Whats the most rewarding thing?

[tm1618]

What do you guys feel the most rewarding thing is about this job? Do the positives outweigh all the negative crap that I hear from everyone? I am about to take the first written test in about two weeks and I am really excited about this job.

Tim

[Magicman]

I work in an area where cops are looked at with alot of disdain and sometimes outright hatred. And those feelings start very young. I always keep a bag of suckers in my car. When I see a group of kids playing, I make it a point to stop, offer a sucker and have positive interaction. If they're older, I'll shoot hoops or whatever they're doing. Let them know I'm not the bad guy. It's always rewarding for me when these kids remember me and call me by name.
Good luck to you.

[bdunndchi]

If you are someone who lets negativity get to you, it will not seem worth it to you. There is a lot of negativity to face, but there are also positives. At the end of the day, you know that you have done good, even if no one tells you so.

[ray8285]

I have told a 20ish mother her 6 month old was dead which was about as close to crying on duty I have ever been. The flip side is 20ish kid who now has a better life. Did a vehicle check and had a run in with a kid who A) had a job which paid well (ford motor company), B) a really bad attitude. We had a chat because this was the 4th contact in 2 weeks for various things. I told him the way it would be for the rest of his life if he stayed here. We knew him, his car, where he live, where he worked etc, and life would be pure hell if he didn't find another county to live. About 2 years later did a car stop and it was him. We talked for about 30 minutes and when all was said he thanked me for chewing his butt out on the dark county road. He was married, had a kid and his head screwed on straight. That is the only time something that positive has happened in 15 years, however, I have told many people they have lost a loved one. There is no balance, the negative will always outweight the negative, just remember the good more often.

[ronbgone]

Good vs bad

Dude, I have been in law enforcement for 27 years. I've put alot of folks in jail and have seen just about every bad, stupid, and senseless thing (as most officers with that many years have). But my best memory is finding an old woman, about 80 plus years old, with a flat tire on the side of a road on a lonely old state route at about 11:30 at night, in the pouring rain. She was sitting there crying and scared to death when I came up. I changed that tire for her. When I finished she told me she was trying to get to her daughters and believed she was going to sit there and die or be victimized. She just prayed for an angel when my blue lights came on. It was at that point that I knew what our job is all about. That's been many years now, but whenever I start to doubt what we do or why we do it and if its worth being out there, I think of that incident, I put my uniform back on and hit the street. Good luck in your career.

[SRT936]

Dude, I have been in law enforcement for 27 years. I've put alot of folks in jail and have seen just about every bad, stupid, and senseless thing (as most officers with that many years have). But my best memory is finding an old woman, about 80 plus years old, with a flat tire on the side of a road on a lonely old state route at about 11:30 at night, in the pouring rain. She was sitting there crying and scared to death when I came up. I changed that tire for her. When I finished she told me she was trying to get to her daughters and believed she was going to sit there and die or be victimized. She just prayed for an angel when my blue lights came on. It was at that point that I knew what our job is all about. That's been many years now, but whenever I start to doubt what we do or why we do it and if its worth being out there, I think of that incident, I put my uniform back on and hit the street. Good luck in your career.

That is a great story. Love that "angel" feeling.

[tm1618]

Thanks for all the replies! ronbgone, this is the reason why I want to be in law enforcement, not for the many times I'll arrest someone, or the times that I'll have to talk to parents about the child's accident, but the times in which I can help out someone who really is helpless to help themselves.

[AlabamaCop]

I think that it changes. When you first start out, the most rewarding thing in the world is to make the big arrests, catching the burglars, robbers, dope dealers, drunks. I'm still at that point in my career. I still like making the cases, but from what I have noticed about my senior officers, I think that after you make so many, they get routine. That's when the greatest thing becomes helping someone. Right now, I love the feeling of helping people, but you can't beat the rush from finding the 8-ball of crack and wad of cash on a dealer after a good foot chase. Still, if I had to choose to help somebody who was really in need or to go get the bad guy, I'd choose to help someone.