The Life Of A Cop

weej0e asked:

How efficient do you think the training is for techniques pertaining to wrestling down large foes down to the ground, and slapping on the handcuffs? Do you feel confident in your ability of doing so?

Citycop replied:

The training is decent, but in the real world things are not always as ideal. One problem that you never really anticipate is the sheer slipperiness of sweaty or otherwise wet people. That's why I try to have my gloves on, I can grip better. Most of our fighting involves showing up with more people, wrestling to the ground and getting on top of them then cuffing. Once cuffed, it's game over.

The problem with any training is that if you don't use it often enough (and do it correctly) you will forget it or develop bad habits.

When you're able to use a taser that is the best option. It doesn't usually injure the person and it will definitely put me in a better position for not getting hurt.

Freebirth asked:

Do the fresh-out-of-academy rookies have some sort of initiation when employed by your department? What kind of pranks have you witnessed?

Citycop replied:

There is no official initiation at my agency, it's more of an ongoing gentle ribbing about being a new guy. It is customary however to screw with you pretty good on your last day of probation (sending you on a prank call). Some (few) officers however treat the rookies like dog shit. Given the opportunity there are a lot of people that will show their true colors. Usually this is explained by other officers as "Oh, you just have to get to know him, he's not a bad guy". That's bullshit, they are just jackasses with a low self-esteem.

One thing to remember as a rookie is to keep your mouth shut, don't give anyone ammo to be used against you. We had one officer that stated they had an abnormal fear of dead people and they would absolutely NOT go into a funeral home. That just makes it too easy to screw with you. That officer got sent to the funeral home at about 3am and had to search it by themselves because everyone was curiously tied up at that late hour. Turns out that no one planned on the funeral director actually being there working late on a fresh one. The rookie ended up climbing over several people to get out of the building. That was a pretty funny scene.

SillyDuck asked:

Let's say a guy shot or wounded a fellow officer, and he's on the run. Do all cops stop what they are doing and go after him? Are they more concern of placing him under arrest or shooting him?

Citycop replied:

Fuck yes, everyone wants a piece of that. Odds are good that guy will get shot, unless he gets smart and gives up.

crackrocksteady asked:

Do most cops hate Internal Affairs, or is that a TV thing?

Citycop replied:

As a general rule cops, or anyone else for that matter, don't like being investigated for criminal or disciplinary reasons at work. Imagine that you work at an insurance agency and occasionally one of your customers accuses you of committing a felony or just makes shit up to try and get you fired. Now imagine that your boss had to take those complaints seriously and they tried to dig up whatever they can on you. Imagine that happens about 3 times a year if you're doing your job well. Also, think about the fact that the more effort you put into your job, the more of those type of complaints you will get.

Don Miguel asked:

Watching cops all the time, I notice that the criminals never get away when they are contacted by a police officer and they run. But are there times when the guy runs away and you DON'T catch him?

Citycop replied:

It may come to a surprise to you that MOST crimes go unsolved and the people get away with it. That's why I hate to see people get off easy in court, even on their "first offence". I know that this was not the "first" time they did that, only the first time they got caught. By giving them no penalty it only increases crime. Now they have learned what they did wrong to get caught, and now they know that if they screw up again the penalty is very light or non-existent, the benefits still far outweight the risks.

Now don't go out and start a life of crime just because I said that. Most career criminals leave very shitty lives just trying to scrounge up enough for what they need for the next couple of days.