I'm changing careers. Some things have happened recently that really illustrated it's time for a change. There are lots of reasons, really, but the main push has to do with career advancement, earning potential and job satisfaction. I was offered a job with the state and accepted it. My tentative start date is January 5, 2015. I will be a regulatory agent, but it is not a sworn, police authority position. For the past 15 years I've been a police officer...something that has defined my life in many, many ways. It wasn't something I just do for a living (much as I tried to make it so), but was a whole way of life. It feels strange to leave it behind...new job anxiety, a good portion of my identity, etc.
But not a single part of me regrets it or has second thoughts. With the state, I will have so many more career opportunities, and could return to a sworn LE position at some point (many investigative jobs within the state are sworn, badge-and-gun positions). My initial move is a substantial pay cut, but the long-term benefits will be undeniable.
Although I am somewhat nervous, there is a huge sense of relief.
I'm hanging up the badge and gun.
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UncleJoseph
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I'm hanging up the badge and gun.
Last edited by UncleJoseph on Sat Mar 28, 2015 5:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
If you take away their comforts, people are just like any other animal.
I'm posting an expanded version of one of my private responses to Joseph, appropos of some recent law enforcement media attention, as a spur to further exploration of the issue.
I keep reading these statistics: "Wisconsin incarcerates a higher percentage of its black men than any other state." That statistic doesn't tell me anything. Every time someone talks about percentage of black incarceration, what we really need to talk about is percentage of criminals who are black, minus percentage of incarcerated criminals who are black. In other words, if 10 percent of criminals are black, and 20 percent of those incarcerated are black, we have a problem. Straight-up rates of incarceration don't tell the whole story.
But if 20 percent of our criminals are black, and 20 percent of our incarcerated criminals are black, then the problem with the high rate of incarceration doesn't have to do with law enforcement, but with crime. That doesn't mean we should point a finger at "the black community" - as if there actually is such a thing! - and be done with it: we need to ask ourselves why such a high rate of any given group is doing antisocial things, and address that.
What we find - spoiler alert! - is that black people don't commit crimes at a higher rate than white people, poor people commit crimes at a higher rate than wealthy people. Our social problem isn't racial [although some proportion of it may well be cultural], but economic: poor white people commit crimes at about the same rate as poor black people.
So instead of looking at cops, or looking at cultural or racial groups, we need to look at the economics of poverty, and the effects that has beyond the immediate. The high rate of black crime is because of the high rate of black poverty. [Because you're looking at a population whose relatively recent ancestors didn't have property (since they were property), and whose more recent ancestors were so oppressed they couldn't use white people toilets.] That's what we need to address, not a few bad [very, very bad, in some cases] cops, or a few bad [very, very bad, in some cases] criminals.
I keep reading these statistics: "Wisconsin incarcerates a higher percentage of its black men than any other state." That statistic doesn't tell me anything. Every time someone talks about percentage of black incarceration, what we really need to talk about is percentage of criminals who are black, minus percentage of incarcerated criminals who are black. In other words, if 10 percent of criminals are black, and 20 percent of those incarcerated are black, we have a problem. Straight-up rates of incarceration don't tell the whole story.
But if 20 percent of our criminals are black, and 20 percent of our incarcerated criminals are black, then the problem with the high rate of incarceration doesn't have to do with law enforcement, but with crime. That doesn't mean we should point a finger at "the black community" - as if there actually is such a thing! - and be done with it: we need to ask ourselves why such a high rate of any given group is doing antisocial things, and address that.
What we find - spoiler alert! - is that black people don't commit crimes at a higher rate than white people, poor people commit crimes at a higher rate than wealthy people. Our social problem isn't racial [although some proportion of it may well be cultural], but economic: poor white people commit crimes at about the same rate as poor black people.
So instead of looking at cops, or looking at cultural or racial groups, we need to look at the economics of poverty, and the effects that has beyond the immediate. The high rate of black crime is because of the high rate of black poverty. [Because you're looking at a population whose relatively recent ancestors didn't have property (since they were property), and whose more recent ancestors were so oppressed they couldn't use white people toilets.] That's what we need to address, not a few bad [very, very bad, in some cases] cops, or a few bad [very, very bad, in some cases] criminals.
Joe, I hope the best for you, career wise. I've actually thought about you somewhat lately: with all the crazy things going on with police in this country, I've worried about you and your safety. There's been an increasingly "us vs them" mentality I hear from people and see in media(and I rarely follow mainstream media) that makes me nervous(when people start exhorting violence against any group, I start getting nervous). And that worries me.
I've always valued the view point you have provided me, as a Law Enforcement Officer. While I may not always agree with you, I have come to respect your experience in a side of life that I am blessedly not a part of in any way(hah, I cleaned up my act! Mostly). But from your perspective, and Paul's perspective, I learned to atleast temper my antipathy towards "the man" and try to extend the benefit of the doubt to both sides.
But hey man, you'll always be Joe to me. With Llamas.
I've always valued the view point you have provided me, as a Law Enforcement Officer. While I may not always agree with you, I have come to respect your experience in a side of life that I am blessedly not a part of in any way(hah, I cleaned up my act! Mostly). But from your perspective, and Paul's perspective, I learned to atleast temper my antipathy towards "the man" and try to extend the benefit of the doubt to both sides.
But hey man, you'll always be Joe to me. With Llamas.
I suspect that people who speak or write properly are up to no good, or homersexual, or both
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UncleJoseph
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With all the recent events in the news (one of which was really close to home), I'm glad I no longer work in law enforcement. While I wouldn't necessarily fear going to work every day, the current political and social climates suggest sweeping reforms in the ways law enforcement will be allowed to conduct business. I'm quite certain most of these changes will not be positive, and will lead to civil unrest, lack of capacity for law enforcement and the general degradation of society. There is definitely room for law enforcement to improve and make positive reforms, but the kind of changes I foresee that will come from the current nonsensical attitudes will likely just hamstring cops and lead to a near-complete lack of ability for them to respond to society's problems. I guess we'll see...
If you take away their comforts, people are just like any other animal.