Careers: Police/NYPD lifestyle

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Expert: - 8/25/2004


Question
I am a 26-year-old male who lives in NYC (Brooklyn).  I am currently a candidate for the NYPD and should be going into the academy January of 2005.  I have been with someone for 5 years now and the relationship is a serious one.  I only made this career change from media and marketing analyst to Civil servant in April of 2003 when I decided to go into law enforcement. Obviously I was a different person then, have the white collar, 9-5 (8-8 on bad days) lifestyle with weekends off at least 48 weeks out of the year.

My question:  My girlfriend and I had planned to get married when she was done with grad school, but now that I am definitely going into the NYPD, she is having second thoughts.  She loves me dearly but does not know if she could deal with the “constant” worry and the “horrible” shifts that could take me away on major holidays and family occasions.  Is the lifestyle of a police officer with a PD of 39,000 officers that bad or is she just over reacting?  I want to tell her that It's not as bad as she thinks and I would be home just as much as a VP of a Marketing firm would be, maybe even more because of the flexibility in first responder careers like police and fire.  What is your advice and what is it really like to be a Cop and a father/husband.  Can it work for women like mine who has these fears?

Thank you very much,
Dean  

Answer
Hello Dean,

    I think that your girl friend is over reacting as far as worrying about your safety because she probably gets her idea of police work from TV and the movies when in fact it is not even in the top ten most dangerous jobs in America.  However the shift work might be of some concern for her because you are not going to be home when "normal" people are home.  Actually I am the last person you should be asking about the NYPD because I was on a department of less than a thousand officers and the uniformed division went to permananet shifts about fifteen years ago.  So that made it a lot easier on families and the officers.  Maybe the NPYD is considering that?  A lot of departments are.

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Jack Toomey

Expertise

U.S.: I am an expert in this category for the purpose of giving young people an idea what the hiring process involves for the position of police officer. I am getting a flood of questions from young people who are being influenced by unrealistic television shows. I'd ask you to consider that when you watch police shows on television that they are NOT realistic and most of what you see does not happen in real life. Please do not ask me about potential jail sentences that you, your friends, or family might receive in court. There is no way for me to know that. I am NOT a probation officer so I cannot answer questions about probation and parole matters. I am a retired police officer with 26 years experience.I worked in a variety of assignments including investigations, homicide, sex crimes, runaway investigations, missing persons, and fraud.I also dealt with the general public during that time giving a wide range of advice on matters such as domestic disputes, problem solving, teenage problems, civil/criminal matters, and dealing with the mentally ill. I am available to give sound and reasonable advice which can solve most problems. Please do not ask me to do homework questions or online interviews. Young people should not rely on the Internet for interviews. Local police officers are normally very agreeable to assist students with interviews and surveys.

Experience

Worked as a police officer/detective for 26 years.

Graduate of the University of Maryland.B.S. in Law Enforcement.Attended numerous schools and training courses involving investigations, interviewing, interrogations, crime detection, domestic violence, and others. Recognized in court as an expert witness.

Received numerous awards during my police career for expert investigations. Handled the most sensitive and confidential investigations. In 1999 I won an award for my work with high school students while working in my new career in a large suburban high school.

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