State vs City

[callison]

LEOS,

In your opinion, do you like state patrol or working in a city dept? I see perks to both, but I would like to your opinion.

[retdetsgt]

I like city, mostly because the state police do a lot more traffic enforcement than I care to do. I've never found writing traffic tickets all day particularly challenging. Also, I have more say in where I live. I have the utmost respect for our state police, but I wouldn't care to work for them.

I guess to add, it would also depend on the size of the city. Smaller cities have less chance for promotion and various assignments. Mine actually had more than the state does.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

Doesn't matter what we like. Everyone has their "thing" and what they're interested in doing. Some people don't realize it until they're working for a department and then realize they want to specialize in a particular area.

[Gutwrench]

Put me down for city patrol, 1800 to 0600.

But the real rivelry is pd v. so. Those encounters can get ugly.

[Cat_Doc]

But the real rivelry is pd v. so. Those encounters can get ugly.

I've worked both. And both have their distinct positives and negatives.

It's what you make of it (motivation) that counts.

[Gutwrench]

I've worked both. And both have their distinct positives and negatives.

It's what you make of it (motivation) that counts.

Oh those border skirmishes. Both sides had cowboys who added spice to the mix.

[Cat_Doc]

Oh those border skirmishes. Both sides had cowboys who added spice to the mix.

LOL. Yep, that still goes on. Too bad the sergeants don't step in and put a stop to it. Unfortunately, the sergeants are sometimes the worst offenders.

When I was with the city, we had a drunk walk out of a bar that was on the county side of the main drag. He stumbled into the street on the county side. He got hit by a car on the county side. It knocked him some distance through the air and he landed, dead, on the city side.

The deputy that showed up insisted it was our traffic because the guy "probably" died in the city!

Edit: We took the fatal because it was our department policy to avoid disputes about jurisdiction if it arose and just take the call. In Arizona, all sworn have statewide jurisdiction anyway. The county is much better about this now under our new sheriff. He doesn't tolerate trying to dump calls.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

I've worked both. And both have their distinct positives and negatives.

It's what you make of it (motivation) that counts.

At the risk of sounding like I'm sucking up, I know which one of those two choices works best with my personality and hard work ethic.

[Cat_Doc]

You want to chase the cartel, don't ya?

[Sgt. Slaughter]

That I do. If it were possible, I'd spend entire shifts snoopin' and poopin' in the Vekol.

[Gutwrench]

When I was with the city, we had a drunk walk out of a bar that was on the county side of the main drag. He stumbled into the street on the county side. He got hit by a car on the county side. It knocked him some distance through the air and he landed, dead, on the city side.

The deputy that showed up insisted it was our traffic because the guy "probably" died in the city!
We took the fatal because it was our department policy to avoid disputes about jurisdiction if it arose and just take the call.

Classic. Just think, if the driver had used the proper amount of English the drunk might have flown onto the freeway and you could have kissed it to the highway patrol.

[retdetsgt]

LOL. Yep, that still goes on. Too bad the sergeants don't step in and put a stop to it. Unfortunately, the sergeants are sometimes the worst offenders.

Here, the grunts got along pretty well for the most part. It was the command of both that had identity crisis's most of the time.

[Kimble]

My two least favorite things to do in patrol were working wrecks and traffic enforcement just to write tickets. State highway patrol appeals to many, but not me.

[retdetsgt]

My two least favorite things to do in patrol were working wrecks and traffic enforcement just to write tickets. State highway patrol appeals to many, but not me.

Yep. If that had been my primary job, I'd have gone back to selling cars or something. My first training rotation was in traffic division and I had a great FTO, but I didn't share his enthusiasm for that at all. My next FTO was in a precinct and he was one of the best street cops I ever saw. He taught me the fun of rooting around street denizens, developing informants, etc. and doing followup on crimes when we weren't on calls. IMO, it sure beat sitting on a traffic light waiting for someone to run it. He taught me a lot of skills that I used the rest of my career, especially as a detective.

[greg72982]

My two least favorite things to do in patrol were working wrecks and traffic enforcement just to write tickets. State highway patrol appeals to many, but not me.

It all depends on the state too. Here the PSP doesn't do much more traffic than local cops for the most part with a few exceptions like the turnpike PSP. Since sheriff departments are essentially nonfunctional as far as answering calls, PSP has to pick up the slack and there's alot to pick up

In general state police have much more diverse tasks than state highway patrols.