The REAL POLICE FORUM is a leading community of police officers and law enforcement professionals. The forum includes police chat and restricted areas for police officers only. The ask-a-cop area allows you to ask questions to real police officers and only verified police are allowed to respond. REALPOLICE.com also features law enforcement jobs, news, training materials and expert articles.Penta
08-28-10, 11:37 AM
I'm on a blizzard of post-writing over the last 24 hours, wow.
Anyhow, in my quest to "get the details right, dammit" in my writing (as I note in the new member introduction; it's otherwise known to my head as "artistic or dramatic license is no excuse not to do the damn research"), some NYPD-specific questions to get my details right, or to help build the main character (a rookie cop with the NYPD who's just out of the academy) in my head. Some of these are probably incredibly basic and answered by the "Patrol Guide" or other manuals I keep hearing about (but can never find a copy of - are the Patrol Guide or other such publications even publicly available? (If not, how do police reporters get a copy?)), but as I don't have such things in my personal library, I'll ask anyway and beg the forbearance of those answering for anything that sounds especially braindead. (I'll also note in my defense that, as I write this, it's early on a Saturday morning, and so my brain may not have woken up.) However, if in your answer you want to quote part of a Patrol Guide or other manual (on the understanding that I don't have access to a copy myself, though I'd love to get access), please include a citation to a page or section or something (and tell when the manual in question was issued, just because I figure page/section numbers change), just in case other people want to add something. With that, 15 - er, no, 20 questions (sorry, I'm filled with em) more or less specifically about the NYPD, numbered specifically for ease of answering. Take a crack at one question, or five, or twenty - but when you quote, please quote only the question(s) your answering or commenting on:
1. In NYC and the other counties where NYPD officers can live, I've never gotten the impression that gun possession or ownership is very popular among landlords for apts/condos, at least decent ones. Most of my experience is with the NJ suburbs, but I assume that holds true for Northern and Eastern suburbs of the city, too. Which raises a question: How do landlords (in your experience) react to the idea of an Academy cadet or a cop as a tenant, the idea that their tenant has to carry and otherwise have a gun, even at home, etc.? (Do they charge more in the form of a deposit? Get nervous and reject rentals? Or do they give benefits for whatever reason?)
2. Related to 1: If your landlord offers, say, a longer lease, or a break on your rent, or free utilities, or whatever...Basically, if they offer you a benefit, either explicitly or implicitly because the prospective tenant (you) is a cop or an academy cadet (and maybe they think that gives the place extra security or reassures other tenants or cops are better tenants or I dunno what - while I've seen condo and house rentals from the realtor's side and landlord's side due to parents (mom's in real estate), I can't say I've yet dealt with things like this myself (yeah okay I still live with parents - It's not exactly cheap around here, so please stop snickering :blush5: ), are you allowed to accept it? (I presume the landlord would know you're a cop as soon as they do a credit check and look at a paystub or something, both fairly standard procedures when I've seen rentals happen) Do you have to get it cleared by IAB or something?
3. To prevent my being bopped on the nose for asking for information that might be considered operationally sensitive, I'm going to ask this question and I'll totally understand if any response I get back is just a nod of the head or something (I don't want to put info out there for the bad guys, but on the other hand, these are fairly important to establishing a daily routine - which is kind of important to know, in case the story moves at a speed slower than a day at a time):
A. How long are patrol shifts (for your general average everyday cop, not speaking of something special like operation impact - although if someone can explain the details behind that, since police reporters seem to assume everybody knows everything about it, I'd welcome it)?
B. I presume that when a shift starts and when it ends are when the cops head out to patrol - how much earlier is an officer expected to report for their shift, how long does it take to get ready, and just what the heck happens before officers head out to patrol, anyway? At the same time, what's the process when a shift is over? Not asking for detailed timelines, just a basic "this then this then this" thing.
C. Foot patrol - do all patrols originate from the precinct, or do you hop in a car (or a van or whatever) and then get dropped off somewhere to begin and end foot patrol? (Extra-scared about asking this, feel free to bop me: Do you do a foot patrol alone or with a partner?)
D. Related to C - what's the "expected standards", I guess is the question here: Is foot patrol done in silence except when you get a radio call? Is it something where you're expected to stop with people and chat (keeping watch all the while)? (It seemed at first like something out of another era, and most of the reading I can find basically implies its a relic of an earlier age, not done when you can do car patrols - and then I encounter NYPD and similar big city forces who seem to do foot patrols a lot in the modern day, and my mind goes "Waaaait...Nobody explained how foot patrols work!")
E. Going all the way back to A, does a unit get one day off a week or two, at least in roster terms? (Do officers take their day off as a unit and then another unit covers their spot in the schedule, or do they take their weekly day off individually?)
4. Really basic question: For the patrol officer, what are you required to wear/carry on duty? (And how the heck do you have hands free for all of it, since I don't see cops wearing rucksacks and it doesn't look like the belts can possibly hold everything I hear mentioned?) For RMP patrols: What are you expected to have with you at all times, what's kept in the front seat of the car until needed...and just what the heck is in the trunk of a patrol car? For foot patrols: What are you required to carry, what's optional? And, for all patrols: How much does all of this weigh, anyway, and what's carrying it like? Old-time cop stuff from the 50s or 60s seems to talk of officers being fairly weighed down by their duty gear to my recollection, and that doesn't seem like it'd have gotten better, at least to a civilian like me, when I think of the weight a bullet-resistant vest/body armor (what's the preferred term?) must add.
5. Does the NYPD pay a patrol officer extra if they know languages besides English, like how the military pays Foreign Language Proficiency Pay? What're the standards to get that pay, if so? (And how do people know who speaks what language? Is there something on the uniform?)
6. Partners: How common (or uncommon) is it to have them as a rookie? Are they assigned on a constant basis like fighter pilots get wingmen or soldiers get battle buddies (and as seems to be commonly depicted in fiction), or do you wind up with a different partner every time?
7. Doing some googling, I was able to find out...Well, nothing much about Operation Impact, except that it's a summons machine and 2/3 of an academy class gets put on impact duty. What is it, and what the heck happens to the other third of an academy class?
8. Does the police academy operate off of any sort of "graduating class rank" or order of merit list, and do you get any benefits at all for being a top performer there?
9. How often are NYPD officers paid (how often do they receive their paychecks)? Is it direct deposit only? (does the city even offer direct deposit?)
10. Numbers, numbers, numbers. A typical precinct in, ehhh...Let's say Manhattan South or Manhattan North. Presume what I imagine is a true fantasy (just to make it simpler, and so nobody has to reveal anything about actual manning levels and things like that), and it's a precinct whose assignments actually match whatever the equivalent of a Table of Organization and Equipment is in the NYPD, with nobody on modified duty, nobody off for the day, etc. Like I said, presumably it never happens in real life. But with that, with a laser-like focus on patrol (and not thinking, for now, about precinct detective squads): How many cops per shift? How many cops per sergeant, how many sergeants per lieutenant? (Before someone asks "Why are you asking", I'll say why, since asking me why is a good, totally legit question: Because I have a habit, with organizations like a military unit or police department, of trying to figure out the chain of command and sketching out the major players - in this case, that means I'd like to know how many cops I'm dealing with, how many sergeants, and so forth. In an ideal case I'd look to see how a whole precinct is organized so I can see how the parts fit together, but I don't want to ask the horde of questions that'd require - instead, I'm just looking to see how one shift is organized.)
11. This question probably cannot be answered by checking a book: Does NYPD have anything like support groups for girlfriends/boyfriends/spouses/parents of cops, like the way the Army (and seemingly most of the military) has Family Readiness Groups? Is there anything to, say, give them an orientation?
12. Talking aloud a potential plot point: How do you introduce a GF/BF to the idea of "Yeah, I have to carry a gun, even when off-duty" and "Yeah, I gotta keep a gun at home"? I imagine most people meet their SOs after they become a cop (or have decided on it), but what about when you meet them before? And, relatedly: How do you handle them moving in with you (or you with them)? Obviously there's the usual relationship weirdness when your GF/BF moves in with you, but anything related to being a cop? Anything special related to having guns around (since most people in the tristate area have probably never seen a gun not on TV, lets be honest), or shift work, or "there's no need to worry if just one cop walks up to the door - they notify of line of duty incidents like so"?
13. Is it possible or advised to "familiarize" an SO with guns if they've never been around them? May you (is it a good idea to, either, I guess), for example, take them to a police shooting range and go "this is the kind of gun I carry on duty (and/or off-duty), here's how to load it, here's how to unload it, here's how you operate the safety, here are the four basic gun safety rules", teach what a gun being fired looks like/sounds like in real life, maybe even teach them what firing a gun is like/how to fire one? (Are there even private shooting ranges still operating in NYC, if that isn't possible with a police range?)
14. The question set I consciously did not number as 13, maybe I'm superstitious or something. If people don't want to answer it because it makes them creeped out, I totally understand, that's at least two of us. But this is info that Anyhow...What's the procedures for a line of duty injury or death? How are families/next of kin notified, for example? (What's the procedure when they aren't living in the city, or there's a significant other everybody in the precinct knows about?) Do they get themselves to the hospital, do the people doing the notification take them? In the case (God forbid) of a death, who formally identifies the body? Is there a script for injury or death notifications, like there are scripts for military personnel who notify of casaulties? How is it decided who shows up at the wake/funeral, and is there (for example) a different funeral for a rookie cop versus a sergeant versus a lieutenant versus (and up the ranks the question can go...)? (anybody from the precinct who's basically required to show up? I know the mayor and police commissioner and chief of department often show up, but what about lower in the chain of command? What about officers who just want to (or are encouraged to) go, how are they handled?) Finally, this feels like a ghoulish question to ask, but what are the benefits offered to the family of NYPD officers who die on the job? (I'm guessing there's a difference in this regard, and in regards to everything else I've asked, between a "line of duty" death and a death that just happens to occur on the job - I'd like to know how that difference is defined, but I'd also like to know what that difference means in real terms.)
15. Much happier questions from here on out, I promise. Firstly, promotions and medals and other "shinies" (my term!): I know promotions from Sgt through Captain are decided based on a civil service exam, and that detectives are discretionary, but is there some sort of ceremony where the new rank is bestowed? (What about for an increase say from PO III to PO II or Detective III to Detective II - I get that those are increases in grade within a rank, but how do they work? Is it strictly a pay thing, or do they come with a bump in authority/responsibility/place on the chain of command?) Similarly, how is the award of decorations done? (not bureaucratically, but how/where/when does a member (or their Next of Kin) receive the award) How common are awards and decorations within the NYPD, anyway?
16. Just what are the different kinds of pay you can get besides basic pay? I don't need numbers necessarily, and I have a feeling the whole system is incredibly complicated, but just...What do they give you pay beyond basic pay for?
17. I can never tell from pictures - do NYPD boots need to be shined or polished? If so, how often?
18. Is there a specific reason why NYPD puts all of their K9 officers in ESU? Nothing I can find says why, where LAPD and similar seem to "spread out" their police dogs (from what I've heard), NYPD puts their dogs in with the...OK, calling ESU simply a tactical team doesn't describe it, they seem to do everything if I'm reading Google links right...Actually, that's another good question. Why does ESU do things like rescues (and a horde of other, seemingly unrelated, tasks)? Rescues seem like an FDNY tasking, to me anyway. Similar with "why do they do all the EDP runs", since that seems like either a job for EMS, or a job for trained patrol units. I could go on...But I'll just say, "Wow, ESU does a lot of seemingly unrelated tasks...And I can't find a reason why they do all these things instead of, say, FDNY doing some of them (when FDNY seems like the more logical choice, bureaucratically/organizationally)."
19. How far in advance does a beat cop know their work schedule? (Do they generally work at a certain time of day constantly, does it change from week to week?)
20. Final question: Google and news searches a few days ago told me that the Police Commissioner, back in 2008 or so, had an entire Academy class "familiarize" on the M4 carbine (even though they wouldn't use the things as patrol officers since only ESU uses them, I think it said). So far as anybody knows, what weapons do NYPD academy recruits train with?
Okay, a 21st question (since it won't leave my head), sorry:
21. Just what are the shooting requirements for the police academy's recruit training, anyway? Website is pretty vague and cryptic, saying that "Each recruit must demonstrate proficiency with their weapons by shooting and passing two of three “Pistol Qualification Courses” (PQC). Only after successfully completing basic training can a recruit officer return for the next phase of firearms training known as Tactics Training." It also mentions recruits fire a total of 1200 live rounds during training...And never explains what the heck the PQC consists of. On that line of thought, how difficult is it to qualify if you're a typical suburbanite (who's likely never seen or handled a gun before joining), presuming no natural special talent with firearms (just for comparison's sake)?
Edit: And a 22nd that seemed obvious but now doesn't.
22. Shield numbers: If a cop has just gotten his shield, how many digits should the shield number be? (Are they issued sequentially, randomly?) Similarly, what are tax registry numbers?
Anyhow, in my quest to "get the details right, dammit" in my writing (as I note in the new member introduction; it's otherwise known to my head as "artistic or dramatic license is no excuse not to do the damn research"), some NYPD-specific questions to get my details right, or to help build the main character (a rookie cop with the NYPD who's just out of the academy) in my head. Some of these are probably incredibly basic and answered by the "Patrol Guide" or other manuals I keep hearing about (but can never find a copy of - are the Patrol Guide or other such publications even publicly available? (If not, how do police reporters get a copy?)), but as I don't have such things in my personal library, I'll ask anyway and beg the forbearance of those answering for anything that sounds especially braindead. (I'll also note in my defense that, as I write this, it's early on a Saturday morning, and so my brain may not have woken up.) However, if in your answer you want to quote part of a Patrol Guide or other manual (on the understanding that I don't have access to a copy myself, though I'd love to get access), please include a citation to a page or section or something (and tell when the manual in question was issued, just because I figure page/section numbers change), just in case other people want to add something. With that, 15 - er, no, 20 questions (sorry, I'm filled with em) more or less specifically about the NYPD, numbered specifically for ease of answering. Take a crack at one question, or five, or twenty - but when you quote, please quote only the question(s) your answering or commenting on:
1. In NYC and the other counties where NYPD officers can live, I've never gotten the impression that gun possession or ownership is very popular among landlords for apts/condos, at least decent ones. Most of my experience is with the NJ suburbs, but I assume that holds true for Northern and Eastern suburbs of the city, too. Which raises a question: How do landlords (in your experience) react to the idea of an Academy cadet or a cop as a tenant, the idea that their tenant has to carry and otherwise have a gun, even at home, etc.? (Do they charge more in the form of a deposit? Get nervous and reject rentals? Or do they give benefits for whatever reason?)
2. Related to 1: If your landlord offers, say, a longer lease, or a break on your rent, or free utilities, or whatever...Basically, if they offer you a benefit, either explicitly or implicitly because the prospective tenant (you) is a cop or an academy cadet (and maybe they think that gives the place extra security or reassures other tenants or cops are better tenants or I dunno what - while I've seen condo and house rentals from the realtor's side and landlord's side due to parents (mom's in real estate), I can't say I've yet dealt with things like this myself (yeah okay I still live with parents - It's not exactly cheap around here, so please stop snickering :blush5: ), are you allowed to accept it? (I presume the landlord would know you're a cop as soon as they do a credit check and look at a paystub or something, both fairly standard procedures when I've seen rentals happen) Do you have to get it cleared by IAB or something?
3. To prevent my being bopped on the nose for asking for information that might be considered operationally sensitive, I'm going to ask this question and I'll totally understand if any response I get back is just a nod of the head or something (I don't want to put info out there for the bad guys, but on the other hand, these are fairly important to establishing a daily routine - which is kind of important to know, in case the story moves at a speed slower than a day at a time):
A. How long are patrol shifts (for your general average everyday cop, not speaking of something special like operation impact - although if someone can explain the details behind that, since police reporters seem to assume everybody knows everything about it, I'd welcome it)?
B. I presume that when a shift starts and when it ends are when the cops head out to patrol - how much earlier is an officer expected to report for their shift, how long does it take to get ready, and just what the heck happens before officers head out to patrol, anyway? At the same time, what's the process when a shift is over? Not asking for detailed timelines, just a basic "this then this then this" thing.
C. Foot patrol - do all patrols originate from the precinct, or do you hop in a car (or a van or whatever) and then get dropped off somewhere to begin and end foot patrol? (Extra-scared about asking this, feel free to bop me: Do you do a foot patrol alone or with a partner?)
D. Related to C - what's the "expected standards", I guess is the question here: Is foot patrol done in silence except when you get a radio call? Is it something where you're expected to stop with people and chat (keeping watch all the while)? (It seemed at first like something out of another era, and most of the reading I can find basically implies its a relic of an earlier age, not done when you can do car patrols - and then I encounter NYPD and similar big city forces who seem to do foot patrols a lot in the modern day, and my mind goes "Waaaait...Nobody explained how foot patrols work!")
E. Going all the way back to A, does a unit get one day off a week or two, at least in roster terms? (Do officers take their day off as a unit and then another unit covers their spot in the schedule, or do they take their weekly day off individually?)
4. Really basic question: For the patrol officer, what are you required to wear/carry on duty? (And how the heck do you have hands free for all of it, since I don't see cops wearing rucksacks and it doesn't look like the belts can possibly hold everything I hear mentioned?) For RMP patrols: What are you expected to have with you at all times, what's kept in the front seat of the car until needed...and just what the heck is in the trunk of a patrol car? For foot patrols: What are you required to carry, what's optional? And, for all patrols: How much does all of this weigh, anyway, and what's carrying it like? Old-time cop stuff from the 50s or 60s seems to talk of officers being fairly weighed down by their duty gear to my recollection, and that doesn't seem like it'd have gotten better, at least to a civilian like me, when I think of the weight a bullet-resistant vest/body armor (what's the preferred term?) must add.
5. Does the NYPD pay a patrol officer extra if they know languages besides English, like how the military pays Foreign Language Proficiency Pay? What're the standards to get that pay, if so? (And how do people know who speaks what language? Is there something on the uniform?)
6. Partners: How common (or uncommon) is it to have them as a rookie? Are they assigned on a constant basis like fighter pilots get wingmen or soldiers get battle buddies (and as seems to be commonly depicted in fiction), or do you wind up with a different partner every time?
7. Doing some googling, I was able to find out...Well, nothing much about Operation Impact, except that it's a summons machine and 2/3 of an academy class gets put on impact duty. What is it, and what the heck happens to the other third of an academy class?
8. Does the police academy operate off of any sort of "graduating class rank" or order of merit list, and do you get any benefits at all for being a top performer there?
9. How often are NYPD officers paid (how often do they receive their paychecks)? Is it direct deposit only? (does the city even offer direct deposit?)
10. Numbers, numbers, numbers. A typical precinct in, ehhh...Let's say Manhattan South or Manhattan North. Presume what I imagine is a true fantasy (just to make it simpler, and so nobody has to reveal anything about actual manning levels and things like that), and it's a precinct whose assignments actually match whatever the equivalent of a Table of Organization and Equipment is in the NYPD, with nobody on modified duty, nobody off for the day, etc. Like I said, presumably it never happens in real life. But with that, with a laser-like focus on patrol (and not thinking, for now, about precinct detective squads): How many cops per shift? How many cops per sergeant, how many sergeants per lieutenant? (Before someone asks "Why are you asking", I'll say why, since asking me why is a good, totally legit question: Because I have a habit, with organizations like a military unit or police department, of trying to figure out the chain of command and sketching out the major players - in this case, that means I'd like to know how many cops I'm dealing with, how many sergeants, and so forth. In an ideal case I'd look to see how a whole precinct is organized so I can see how the parts fit together, but I don't want to ask the horde of questions that'd require - instead, I'm just looking to see how one shift is organized.)
11. This question probably cannot be answered by checking a book: Does NYPD have anything like support groups for girlfriends/boyfriends/spouses/parents of cops, like the way the Army (and seemingly most of the military) has Family Readiness Groups? Is there anything to, say, give them an orientation?
12. Talking aloud a potential plot point: How do you introduce a GF/BF to the idea of "Yeah, I have to carry a gun, even when off-duty" and "Yeah, I gotta keep a gun at home"? I imagine most people meet their SOs after they become a cop (or have decided on it), but what about when you meet them before? And, relatedly: How do you handle them moving in with you (or you with them)? Obviously there's the usual relationship weirdness when your GF/BF moves in with you, but anything related to being a cop? Anything special related to having guns around (since most people in the tristate area have probably never seen a gun not on TV, lets be honest), or shift work, or "there's no need to worry if just one cop walks up to the door - they notify of line of duty incidents like so"?
13. Is it possible or advised to "familiarize" an SO with guns if they've never been around them? May you (is it a good idea to, either, I guess), for example, take them to a police shooting range and go "this is the kind of gun I carry on duty (and/or off-duty), here's how to load it, here's how to unload it, here's how you operate the safety, here are the four basic gun safety rules", teach what a gun being fired looks like/sounds like in real life, maybe even teach them what firing a gun is like/how to fire one? (Are there even private shooting ranges still operating in NYC, if that isn't possible with a police range?)
14. The question set I consciously did not number as 13, maybe I'm superstitious or something. If people don't want to answer it because it makes them creeped out, I totally understand, that's at least two of us. But this is info that Anyhow...What's the procedures for a line of duty injury or death? How are families/next of kin notified, for example? (What's the procedure when they aren't living in the city, or there's a significant other everybody in the precinct knows about?) Do they get themselves to the hospital, do the people doing the notification take them? In the case (God forbid) of a death, who formally identifies the body? Is there a script for injury or death notifications, like there are scripts for military personnel who notify of casaulties? How is it decided who shows up at the wake/funeral, and is there (for example) a different funeral for a rookie cop versus a sergeant versus a lieutenant versus (and up the ranks the question can go...)? (anybody from the precinct who's basically required to show up? I know the mayor and police commissioner and chief of department often show up, but what about lower in the chain of command? What about officers who just want to (or are encouraged to) go, how are they handled?) Finally, this feels like a ghoulish question to ask, but what are the benefits offered to the family of NYPD officers who die on the job? (I'm guessing there's a difference in this regard, and in regards to everything else I've asked, between a "line of duty" death and a death that just happens to occur on the job - I'd like to know how that difference is defined, but I'd also like to know what that difference means in real terms.)
15. Much happier questions from here on out, I promise. Firstly, promotions and medals and other "shinies" (my term!): I know promotions from Sgt through Captain are decided based on a civil service exam, and that detectives are discretionary, but is there some sort of ceremony where the new rank is bestowed? (What about for an increase say from PO III to PO II or Detective III to Detective II - I get that those are increases in grade within a rank, but how do they work? Is it strictly a pay thing, or do they come with a bump in authority/responsibility/place on the chain of command?) Similarly, how is the award of decorations done? (not bureaucratically, but how/where/when does a member (or their Next of Kin) receive the award) How common are awards and decorations within the NYPD, anyway?
16. Just what are the different kinds of pay you can get besides basic pay? I don't need numbers necessarily, and I have a feeling the whole system is incredibly complicated, but just...What do they give you pay beyond basic pay for?
17. I can never tell from pictures - do NYPD boots need to be shined or polished? If so, how often?
18. Is there a specific reason why NYPD puts all of their K9 officers in ESU? Nothing I can find says why, where LAPD and similar seem to "spread out" their police dogs (from what I've heard), NYPD puts their dogs in with the...OK, calling ESU simply a tactical team doesn't describe it, they seem to do everything if I'm reading Google links right...Actually, that's another good question. Why does ESU do things like rescues (and a horde of other, seemingly unrelated, tasks)? Rescues seem like an FDNY tasking, to me anyway. Similar with "why do they do all the EDP runs", since that seems like either a job for EMS, or a job for trained patrol units. I could go on...But I'll just say, "Wow, ESU does a lot of seemingly unrelated tasks...And I can't find a reason why they do all these things instead of, say, FDNY doing some of them (when FDNY seems like the more logical choice, bureaucratically/organizationally)."
19. How far in advance does a beat cop know their work schedule? (Do they generally work at a certain time of day constantly, does it change from week to week?)
20. Final question: Google and news searches a few days ago told me that the Police Commissioner, back in 2008 or so, had an entire Academy class "familiarize" on the M4 carbine (even though they wouldn't use the things as patrol officers since only ESU uses them, I think it said). So far as anybody knows, what weapons do NYPD academy recruits train with?
Okay, a 21st question (since it won't leave my head), sorry:
21. Just what are the shooting requirements for the police academy's recruit training, anyway? Website is pretty vague and cryptic, saying that "Each recruit must demonstrate proficiency with their weapons by shooting and passing two of three “Pistol Qualification Courses” (PQC). Only after successfully completing basic training can a recruit officer return for the next phase of firearms training known as Tactics Training." It also mentions recruits fire a total of 1200 live rounds during training...And never explains what the heck the PQC consists of. On that line of thought, how difficult is it to qualify if you're a typical suburbanite (who's likely never seen or handled a gun before joining), presuming no natural special talent with firearms (just for comparison's sake)?
Edit: And a 22nd that seemed obvious but now doesn't.
22. Shield numbers: If a cop has just gotten his shield, how many digits should the shield number be? (Are they issued sequentially, randomly?) Similarly, what are tax registry numbers?