r/AskLE

Evening y’all

Here are the facts, no fluff

At 26 years old, I’m almost done with Bachelor’s fresh out of the military (USMC 0311/honorable discharge). I came to the conclusion that the next step is being a LEO (Florida County or City). I failed to recognize how past dumbass decisions paired with immature judgement, could cause an agency to possibly disqualify me.
The “rap sheet”:
At a whopping 16 years old, I had been arrested multiple times for small amount of marijuana/possession and paraphernalia, and multiple incidents of under-age drinking. Expunged

From ages 17-20 didn’t ingest an ounce of dice, dab or drank

21-22 is when I figured it’s time to earn my keep and serve my country ( I watched ‘The Punisher’).
During initial schooling and first few months of fleet, I’d occasionally smoke a thc pen and did ❄️ exactly twice.

22-current, aside from drinking while I was in, absolutely no other shady business what so ever. Realized the absolute dumbass and loser I was being and decided to seek future-driven decision making along with choosing the right crowd. Thank God, I’ve been blessed with opportunities to improve all around since then.

I am reaching out to a recruiter tomorrow providing details, and seeing whether or not I’m even eligible to apply. What I’d like to know is even if I’m eligible, what are the odds an agency views me as a potential asset vs absolute integrity violator (wouldn’t blame them)?

I understand it’s agency-dependent. I’m simply looking for people who possibly had a past similar to mine or know of someone who did that successfully became a LEO. Appreciate y’all!

Someone hit my car and ran. I provided security cam footage of the guy hitting my vehicle as well as a crystal clear picture of the guy himself (absolute full face shot and body shot in great lighting) from that camera but it was too dark to read the license plate number. The officer who took the report just called me and said that they tracked his vehicle with the flock cameras but it was also too dark outside for even the flock cameras to read his plate.

The guy who hit me was in a brand new jeep gladiator, light grey, rubicon. A fairly common vehicle but not as common compared to a grey honda civic. Are the police able to search dmv records for “jeep, gladiator, rubicon, grey” and see a list of registered owners in the area?

Alright so a bit of background information. First of all I don't have a reddit account so my friend let me borrow her account to pose this question to you all. Second I am a self sponsored cadet with a Law Enforcement Academy in Utah. For those familiar with Utah it is a Satellite POST Academy. My first day of Academy is Monday (The 24th) Prior to the academy I did a lot of ride alongs with local departments. One ride along in particular has stuck with me. I asked the deputy I rode with something along the lines of "What is a question you think I should ask you or something you think I should know before this ride along ends?" He responded with this question "Why are you willing to write a blank check with your life?" This ride along was months ago and I still can't stop thinking about it. I know why I applied to the academy and why I want to go into law enforcement. Id like to better my community and try to get folks lives back on track wherever and whenever possible. Aside from those desires I have an uncle who was a Virginia State trooper and he has been my roll model my entire life. But somehow I don't feel like these reasons are what the deputy had in mind for his question. I was wondering what your takes are on the question he asked me and if your willing to say what your personal answer to the deputies question would be.

TLDR:

I went on a ride along with a sheriff's department a while ago he asked me the question "Why are you willing to write a blank check with your life" Why is it stuck on my mind and what are your takes on the question?

After being a LEO for over a year, This sweet, kind, funny and patient guy has become tired, jaded, snappy, inaffectionate, verbally road raging a lot, having frequent nightmares and poor sleep, teasing me constantly, dropping slurs(not directed at me)…
I’ve brought up therapy multiple times but he keeps stalling on it.
What do I do? It’s getting to the point where I’m more relaxed when he’s not home.

I made a post in my city’s subreddit discussing alcohol use and asking for local resources. I didn’t post my name, address, phone number, or threats of self-harm.

About 12–16 hours later, police came to my home for a welfare check and told me it was related to Reddit posts I’d made the previous night.

My anonymous account wasn’t directly connected to my real name. However, someone who investigated my post history could potentially have connected details from it to posts I’d previously made elsewhere, including other platforms, and eventually obtain my first name and approximate neighbourhood.

I’ve also had previous interactions with the same police service, so they would already have records containing my identity/address.

I understand the caller’s identity may be confidential. What I’m trying to understand is the identification process.

If a caller only provided something like my first name, approximate age/neighbourhood and social-media posts, could police potentially identify me from their own records and determine my address?

Or would the caller generally need to provide my full identity/address for a welfare check like this?

Is it realistic that Reddit itself provided identifying/account information within ~12–16 hours for a non-imminent welfare concern, or would that generally require a formal emergency request/process?

I’m in Canada, if that makes a difference.

Hey all, I am a new dispatcher for my local PD and many of the officers have shared their funniest arrest stories. Do any of you on here have any funny arrest stories you’d like to share?

I just wanna say that this post has NOTHING against state police, this is not meant to be bad or anything just an honest question.

If your a local / town / city cop you spend a lot of your time running calls, disputes, domestics, robberies etc, whatever is happening in town is your own problem.

But at the state level, and this is just coming from a non-LEO perspective, I never see them, ever, unless it’s just sitting by a random highway all day.

As a city cop it seems like you get “diversity” and something new every day. But the stateys whole world is just running radar looking for people going 85 in a 65 for 8 hours a day.

I’m sure they do more then that, but is the job way different then local?

I’m seriously considering becoming a police officer, but as a mom of 3 kids, I want to make sure I’m looking at the whole picture and not just the career itself.
For anyone who is currently a police officer, has been one, or has a spouse/parent in law enforcement:
What questions should I be asking myself before making this decision?
Some things I’m thinking about:
• How realistic is the schedule with 3 kids?
• How often do officers actually work nights, weekends, holidays, or overtime?
• How much control do you have over getting day shift vs. night shift?
• How long does it typically take to get a more desirable schedule?
• How difficult is it to take time off for your kids’ appointments, school events, birthdays, etc.?
• How does the job affect your marriage and family life?
• How much does the job affect you mentally when you come home?
• How often do you miss family events because of work?
• What happens when you have young kids and your spouse also works?
• Is childcare a major challenge?
• Is the pay worth the stress, hours, and responsibility?
• What are the biggest benefits people don’t realize come with the job?
• What are the biggest downsides people don’t talk about?
• How physically demanding is it after the academy?
• What opportunities are there to move into different assignments later on?
• If you could go back and choose again, would you still become a police officer?
I’m especially interested in hearing from parents in law enforcement. I’d love honest answers — the good, the bad, and the things you wish you knew before starting.
I’m trying to make an informed decision that works not only for me, but for my kids and my family too.

I am currently in the process of applying to A-2027. I passed my fitness and have my poly scheduled. I am curious to know when I will be told or informed of my duty location? Please can someone share their experience?

I’ll be in Denver in a couple days with badge, ID, and a concealed carry Glock 43X with two spare mags.

Any Denver or Colorado cops have advice regarding your laws? This will be the first time I’m making use of the LEOSA act.

Hey,

I’ll be taking the written test for LEO (police officer) later this month, and I was wondering how long the exam is and whether it involves any math, such as percentages, fractions, averages, etc.

I’m preparing for it, but I got two practice tests from the PST website, and neither of them had any math, lol.

Also, is the exam still 207 questions, like the website says, or has that information not been updated?

Thanks!

What flashlight do you guys run? Obviously not a huge disparity with them all, but I'm curious if there's one or two that stand out.

Hello all, I’ve been a correctional officer for several years and been wanting to make the switch to county to be a detention deputy. My only concern is the polygraph test. I’ll be honest, I’ve done some stupid things when I was younger but made a complete 360 once I had kids. I’m just curious to know that if I’m completely honest with the questions they ask and let them know that’s no longer my life. Would I still have a chance of getting the position?

Currently have two jobs one full time job and a part time dispatch job at my local PD both jobs are nightshift. Been drinking wild berry Red Bull for my go to energy drink. What are you guys and gals drinking?

Pros and cons of self sponsoring yourself through the Acadmey vs going as recruit? Does it strengthen your application being a certified officer? Have had some non selects and just thinking of putting myself through the Acadmey and coming out and applying. Getting on as a recruit is extremely difficult, in Texas Atleast. But I have zero experience in law enforcement. Been EMS my whole life…

My (former) employer apparently sent the police to do a welfare check after letting me go a few days ago. My former employer and I did not see eye to eye very well, and my former boss and HR department were well aware on the amount of stress and anxiety my job put me through, to the point I'd have regular nightmares about my workplace. I was let go for reasons involving anger issues and bad attitude.

The officer was kind, and asked "you gonna kill yourself or anything" and I said no, and he asked if I had another job lined up to which I responded also with no.

There was something he mentioned about "leaving comments" which is probably referring to the regular notes I left in my former workplace's suggestion box about how much favoritism there was rampant in the workplace, how much stress was being caused, and again regular nightmares. However, those are supposed to be anonymous. I guess not many people were complaining about having nightmares about this job, lol.

Anyway, am I going to be like, watched now? Am I supposed to be extra paranoid now? I don't plan on killing myself, I actually am taking steps to evaluate my medication and try to help myself while looking for a new job. But are the police going to constantly check on me to see if I've killed myself frequently in the future? I'd rather my neighbors not think I'm crazy with an officer coming to knock on my door to see if I've offed myself.

Again, the officer was polite, and left after a brief conversation. I was more confused than anything but kept a positive demeanor.

Hello! I am moving along in the hiring process of a department on the east coast. I filled out my polygraph packet asserting that I have never been arrested because I had believed the arrest was expunged and there was no record of it. I also answered a few more questions untruthfully on the polygraph packet (the last time I smoked weed, drank alcohol, etc.) I completed my background check with the FBI and I was reading the results it turns out I have an underage drinking charge from 2015. Will this automatically disqualify me from employment with this department? It’s not a dui or anything just a party getting busted in high school. What should I say when they bring this up to me? Also, how should I go about answering other questions on the polygraph that I may have not filled out truthfully in my packet? Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated

So I noticed a trope on tv where the captain or department head or whatever makes a TERRIBLE call and it’s the protagonist that suffers the consequences and the boss some how is excused even tho it was their fault. I know LE typically has a lot of levels, so like the “boss” also has a boss. And I’m confused if this trope is to advance plot or if it’s true in LE that it’s normal for the person who made the bad call to get off light if they have subordinates they can point the finger at.

Looking to what you guys are running for your single mag holsters. Gonna be running two but just some insight on what you guys have been running with that will secure mags during UOF situations and running.

Got into a footie the other day and one of mine almost fell out. Looking for an upgrade