Is it rude to....

[redwing634]

...Call or email apartment complexes and ask if they offer discounts to law enforcement?

(as a LEO)

I know some agencies look down on officers accepting discounts, and wonder if asking about them would be just as bad. Thoughts?

[retdetsgt]

I wouldn't do it. For one, I'm not that interested in the world knowing what I do for a living when I was off duty. Two, if you get the discount it's so you can be the complex police officer. No thanks to that too.

But it's also against our general orders to take any discount not offered to the general public. I'm fine with that too.

[redwing634]

I wouldn't do it. For one, I'm not that interested in the world knowing what I do for a living when I was off duty.

Well the people living around you are going to know anyways when you leave for / come home from work in uniform, right? Also the front office will know because you have to put down your current employment on the application.

Two, if you get the discount it's so you can be the complex police officer. No thanks to that too.

That bad huh?

But it's also against our general orders to take any discount not offered to the general public. I'm fine with that too.

I hear you on that one, although not all agencies have that order (my current one trains us to turn down discounts but we have no policy against it).

[retdetsgt]

Well the people living around you are going to know anyways when you leave for / come home from work in uniform, right? Also the front office will know because you have to put down your current employment on the application.

We have locker rooms and change clothes at work. Very, very few wear their uniforms to and from work. The front office knowing who I am and everyone in the complex is something else. Besides, I hated complexes. When I was renting, I always looked for something no bigger than a duplex or triplex at best. I never found them to be all that much more expensive. My neighbors generally knew I worked for the city, but that was it. Nobody is really all that curious about who does what for a living. Unless you have a take home car, the only way most people know you're a cop is if you tell them.

That bad huh?

Would you like to be called out of bed or dinner to go take care of some beef between tenants or a DV? Or some fat lady wants to talk to you because her kid won't mind her? I liked being a cop, but I also treasured my time off as my own.

I hear you on that one, although not all agencies have that order (my current one trains us to turn down discounts but we have no policy against it).

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. I know several former officers that learned that the hard way. Besides, it's a matter of pride with me. There are people who work harder than I did in jobs more dangerous who made less money who didn't get discounts. Why should I?

Some people feel the need to announce to the world that they're cops, I got over that pretty quickly.

[mcsap]

In over 23 years of uniform wearing , I at most wore my uniform pants but never my uniform shirt to and from work. MOST of the time , I would just totally change at work. Sure , some of my neighbors know who I am but not the entire hood

[Legoate]

We have a policy against asking for gratuities.

As a general rule, when gratuities are given, something is expected in return. If you are given a discount at an apartment complex, you are most likely expected to give some form of assistance with complex security in return. Once you work the street for a while you will see how much drama gets drummed up in even the nicest apartment complexes and want no part of it.

As far as wearing your uniform to work- at my old house my close neighbors were sure of my profession because I pulled a marked patrol vehicle into my garage every night. At my new house some of my neighbors have heard what I do for a living although most probably doubt I'm actually an office because every time they see me coming home I'm wearing gym shorts, a tshirt, and carrying my igloo lunch box.

[retdetsgt]

We have a policy against asking for gratuities.

When I first came on, cops got discounts on a lot of things. I used to get embarrassed when some of the old guys would get not only incensed, but sometimes angry if they didn't get one. There were times I just wished I could be invisible.

I guess that's why I'm not a Democrat, I don't believe in entitlements.

[Chef_Au]

In modern day I would say its soliciting an inducement or other gratiuity.

Big no no these days.

Fine, we got the odd cup of coffee here and there, but can you imagine if it made the local paper "new recruit wants discount housing"

Your chief would drop you like a preverbial bag of s#$t

[Joeyd6]

Redwing....your question implies you are a LEO. We have strict rules about that. Get verified if you are a LEO. Otherwise you might want to rephrase the question as to if a cop would do that.

[tcop733]

It's the way you word the question. If you ask for a discount or free rent to me it looks bad.
If you ask if they need a Courtesy Officer, all's well.
I lived rent free for a complex for almost 6 years. They loved my take home patrol car, and just wanted me to walk around the complex now and then.
A little hard to hide the fact I was a cop while getting in and out of that unit.
The department I worked for did NOT provide us with a locker room, in fact my latest agency is the only one that does, but honestly when I get off at 6 AM I have no interest in changing clothes, nor would I fancy the thought of changing there before my shift begins.

[redwing634]

It's the way you word the question. If you ask for a discount or free rent to me it looks bad.
If you ask if they need a Courtesy Officer, all's well.

Not really either, more like.. when looking for a new apt complex, calling and asking "do you have any courtesy officer positions available, orf otherwise offer discounts to police officers?"

[retdetsgt]

I lived rent free for a complex for almost 6 years.

We've had specific regulations against that sort of thing for years. We can't accept anything free or discounted that's not also offered to the general public. Our chief would **** bricks if he found out that one of us was getting free rent because we were cops.

[Chef_Au]

End result: If you ask, you're in the preverbial!

[tcop733]

We've had specific regulations against that sort of thing for years. We can't accept anything free or discounted that's not also offered to the general public. Our chief would **** bricks if he found out that one of us was getting free rent because we were cops.

That's a fact. The agency I worked for at the time had no issues with it. They considered it an extra job, which had to be approved by the department.
Many of the officers had these courtesy officer positions.
Many LEO's in the Houston/Galveston area have these.

[tcop733]

Not really either, more like.. when looking for a new apt complex, calling and asking "do you have any courtesy officer positions available, orf otherwise offer discounts to police officers?"

I wouldn't even ask if they gave a discount. Basically, I wouldn't solicit any discounts or payments, just asked if they needed a courtesy officer.