What kind of rewarding and/or traumatic experiences have you had as a policeman/woman or an individual in the medical field?

Libbie,

As a retired female cop, I can tell you some good and bad stories. I will say it sounds like your perception of law enforcement is colored by that one experience you had with them, and that might not be an objective way to approach making this decision.

Many women who leave law enforcement go into healthcare. Law enforcement is NOT social work. Sure, sometimes you get to help people. And it feels really good when you are able to make a difference in someone's life, sometimes in just doing a small little thing, by listening, by mentoring, or just by being there. But those times are the exceptions. Most of the work is normally taking reports, settling disturbances (for "adults" who can't figure out their own lives), handling drunks, traffic accidents, working traffic, writing more reports, going to court (often scheduled for a time you are supposed to be sleeping), etc.

The good times: My favorite arrest: A teenager's parents were divorced. His mom had legal custody, but by agreement, he had been staying with his dad. She decided, after all these years, that she wanted him back. I thought that would be rather disruptive, and, after talking to all parties involved, determined he had a better home environment with Dad. (his Mom stayed with friends, moved around a lot, had him changing schools too often). By law, I had to go with the divorce papers, and let her take him. However, I said something to her which got her mad (special cop trick!!), and she took a swing at me. I arrested her, and since Dad was right there, son got to go with him. That felt good.

Bad times: Least favorite arrest: I worked at the airport. This guy kept missing and rescheduling flights. He was extremely frustrated that somehow he could not get to the gate on time to catch his plane. He was causing a disturbance. I got there, ran the routine computer check for warrants, and he was wanted on a parole violation from another state. At the moment, he was trying to get to his mom's funeral. I called the other state, but of course they were not going to say to let him go. He missed his mom's funeral.

You have to be outdoors in the cold, rain, and heat. You have to wear a gunbelt that weighs about 15 pounds and is bad for your hips and back, and you will pay for it the rest of your life. On the flip side, the little kids love you, and it's easy to talk to them and give them a few words of advice about life.

As to all the stuff going on in the country right now, it is very sad. As a cop, you need to remember in this country, the cops get their authority from we the people. The people are turning against the cops because some cops disrespect the people. And the more that happens, the harsher the cops will respond. It is a very vicious cycle. If you become a cop, you will see some very bad things. I think I became a cop for the same reason you are considering it: good people need to become cops! And that is still true today. Just remember, people who don't like cops do not believe there are such things as good cops. When you wear the uniform, you represent all cops, good and bad.

Also, since cameras are everywhere, it is possible you could get in trouble for giving somebody a break. Letting kids dump out beer, or a little bit of weed, a common practice, could cost you your job.

I don't know much about healthcare. Only that they tend to work 12 hour shifts, which makes for a long day, are on their feet a lot, and have to get a lot of education. They have to make many major decisions every day, and I have a lot of respect for them. At the same time, healthcare seems to be undergoing a transition. My Dad was recently in and out of hospitals several times over an 8-month period, and the lack of proper care was frightening. I think the hospitals are all very short staffed or something. While I as a daughter should feel that my Dad is safe while in the hospital, I had to take off from work to monitor the care he received.

Other thoughts: not all healthcare jobs are in hospitals. Not all law enforcement jobs are on the streets. You could work on a college campus, for example. So it is difficult to know what the job will entail, unless you have a direction in mind. Some hospitals have police departments. That would give you both!

Anyway, I hope this has helped in some way. Fire away if you have questions!