

For my fed agency there is a experience package to prepare, a promotion test, and depending on the positions oral boards.

Bottom line, I did it because it didn't seem like a lot of people were stepping up and I didn't want to work for somebody who didn't have a clue. Like my old partner used to say, "we had more time in a donut shop with a badge and gun then some of the guys we worked for had total in service".

So in each case I tried to remember where I came from and look out for the guys on the line as much as I could.

Maybe they should require that the brass get out of the station and go on patrol one week each month - Would anyone really miss them at the station? :D




This is one thing I try. I am continually being told by officers how surpised they are to see me out and about.

But the next words are how much they appriciate it. I learn from them, see the issues first hand, and sometimes get to join the arrest!

I happened to be standing next to a vacant position one day and...well you know how nature abhors a vacuum? :D

On the serious side, to become a Sgt I had to pass an exam and then a training course (4 weeks full time, 2 weeks of it residential - many hangovers). For my current rank I had to undertake a course over a few semesters as you would call community college. For positions here we also have to undergo a selection process for vacancies.

Maybe they should require that the brass get out of the station and go on patrol one week each month - Would anyone really miss them at the station? :D

Philadelphia has done this...even the Police Commissioner goes on patrol every once in a while, since there is so much crime. Every person in PPD now goes on patrol, although Im not sure how often.


Not a bad idea.:)

[QUOTE=Stan Switek;792900]When I saw really lame, stupid, bugger eating morons promote & then I had to be supervised by them, I knew it was time to promote.


BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did it because it was the easiest way to get a transfer back to the city I wanted to be assigned to.

But, I learned about unintended consequences. I put in for a HIDTA Group Supervisor job, because I knew it would be fun and I would still be on the street a lot. Six months after I got to the office, I got called by the ASAC and told I was being offered the RAC (Resident Agent in Charge) job.

I told him I wasn't interested, and he said, let me put it a different way, you are going to be taking the RAC job (which has so much admin BS attached to it that some days I wonder why I even bring my gun to work).

And, the worst thing, is knowing that half of the agents under me are more qualified to be the RAC than me, but had enough sense to know when they were well off. :D

But, the plus side is being able to support the guys who are out working cases the way I always wanted to be supported when I was doing it.

When I saw really lame, stupid, bugger eating morons promote & then I had to be supervised by them, I knew it was time to promote.

+1

We have several people here who want to promote and there is NO WAY I can work for them.

USBP has also started promoting very young agents. In Arizona it's not uncommon to see a supervisor with only 3 or 3 1/2 years in :eek:

because when you make lieutenant, your days of doing police work are over.

We actually have a few captains who will call out on traffic stops and take calls when it gets busy. And we are not a small department, so this is not something they have to do.

We actually have a few captains who will call out on traffic stops and take calls when it gets busy. And we are not a small department, so this is not something they have to do.

I've heard on the news that Chief Kunckle of Dallas does this one night per month. He was even involved in a chase and did a felony arrest about a year ago. :p

I wonder if he would have violated his new Chase Policy if he did that now, though? I've been told that they can only give chase after a VIOLENT felonly now :rolleyes:

Maybe they should require that the brass get out of the station and go on patrol one week each month - Would anyone really miss them at the station? :D


I'll address this based on my experience. Every department is different though many are similar in the way we operate.

My department had a LT in the field at all times. He was the field commander. It was not uncommon to have 4 LT's on duty at once on a shift so they would trade off every few hours as field commander. The field commander was expected to respond to all major incidents, field calls from the media, make notifications up the chain of command & much more. After 5 PM, they were in a sense the chief of police. The had to be aware of the big picture in the entire city.

The other LT's were usual buried with administrative work, all with time sensitive due dates. No excuses were accepted for missing a due dates.

Even as a sergeant, far too often I found myself buried in administrative work rather than supervising in the filed. Maybe it's different elsewhere. All I know is at my shop we were way too busy to sit around watching TJ Hooker & eating donuts.

Even as a sergeant, far too often I found myself buried in administrative work rather than supervising in the filed. Maybe it's different elsewhere. All I know is at my show we were way too bust to sit around watching TJ Hooker & eating donuts.

Yep, with time sheets, reviewing reports, fielding questions from citizens, handling complaints, doing delegated projects, employee evaluations, scheduling, thirty-day impound appeal hearings, etc., I do not find much time to go out and play.

I do make it to all critical incidents and will respond as much as possible when a deputy runs across a problem if I cannot handle it over the cell phone, but there is not a lot of down time, especially on day shift.

Yep, with time sheets, reviewing reports, fielding questions from citizens, handling complaints, doing delegated projects, employee evaluations, scheduling, thirty-day impound appeal hearings, etc., I do not find much time to go out and play.


Do you have a tough time time getting your guys to fill out their time sheets? I was always surprised at how many officers didn't want to get paid on time.

Do you have a tough time time getting your guys to fill out their time sheets?

LOL, yep, I sure do.

It actually is one of my pet peeves since I have to break down OT hours and send a synopsis/justification to the region Lt and secretary before I can go home on Fridays.

I have not had to send a NTS (No Time Sheet) on any of them yet, which is supposed to result in some bad-boy paper by policy, but I am constantly nagging at a couple of them.

You would think they would get tired of it and turn in their time sheets early? :confused: