The Police Career

FASCINATION STAGE - 1st thru 4th year of Law Enforcement.
For most officers, this is their first time outside of the
middle class bubble.
They have never seen a dead body, never seen life-threatening
injuries, never dealt with a family disturbance, never witnessed the
squaller some people call "living life", and never really understood the phrase "Man's
Inhumanity To Man" until now.
Everything is new to them. You can ID them by the amount of fancy new equipment they
carry...a ten BILLION candlelight power flashlight, "state-of-the-art"
holster, pens that write in the rain, a ballistic vest rated to stop Tomahawk
missiles, and an equipment bag large enough to house a squad of Marines.
They love it, showing up early for their shift.
They work way past the end of their shift without even
considering an OT slip.
They believe rank within the department is based only on
ability and those in the upper ranks got there by knowledge and skill in police
work only.
They believe the Department runs with the same attention to
detail and efficiency as Joe Friday's Dragnet TV show....everyone is
dedicated & committed, everyone is competent, everyone is on the same page and working
towards the same high-minded goals.
When they finally go home to their spouse/ significant other,
they tell them everything they did and saw; they are wired up.
Some of the more "eaten up" purchase a police scanner at Radio
Shack so they can hear the radio calls while at home.

HOSTILITY STAGE - 4th thru 6th year
They now show up for work about 2 minutes before their shift,
and they are hiding out about 30 minutes before end of shift, writing reports
so they can just throw them in the sergeant's in-box and leave ASAP.
They have to get to their second job to earn money to pay for
the divorce that is pending. Their spouse is no longer interested in hearing about all the
gore and heartache. They get the "you spend more time with the cops than you do
with me" speech. They now know how the lieutenant got those silver bars on his
collar. They consider the FOP, the city, and all brass to be as
dangerous as any viper.
They gripe about everything, drink excessively, chase women,
and hate the public, politicians, media, etc.
They feel they have more in common with the hookers, thieves,
dopers, etc.. but hate them too.
Those pens that write in the rain are no longer needed. Writing
traffic citations can be a lot more trouble than they are worth, even on
a nice day To write one, or to write anything while standing in the rain, is a
sure sign of an insane person.

SUPERIORITY STAGE - 7th thru 15th years
This is when cops are at their best.
They have survived changes in administration.
They know how the political game is played, both inside and
outside of the department.
They know who they can trust and who they can't.
They have select friends within the department, and stay away,
as best they can, from the nuts and boot-lickers.
They know the legal system, the judges, prosecutors, defense
attorneys, etc.
They know how to testify and put a good case together.
They are usually the ones that the brass turn to when there is
some clandestine request or sensitive operation that needs to be done
right.
These cops are still physically fit and can handle themselves
on the street.
They will stay around the station when needed, but have other
commitments; such as a second job, a second spouse, a second
boyfriend/girlfriend (sometimes both), etc. They have most of their friends outside of
Law Enforcement now.

ACCEPTANCE STAGE - 15th to ????
Now the cops have a single objective... retirement and pension
Nothing is going to come between them and their monthly check
The boss, the city (or State, or county), the idiots around the
station, and the creeps on the street can all go to hell... because they
could come between them and "sitting on the beach".
There is no topic of discussion that can't somehow lead back to
retirement issues.
These guys are usually sergeants, detectives, crime scene
technicians, station duty, or some other post where they will not be
endangered.
They especially don't want some young stupid cop getting them sued,
fired, killed, or anything else causing them to lose their "beach time".
These guys are usually hard to find when the "clusters" hit.
They spend a lot of time having coffee, hanging around the
station, and looking at brochures of things they want to do in retirement.
Then the retired cop usually dies within the first five years
of retirement, saving the city (or State, or county) a bunch of
money.