Do you love your job??

[addicted]

Sorry if this is an odd first post...
I am a full time IT worker, 10+ years in, secure job, good pay, but very bored and would like a change. I've been looking into the career of a police officer for some time, and decided to start going through the recruiting process a year ago. Well, much to my surprise, I made it through each phase, and may be offered a spot in a training program that would be 9 months long, to be a police officer (I'm in Canada).
Now that push comes to shove, and I'm in a position where I'll have to make a decision to leave my career within the next couple of weeks, I am of course getting cold feet. The positives are:
1. More interesting work (I think!) and not behind a computer all day
2. More free time, schedule is 2 days (7am-7pm), 2 nights (7pm-7am), 4 days off.
Negatives are:
1. tuition + no pay for 9 months, and then a 20k (gross) salary drop to start. Would be back up to my current salary in 3-4 years.
2. The unknown of how I'll feel about the career once I really get into it, how it will affect my family life (married with one 2 year old).

I guess my main question revolves around the fact that so many people here seem....unhappy and/or jaded and/or divorced..

Do many of you have regrets? Does anyone here love going to work -and- have a great family life??

Cheers

[just joe]

Yea, I have regrets, but the only reason I met my wife and have my kids is because of my job. Sometimes I love my job, sometimes I hate my job. Mostly I hate dealing with idiots. It really wears on you after awhile. It really is a calling, though, and I don't know if I will ever do anything else.

[just joe]

To address some of your points: your schedule may or may not be better and I certainly don't think you will have more free time (work, overtime, training, court, etc.), while you may not be at a desk, you will still spend a lot of time behind a computer. You don't get paid while in the academy? No one knows how it will affect your family life. Is your wife supportive? Cops are jaded because most of the people most officers deal with are turds or they are idiots who put themselves in a position or situation in which they are likely to be the victim of a crime. Sometimes they are both. We don't get dispatched to calls of people being nice to each other.

[Blue Breed]

Well I am relatively new to the business of Law enforcement. I grew up with my dad being a police officer so I knew what to expect when I got into it. Since I am new I am at the "I love my job" stage so to speak. When I talk to the veterans with 20 or more years on they are counting the days down to retirement. Not every officer thinks like that tho. The shift work wears you down. Your family life suffers. Just the facts. When santa claus comes christmas morning you will be working. When little johnny hits his first home run in T-ball you will be working. This is something you know when you get into something like this I feel. Your job is 24hrs a day 365 days a year. I personally think its the best job in the world. The pay and benefits are good. If you want to look at statistics police officers die young and have high divorce rates. Also you have to realize each police officer is different. In my department there are officers with 25 years experience that love it and come into work early everyday and always go the extra mile. On the other hand there are ones that do the exact opposite. So you have to also take into consideration the source of where your information is coming from. I never could sit at a desk for the next 30 years of my life I would go nuts. Police work is a calling not something you decide to do because you think it is cool on tv.

[ch29]

My situation is similar to Blue Breed's. My father was a police officer so I knew what to expect. I also haven't been on the job that long, but I love it. Sure, I have stressful days, but most days I find myself saying: "I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this." It certainly is a job that is rewarding and self-satisfying. However, you get out of it what you put into it. If you go out and work hard, chances are you will get a lot of enjoyment out of it, and it really won't seem like work.

As far as family life, it's hard to say, but a lot depends on how supportive your family would be of the career change. My fiance is also a police officer. I've heard from many people that cops dating cops is never a good thing, but it seems to work for us. We both have a better understanding of what goes on for the other at work. In fact, we really don't talk about work too much except for the REALLY stupid people we deal with and the funny incidents.

[El_Federal]

absolutely hate it. i used to love it when i was working in california as a civi @ a sheriff's dept. currently,overworked (micro managed), under paid, under appreciated, no lateral or vertical movement in my current pd, yeah i know beggars cant be chosers, but se la vi.

maybe one day ill be able to lateral to a bigger and better things

[mikeymedic]

Scheduled for 70 hours last week, worked 110. Love it, but don't expect action like on cops.

[Presence 1*]

I'm a newbie, and I changed from a boring, secure, well paying desk job..It was killing me feeling like I was wasting my life away at that desk all the time, doing work that didn't matter.

I took a $7 per hour pay cut, and I would do it again in a second.

I absolutely love what I'm doing, and I've never felt so alive.

I don't have a husband or kids, so my decisions do not currently affect anyone other than myself...

I hope you are able to figure out what is the right choice for you and your family.

[addicted]

Thanks very much for all the replies so far. Would really love to hear from some of you that are married with kids.
thx

[jroo21]

You will need to learn how to balance life with your wife and child. I have a wife, a 1-year old daughter, and a 2-year old daughter. It's tough, but it can be done. It will mean you sleep less and learn how to juggle schedules. It will also mean that you WILL miss certain important events, or you may be attending those events late and/or in your unform. I love my job, and I have been very BLESSED because my wife is EXTREMELY SUPPORTIVE of my career choice.