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There are several things you can do to make yourself more attractive and successful. Getting your foot in the door with an agency by becoming a dispatcher or jailer is one route. Another is to self-sponsor yourself through an academy to become certified. That is time and money a department does not have to invest, and in the time of budget shortfalls and cutbacks making yourself a cheaper investment is helpful. Be careful doing that, because it is not a golden ticket to employment.
You need to figure out why you want to get into law enforcement. Trying to work it out while you're on an oral board is not a good idea. I would say that what you've expressed are not good reasons for wanting to pursue a career in law enforcement. Police departments do not want people that are seeking to boost their ego. You have to have self-worth and discipline to become an officer in the first place. I don't quite understand the motivation of becoming a police officer to get over your fear of authority, either.
I don't mean to put you down or discourage you, but on the surface it seems as though you need to mature some and do some real soul searching before trying to get into law enforcement. It's a big undertaking and it's a huge responsibility. It's not for everybody, that's for sure. If you decide it is for you, however, I wish you the best of luck in your pursuit!
Well there's plenty of people I've seen on many police forces that tend to act like they're still on the football team.
If anything, they need to grow up and drop their clique-ish nature before they've alienated themselves to everyone.
And "grow up"? I don't think any of us will ever truly grow up.
If anything, we just say "f--k the truth" and learn to become better liars in order to get by as time goes on.
As for which part I failed, it was the MMPI and the addition of some NoCal educated psychiatrist that seemed to be a little too much on the "hippie side" of things.
I would be all okay with the failure had the psychiatrist been an actual cop.
But no. This was just a strict, academia honcho that seemed to be sizing me up for a peer-review.
As for my fears of authority, I feel I no longer can stand the sight of them. I have even avoided/postponed/delayed jury service due to those creeps being all over the place and treating you like a prisoner in the courthouse.
Maybe I'll finally get over that when they start treating people like human beings.
Until then, I'll just focus on getting into another line of work where I don't have to see them and like I've mentioned before, move to an area where self-defense isn't as heavily frowned upon.
Why would a psychiatrist become a cop? There is a lot more money in psychiatry working in a medical setting or having an independent practice. Cops are not trained to analyze psychiatric test results. However, I do not think the MMPI is reliable because the conclusion a psychiatrist or psychologist comes to is subjective. There is no standard way to evaluate the MMPI. Different mental health professionals can come up with different conclusions. How do you know the psychiatrist works in academia and not the mental health field? Practicing psychiatrists have more experience dealing with the mentally ill than any cop. Are you confusing psychiatrists with psychologists? Although there are practicing psychologists, they tend to be more involved in academia than psychiatrists who just happen to be medical doctors.
With all of that said, the psychiatrist was right in disqualifying you and probably sized you up pretty well. A police department wouldn't want someone who fears or despises authority. If you were evaluated by a cop, the results could have possibly been worse.
Why would a psychiatrist become a cop? There is a lot more money in psychiatry working in a medical setting or having an independent practice. Cops are not trained to analyze psychiatric test results. However, I do not think the MMPI is reliable because the conclusion a psychiatrist or psychologist comes to is subjective. There is no standard way to evaluate the MMPI. Different mental health professionals can come up with different conclusions. How do you know the psychiatrist works in academia and not the mental health field? Practicing psychiatrists have more experience dealing with the mentally ill than any cop. Are you confusing psychiatrists with psychologists? Although there are practicing psychologists, they tend to be more involved in academia than psychiatrists who just happen to be medical doctors.
With all of that said, the psychiatrist was right in disqualifying you and probably sized you up pretty well. A police department wouldn't want someone who fears or despises authority. If you were evaluated by a cop, the results could have possibly been worse.
Maybe I should just become a psychiatrist then.
At least I could have some sort of authority.
That and I'll actually have the time to do it since my social life is practically non-existent(lack of personal references)
Anyways, I've thought about it and don't really care much for the hours LE officers are forced to work.
Too much paperwork and too much scrutiny from everyone else, no wonder why they're angry all the time.
As far despising authority goes, I don't break laws and have never been in trouble with it.
I just don't feel comfortable with them being around.
Anyways, if I came off crying like a little b--ch, then I deserve any insults and/or grillings and won't fight against it as far as this issue goes.
I've already got my mind set on other things in the tech/voc-ed department that will satisfy me after I've had enough of steering the wheels.
Academic courses and the people in there I never seemed to get along with. The people in the welding and auto-tech classes were always a chill bunch though.
Instead of trying to kill myself being something I don't have the capacity to become, might as well just stick to familiar territory.
Well there's plenty of people I've seen on many police forces that tend to act like they're still on the football team.
If anything, they need to grow up and drop their clique-ish nature before they've alienated themselves to everyone.
And "grow up"? I don't think any of us will ever truly grow up. If anything, we just say "f--k the truth" and learn to become better liars in order to get by as time goes on.
As for my fears of authority, I feel I no longer can stand the sight of them. I have even avoided/postponed/delayed jury service due to those creeps being all over the place and treating you like a prisoner in the courthouse.
Maybe I'll finally get over that when they start treating people like human beings.
Until then, I'll just focus on getting into another line of work where I don't have to see them and like I've mentioned before, move to an area where self-defense isn't as heavily frowned upon.
Quote:
Maybe I should just become a psychiatrist then. At least I could have some sort of authority.
I have to say, in all honesty, you come across a bit odd in your messages. If your posts represent how you are in real life I can see why you did not pass the psych. I would say without a doubt you do not belong in law enforcement. I'm not saying that as an insult toward you; your personality simply doesn't seem very compatible with the job.
I have to say, in all honesty, you come across a bit odd in your messages. If your posts represent how you are in real life I can see why you did not pass the psych. I would say without a doubt you do not belong in law enforcement. I'm not saying that as an insult toward you; your personality simply doesn't seem very compatible with the job.
I seem a bit odd to everybody, which is why I'm pretty much limited to just the security and truck driving jobs I've been doing for the past 9 years I've been working.
I could get started in college again, but the academic classes needed I end up walking out of due to various reasons.
I only bring this up because the only non voc-ed class I managed to sit and pass was an A/J course on laws-of-arrest.
But getting back to future career choices, I'm capable of doing other things of course. But the nature and people involved in those lines of work would make me quit after a short time.
My friend's probably right, I'll be driving trucks until I'm sitting on the porch swing.
As someone who has been there (state trooper) let me first say to the person who suggested these jobs are "fun" that there is absolutely no fun in being a cop. Be prepared to be a marriage counselor, fight referee, drunk wrassler etc etc. Hope you like LOTS and LOTS of paperwork and reports. Oh yea....and they get reviewed/rejected for correction by your supervisor just like in grade school. Be prepared to meet quotas (oh yes) on traffic stops/speeding tickets and if you don't get enough "contacts per hour" thats tickets and warnings to the normal folk, be prepared to get put on warrant service (where you go try to apprehend killers and stuff) to doing garage inspections (checking out garages that do state inspections to make sure they are not just gluing on stickers) and all the other crap jobs they can come up with. Oh... and no more gravy OT sitting in a construction zone with the warning lights on for hours and hours being bored watching traffic. This all gets resolved once you go out and hammer people for a month and get your stats up. You'll be spending your days off in court during the week and on the rare occasions you do get off on the weekend, you will be spending it with your policeman/firemen buddies, because the "normal" people all hate you because your a cop. Oh....all except the people who want to be your buddies because you are a cop and the unlimited women who throw themselves at you because you are in uniform and on the job. Not for me.
I have to say, in all honesty, you come across a bit odd in your messages. If your posts represent how you are in real life I can see why you did not pass the psych. I would say without a doubt you do not belong in law enforcement. I'm not saying that as an insult toward you; your personality simply doesn't seem very compatible with the job.
That was my impression, too. Either that, or he's perfect for IAD.
The reasons people get into law enforcement are as different as the people themselves. Some wanted to be a police officer from the time they were old enough to spell their names. Others do it for the benefits. Others do it because of family tradition. And others do it for the same reason some people go into the Marines: They know they need to get on the right side of the law before they land on the wrong side of it. Are there some who crave authority? Sure, like that moron in New York with pepper spraying OWS protesters for the heck of it. That's generally not a good reason for becoming a cop, though.
Alas, the "microphallus" reason is just a, ummm, phallacy. Trust me.
As someone who has been there (state trooper) let me first say to the person who suggested these jobs are "fun" that there is absolutely no fun in being a cop. Be prepared to be a marriage counselor, fight referee, drunk wrassler etc etc. Hope you like LOTS and LOTS of paperwork and reports. Oh yea....and they get reviewed/rejected for correction by your supervisor just like in grade school. Be prepared to meet quotas (oh yes) on traffic stops/speeding tickets and if you don't get enough "contacts per hour" thats tickets and warnings to the normal folk, be prepared to get put on warrant service (where you go try to apprehend killers and stuff) to doing garage inspections (checking out garages that do state inspections to make sure they are not just gluing on stickers) and all the other crap jobs they can come up with. Oh... and no more gravy OT sitting in a construction zone with the warning lights on for hours and hours being bored watching traffic. This all gets resolved once you go out and hammer people for a month and get your stats up. You'll be spending your days off in court during the week and on the rare occasions you do get off on the weekend, you will be spending it with your policeman/firemen buddies, because the "normal" people all hate you because your a cop. Oh....all except the people who want to be your buddies because you are a cop and the unlimited women who throw themselves at you because you are in uniform and on the job. Not for me.
Last written test I took for any law-enforcement agency was for the CHP back in 2008 and I passed it.
But after hearing many stories like the one you just regaled above, I thought better about it and also came to the sense that it's mostly a crap job just like anything else.
In the end, I feel I'm much better off just driving trucks in a dedicated route where everyone is cool.
Although there is one thing I think cops and truck drivers have in common,
loneliness.
We're both basically not in one place long enough or work too many hours to establish much of a social life outside of work.
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I would say that what you've expressed are not good reasons for wanting to pursue a career in law enforcement. Police departments do not want people that are seeking to boost their ego. You have to have self-worth and discipline to become an officer in the first place. I don't quite understand the motivation of becoming a police officer to get over your fear of authority, either.
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