ADVICE NEEDED: Firefighter thinking of switching to Police

[FirefighterGreg]

Dear Law Enforcement Officers and Non-LEOs who wish to help,

How are you? My name is Greg. A little background on me: I'm 25 years old, currently residing in Broward County, Florida. I'm 5'9, very fit and athletic, a caring and compassionate person. I'm college educated with a BA degree in English from the University of Central Florida.

I have a simple question, but with a long explanation.

Throughout my life, I have been interested in public service. Typically, throughout my childhood I envisioned (daydreamed) of myself as a crimefighter. When I was in college at UCF (2002-2006), I majored in English because I enjoyed writing stories about heroes, law enforcement officers, etc. However, very soon into my undergraduate course work, I realized I wanted to go into public service and not merely write about it. Not wanting to switch majors and prolong college for 1 or 2 additional years, I continued my English major and added a minor in Criminal Justice to my workload. I really liked it. I found it all incredibly interesting and enjoyed my minor classes more than my major classes. When I did ride-times with the local police department, I found the job to be exciting, interesting, and varied (even the mundane, slow parts, like report writing, didn't bother me - I was an English major, after all, and used to writing 20 page research papers!) However, herein lied my problem: I was a very quiet guy, ultra-nice, meek, and not very assertive. When I graduated college, I decided to go into Fire/Rescue instead because I knew I wanted to help people, serve the public, and I was willing on trading my interest in law, ethics, criminality, for firefighting/paramedic knowledge. Hell, I even had a life-long interest in learning martial arts/fighting, but I put that on the backburner as well, even though I was into working out/being athletic. All in all, I felt I just didn't have the "required attitude" to be a police officer. To put it frankly, I was kinda a nerd/dork in college.

Over 1 1/2 yrs went by. I enjoyed EMT-B and Paramedic school (mostly because that's where the person-to-person contact was and I like being a community service agent and talking to people and solving their problems). Fire Academy, on the other hand, was challenging, and I performed well and I loved the bonds of friendships I built with the other Academy cadets, but to be honest, the actual "tasks" of firefighting (a very mechanical job, using hand tools, learning building construction, ventilation, using hoses, learning about water supply, wearing the bunker gear, mastering endless amounts of equipment, having engine/pump panel knowledge, etc.) did not spark my interests much and paled in comparison to my exploration of Criminal Justice during my minor studies a year prior to starting this.

To be honest, I found the raw-material/hands-on/know-how of firefighting tasks to be boring...

Zooming further into the future...

A funny thing happened though. After securing my certifications (EMT-B, EMT-P, Firefighter II, ACLS, PALS, CPR, etc.) the impossible occurred: I got hired by a highly reputable fire department in South Florida.

And then it hit me...

Like a sledgehammer to the face, I REALLY started to feel a strong personal regret. Something was "missing". Something "was not right" inside myself. Three months into the job and I'm really starting to think I should of stuck with Criminal Justice and a career in Law Enforcement. Sure, the job is great, no doubt, but here are the most meaty reasons to my current dilemma: 1) I like the medical side (riding Rescue/paramedic tasks), but as foreshadowed earlier, the fire-related aspects of the job just don't "do it for me"... they don't jazz me up as much as the idea of chasing down criminals, taking bad people off the streets, investigations, does... 2) Looking into my future with the department, all my promotional opportunities/higher-rank positions are related to the fire side (Driver Engineer, Ladder or Tiller Operator, etc.). They hardly interest me. Likewise, the incentives and extra certifications (Haz-Mat, TRT, Dive Rescue), also don't get me very excited. I'm concerned about my future and whether or not I'll ever advance in a department where the opportunities afforded to me just do spark any enthusiasm in me. On the flip side, I know of the opportunities afforded through most municipal police departments/state/federal and A LOT of them intrigued me greatly.

When I explain it this way, it seems like an easy, "no-brainer" decision...

However, I'm not taking this lightly. A job in Fire/Rescue is so very hard to achieve and not something you just "throw away"... Obviously, the fire department saw strong qualities in me, and I feel bad pissing it all away for a change of career at this stage in the game. Fortunately though, I've grown up a lot (mostly thanks to fire academy and in-department training) and I'm much more confident in myself and more assertive than I was during my college years.

I currently have a ride-time scheduled with a Police Department this Saturday, a day off of my Fire/Rescue shift, and I'm hoping that helps me.

So what is everyone's input? Should I make the switch?

Any Law Enforcement Officers have any advice for me?

What questions should I be asking myself?

Anyone know any Firefighters who switched to Police? Is it advisable?

Somethings I already know from being on the job....

I know Police are not as "widely hailed as heroes" as Firefighters are. The public mostly feels suspicious and hassled by them, but trust me I didn't get into public service because I want to be praised all the time.

Both Police and Firefighters/Paramedics do a lot of report writing. I hear that's something most "new recruits for police" are surprised by initially. Well, I won't be surprised because it's nothing new for me.

Also, my family's first reaction to my desire to switch was "Why don't you become a nurse instead"? Okay, that makes logical sense, but seriously, hospitals are like libraries to me... stale, mostly quiet (except during a trauma alert in the ER), and just bland... I am an adrenaline junky, I do like speeding to calls, and danger, and excitement... so, yeah, no nursing for me.

Thanks for your help,

Greg

[retdetsgt]

Greg, I have no idea why you would think we would know what's best for you? That's as personal a decision as who should marry.

[Creeker]

...
And then it hit me...

Like a sledgehammer to the face, I REALLY started to feel a strong personal regret. Something was "missing". Something "was not right" inside myself. Three months into the job and I'm really starting to think I should of stuck with Criminal Justice and a career in Law Enforcement. Sure, the job is great, no doubt, but here are the most meaty reasons to my current dilemma: 1) I like the medical side (riding Rescue/paramedic tasks), but as foreshadowed earlier, the fire-related aspects of the job just don't "do it for me"... they don't jazz me up as much as the idea of chasing down criminals, taking bad people off the streets, investigations, does... 2) Looking into my future with the department, all my promotional opportunities/higher-rank positions are related to the fire side (Driver Engineer, Ladder or Tiller Operator, etc.). They hardly interest me. Likewise, the incentives and extra certifications (Haz-Mat, TRT, Dive Rescue), also don't get me very excited. I'm concerned about my future and whether or not I'll ever advance in a department where the opportunities afforded to me just do spark any enthusiasm in me. On the flip side, I know of the opportunities afforded through most municipal police departments/state/federal and A LOT of them intrigued me greatly.

When I explain it this way, it seems like an easy, "no-brainer" decision...

...
Greg

Sounds like you need Religion.

If you want happiness, find God.

Otherwise, lots of drama in that post, but at least it seems to be spelled & punctuated correctly.

[lawduck]

You sound a lot like myself. I was a nerd in college and I'm still a nerd. I have dandruff and buy my blue jeans from the grocery store.
I wanted to do the job but I didn't think I was as much as an extrovert as you needed to be to be an officer. I couldn't see myself in a crowd of people bossing folks around, being rude to someone and/or being in charge of a scene.

But it's different when you button the uniform on and you have to do it. I got dropped in the grease early on and now (less than two years off of FTO) things are second nature to me.

It isn't a job where you're going to be praised a lot. It's often thankless. There are times when citizens show you appreciation. Like at the drive thru window someone will pay for your meal. And people come up to me at the gas station and thank me for the job we do. But these are residents that I will never write a ticket to or arrest.

Most of the time people you're dealing with don't want to see you or deal with you. But I treat everyone with respect. Even hard core pieces of sh!t. I want them to walk away and think, "You know, that officer wasn't as a$sh0le to me like every other one is to me." You never know when you'll deal with him again and he might want to kill an officer. But he sees your face and remembers you.

And the report writing isn't as bad as some people make it out to be. You seem to write well. And after a while you'll arrive on a scene and you'll go into report mode. The whole time you're talking to suspects/victims you already know how the report is going to start, finish and end.


With that being said, I wouldn't trade it for anything. Well, except for maybe a job I could work two days a week and make $100,000.
But I love it as thankless as it may be. It's unpredictable and there's always something new going on.

Good luck with your decision.

[Curt581]

I know many more people who were cops that left to be firefighters, than firefighters that decided to become cops.

I am an adrenaline junky, I do like speeding to calls, and danger, and excitement...

Put that right out of your head. Now.

At best, people like that burn out quickly. At worst, they get other people hurt... usually their partners, sometimes members of the public. Search around, articles have been posted here about cops who've responded "too fast" and hit and killed someone.

Not to be totally critical, but the last person I want to work with is an "adrenalin junky". Give me someone 'steady and predictable'.

[manahmanah]

I know many more people who were cops that left to be firefighters, than firefighters that decided to become cops.



Put that right out of your head. Now.

At best, people like that burn out quickly. At worst, they get other people hurt... usually their partners, sometimes members of the public. Search around, articles have been posted here about cops who've responded "too fast" and hit and killed someone.

Not to be totally critical, but the last person I want to work with is an "adrenalin junky". Give me someone 'steady and predictable'.

Same here, I know many more cops that have left to be firefighters than vice versa. As far as speeding around driving fast, if you don't make it to she scene alive, you can't assist your partners.

Even though driving code 3 (with lights and sirens) you still need to drive with due regard for safety and can still be held liable should something happen depending on the circumstances.

[retdetsgt]

Same here, I know many more cops that have left to be firefighters than vice versa. As far as speeding around driving fast, if you don't make it to she scene alive, you can't assist your partners.

Even though driving code 3 (with lights and sirens) you still need to drive with due regard for safety and can still be held liable should something happen depending on the circumstances.

Or this can happen,

http://www.realpolice.net/forums/gen...cers-wife.html

[Kimble]

Anyone know any Firefighters who switched to Police? Is it advisable?

I had a former firefighter in my POST academy, good guy who did well in training. Whether it's advisable for you, as others have said, that's a personal decision you will have to make for yourself. If dragging a water hose doesn't interest you, do some ride-alongs with local police departments to observe the job and see if it's something you'd enjoy. Or, as an alternative, see if you can become a reserve officer/deputy for a department in your area (many states offer equivalent training to reserves as is given to full-time LEOs), do the job part-time for a while, and see if it's something that would be worth a career change.

You sound a lot like myself. I was a nerd in college and I'm still a nerd. I have dandruff and buy my blue jeans from the grocery store.

Interesting...

[phantasm]

[FirefighterGreg]

I am an adrenaline junky, I do like speeding to calls, and danger, and excitement... so, yeah, no nursing for me.

I think I was misinterpreted when I wrote this. I didn't mean this to be interpreted as meaning I was some action-jackson, leap-and-not-think kinda guy who thinks police work is going to be like how the movies portray it. Similar to fire/rescue, showing up at the call safely is better than showing up fast. I was merely pointing out the fact that a career in nursing was of no interest to me, as some members of my family were quick to suggest. I like the community involvement, being out in the city, on my feet, in a vehicle, etc. Being stuck in a hospital would bore me.

A lot of great advice here. Thanks I really appreciate it.

Any one else who wants to comment feel free.

Greg

[FirefighterGreg]

I did a ride-along with a big city police department last night...

It was the graveyard shift I was supposed to ride all night long but unfortunately there was something going on (I never found out what) and my ride-along didn't start until midnight and it ended at 4:30am instead of 7:30am like it was supposed to... this was due to a police officer getting shot (in the hand) and a perimeter had to be set up for CSI, the detectives, to keep news media out, etc. and since as a "visitor" I wasn't aloud to just chill at the perimeter, and the police officer I rode with wouldn't be taking any more calls, he advised I just go home (not being rude, just making sense)... and I'm going to ride-along again this Friday night since my ride-along was only 4 instead of 10 hours long...

Any ways, in the four hours we stopped a local guy in the wrong part of town who is always looking for crack and the police officer spoke to him and searched him for drugs, we searched around a building that supposedly had been burglarized but we didn't see any evidence of it, and then we went lights-sirens to the shooting. I wasn't aloud to approach the scene.

So here were my thoughts: On my ride-along, when we went lights/sirens screaming down the road because dispatch advised "shots fired" inside of a neighborhood, I felt way more excited about getting there and getting on scene than I ever have riding in the back of a fire engine to a fire or in the back of a rescue truck to a medical alarm. Also, I spoke in detail with the police officer about all the things you can do (SWAT, Detective, Juvenile Unit, etc.) and so much of it interests me far more than the future with the fire department (Driver Engineer, Haz-Mat team, etc.). We talked about guys in the PD that taught Ju Jit Su to the other officers and that really excites me because I'd really love to learn that stuff. So since my ride-along was only 4 hours, I really can't comment much on what I thought of the calls, since we only had three, and we only got out of the vehicle once to talk to one frequent-flyer drug addict, but even still, the job is extremely interesting to me. I will admit this though - I can definitely sense that police work is far more dangerous than being a firefighter. Sure, when all hell breaks loose, firefighters are expected to perform at a super-human level (you try wearing all that gear that shots up your body temperature, inside a building thats like a billion degrees, crawling around, chopping and swinging and cutting at stuff, dragging out bodies, etc.)... but on a normal day-to-day basis I can see a clear difference in police work and firefighter/paramedic work.... police, on every call, are encountering people who do not like them... meanwhile, firefighters are meeting little old ladies who have chest pain and would like to go to the hospital... so I can see where the differences are... I'm not dumb, deaf, and blind to the clear differences in the two professions.

[Creeker]

I did a ride-along with a big city police department last night...

...... and I'm going to ride-along again this Friday night since my ride-along was only 4 instead of 10 hours long...

...... but on a normal day-to-day basis I can see a clear difference in police work and firefighter/paramedic work.... police, on every call, are encountering people who do not like them... ...

... I'm not dumb, deaf, and blind to the clear differences in the two professions.

If you want an average day, you should ride during a different day of the week on a midnight shift. Weekends always hop in most places.

The boredom and pc bs might make you want to go back to polishing firetrucks.:sleep:

[lawduck]

The boredom and pc bs might make you want to go back to polishing firetrucks.:sleep:

PC BS as in the BS PC I develop to stop cars?


Don't talk to me about boredom. When I get back to work on Tue night, I usually don't get a call for service until at least Thursday. I know what boredom is. If we didn't have internet access in the car there's no way I could work midnights.

[retdetsgt]

Don't talk to me about boredom. When I get back to work on Tue night, I usually don't get a call for service until at least Thursday. I know what boredom is. If we didn't have internet access in the car there's no way I could work midnights.

Wow, where I worked midnights, some nights I hoped it would slow down by 4:30 so I could catch up on reports..... About a quarter of the time, there was a call or two hanging over from swing shift when I hit the street. It wasn't that way every night nor was it that way all over the city, but I couldn't have stood driving around aimlessly. That's not why I became a cop....

I hated working swings because it was slower at the beginning of the shift and then started going nuts about 8 pm and stayed that way until shift change. Just about the time the adrenaline was at it's peak, you had to stop.....

[Creeker]

At my first Agency, we were required to patrol every neighborhood unless we got tied up on something. After 0200 when the cities bars were required to close, the streets literally rolled up. We got to know every insomniac, dog walker, paperboy and night convenience store clerk by name, and the biggest adrenaline rush you got was if you started to doze off and thought you saw a mailbox move or a clerk accidentally (on purpose?) hit the silent alarm.

OTOH, that's how I met my wife at the local 24 hour grocery store... Piggly Wiggly!!

At my other larger Agency when I was still on Patrol, there were too few of us to go around, but midweeks on mids were still very slow. Backup that I knew would be behind me at the first Agency, even for traffic stops, might not even be thought of at the second. I did it when I could, but seldom ever saw anyone else show up for me.