Why would you be a Cop???

As the song goes " short memory ..... Shoooort memory"

I have no empathy for Police , I did have once but after seeing them bash gay people and homeless I just have no interest in helping them.

You have to be a pretty low person to set upon old homeless men.

Last Monday afternoon whilst waiting at a bus stop with an Orthodox Jewish friend we were approached by a passing general duties van "Did you see a group of 16 yo girls with blonde hair " asked the young smirking cop.

"Are you to be a smart arse . I asked him before his driver partner floored it away.

 

Oh; puleeese.

Are you actually serious wit that comment?

I am talking about cops who are being killed each day when they go to work, and about folks who will tell lies and deliberately try to destroy a cops' career because they didn't like getting caught...who spit at them, throw bottles of urine and bricks, etc, who call them c.*.n.t.s and worse because they didn't like getting caught...

Therefore; they have to take the assumption that every person they pull over MIGHT be a danger to their life, and/or to set them up for discredit and possible prosecution, etc.

Why do you think they now have dash-cams, and cops are wearing personal cams all the time, and wearing bullet proof vests all the time?

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=511275342353047

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1553831588268264

Just a little taste of what is the real world for ya.

I'll scroll through my Facebook account, and post a few dozen links I've received over the years from one of my ex-golf partners back in the USA who was a cop, and is now a Corrections Officer - every other day he posts links to stories of Cops who've been killed in the line of duty, who've been maimed and crippled for life...if you are interested to see what goes on.

And also; links to videos of the many good things they do to help us Citizens who need help.

 

We have one long term Police officer within our family,just on 35 years service till he could not get out of bed one morning,that was about 3 years ago,i think they call it a total breakdown ,maybe over all those years and looking into the eyes of suicides-murders-wife men bashers
drug dealers,and very young children that never had a chance it all hit him one morning
and he could not face it any more,and even with the payout he may never be the same..
I think one would find the mental breakdown from being inside the system every day unless you can just let it go would be very hard longterm,till one day they can't get out of bed..

 

And worse; a good number of the males who enrol are yer 5'10' average build dude; these guys are not going to intimidate too many bad dudes trying to do bad stuff; to get them to stop.

These guys wouldn't have gotten a gig years ago - only the bigger 6 foot plus and solid guys got in - but now they are struggling to get recruits, so they are forced to accept a "lesser presence" recruit to keep the numbers up.

Hasty police recruitment sparks concern

With folks already too quick to mouth of to any cops - even the bigger ones - because they can now get away with that; it is only going to go further downhill as the force demographic changes to the smaller men, and women.

The slope is getting slipperier and slipperier; we will see less and less folks wanting to take it on.

 

This post was on another forum but it sums up SAPOL recruitment process from an insider.

"Your age and TER are acceptable. Well within the Target Group actually. However you might be wasting your time. SAPOL won't tell you so and will let you go through a few months and a few steps, hoping you will give up.

Recruitment can be a fickle process. You can be 26th or 27th on a list of 25 and then someone drops out and you are in, or just miss out again. You might be accepted but then in that years budget, a course of 25 recruits is dropped. Tough luck again. Several times over the years grading on personality profiles has altered. One year you are in and next year, you are judged to be too confident or too stubborn. Tough luck again. You might be on the next course and then someone from a diverse ethnic background applies and you get shuffled off the list again. SAPOL will rarely tell you real reason.

A course might be selected and then someone in SAPOL decides to recruit UK Bobbies because they are cheaper to train. Some pretty good coppers came from the UK over several years. However 500 South Australian applicants didn't get jobs because of this. Many of these spent months of effort, attempting pre selection criteria. Thinking they might make it, when they never had a chance.

Once you take out the Public Service jargon, the selection process isn't designed to select applicants but to eliminate them. It is an expensive process to test all these applicants but if they can make you jump through hoops in your own time and expense and then give up. Then you have saved SAPOL a lot of time and money. It is unethical, however that is the system.

Truth be known, most Police work is boringly filing out forms, taking statements and having a basic knowledge of the law. About two thirds of applicants could fill this role competently. It is also widely acknowledged (behind closed doors) that Public Servant ASO's (Clerks) working in police stations do a superior job at station work than the much higher paid Police they work alongside. Generally because they have done the job longer and have superior typing skills.

But this doesn't help you. The essence of the whole selection process isn't what they tell you but What They Don't. Remember this if nothing else.

1200 applicants 25 positions. Then why aren't police who have been through this almost super human selection process poached by industry more? Why is it so few police who leave the job never quite make it on the outside ? Well SAPOL likes good literacy but they don't want too much education or you might leave too early or question the system too much. Or become too bored. (To many "too's", I know). They don't want applicants who might embarrass them later in their career. So they select highly conservative personalities, who don't drink too much, don't party too much but still have some social skills, those who are more inclined to walk away from a fight. They like people who show maturity by having long term relationships, who plod along at their study or a boring job. You are there to obey orders and procedures with extreme accountability; to repeatedly pinch Mums and Dads on traffic matters to raise revenue, work woeful shifts and be grateful you have a well paying job. But again this rant of mine still doesn't help you does it?

If I were trying to join SAPOL in your situation, I would get a personal trainer for at least 12 months, not to pass, but to excel in the beep and fitness test. Train to do fifty pushups, most other applicants won't even get close. Loose weight and get strong.

Learn how to pass the psych test (Just don't tell everyone). You have to demonstrate social skills and confidence by past behaviour and you prove this by doing voluntary work and taking on some of the organisational/management roles in these groups that no one wants to do. You are a potential Leader and you can prove it by this behaviour. I can't stress enough how important this is. They also provide exceptional references.

Take coaching in the basic spelling, grammar and literacy tests as you are not as good as you think. This is one of the first stages for elimination and an easy opportunity to jump places on the list. Change the way you dress, you need to portray yourself as stable conservative middle class. You need to look like the interviewer. Join the SES or Army Reserve (Logistic support not Infantry) or volunteer with the RSPCA as well. You are proving by past behaviours that you are active and like working as a team. Police work is dealing with people and you love interacting with people. Don't you? Learn how to type properly. 100 words a minute will put you well in front of the same applicant who can only type 60 words. Taking elocution lessons isn't as stupid as it sounds.

Don't tell them you have any injuries or health issues, if they can't find out from other sources. Your there to help yourself not them. Don't tell the world you are applying, keep it to yourself and a few close friends. Good Coppers aren't big mouths.

Be mindful that if you have immediate family with some police history, this association may have an influence.

Have you ever smoked Dope ? Is a standard question for any job. Your answer could be, "I know people who do, but find it unacceptable to my ethics and health." How often do you drink alcohol ? Your answer might be "I got drunk on a fishing trip with my Dad once but since then I don't really like alcohol". Have you ever stolen anything? Could your answer be " Other than my brothers sock,s I have never stolen anything." Are you really saying "These are the morals my parents raised me with and I are comfortable with those standards. These are questions you will be asked, compose you own answers well in advance. Does Recruitment really want to know if you have ever smoked dope ? or do they want to find out if you are stupid enough to answer "Yes"?

Compose a list of the fifty most asked questions in job interviews and have smooth, well composed literate answers for everyone of them. Practice answering them in front of your girlfriend or family until the answers flow naturally. This is what winners for most jobs do and it works.

If you ever attend at Recruiting, look expensive, you need to project presence. Give a firm, warm, long handshake and smile a lot. Wear deodorant, very expensive aftershave and get your Mum to check you breath before you leave.

At nearly every interaction at Recruiting the Plod behind the desk makes a subtle assessment/decision unbeknown to applicants. He might put an extra full stop after you name or pencil in somewhere "This applicant looks the part." They might not either but you need every interaction to be positive, just in case. Frequently there will not be a lot of difference between 25th and 75th on the mythical list and this aggregation of seemingly insignificant impressions and scores makes the difference.

At any government recruiting section anywhere, a short list for a course of 25 can often be selected from a group of fifty or one hundred (Who are all suitable). They have a round table discussion. Politically they might have to select a mature age applicant, a young applicant, a short applicant, someone's niece, a sports person with some profile (What AFL player would ever get rejected ?) and a few from other diverse groups. The rest are judgement calls on the day. Sometimes you make it, sometimes you don't. The person who would make the best street copper often doesn't get the job.

Make them eliminate you, not the other way round. Sometimes it is an easier option to leave you on the list than to cut you off.

If all this fails; apply for NT Police, your chances are higher. Lastly don't concentrate all this effort solely to join SAPOL, you will probably be disappointed. Create other options. Look at it as a project to make yourself more employable to everyone. Compared to what you owe in Hex the cost of this is nothing. What else are you doing in your life for the next twelve months that can have an influence for the next thirty years.

Be prepared to be deceived, stuffed around and belittled by SAPOL and because of this want to give up. It is not personal, they are in Recruiting because they don't like Police work and want an easier life. You are giving them extra work.

In so many of our interactions with Police we wonder. "How in the hell did this person ever get in?" Easy; they played the system, looked at what was needed but not being told, had other options and didn't take rejection as personal.".

Whirlpool might be a bunch of bears when it comes to property, but they usually have some very insightful threads when it comes to other areas.

 

Take a leaf out of the good Rabbi's book and find that empathy again:

New Year's Eve - just another night's work - with a twist - J-Wire

 

Posting videos and news articles from the USA is pretty irrelevant imo. The comparisons between their job and role compared to the cops in Aus is like chalk and cheese.

I know the curent waiting period to join the nsw police force is over 3 years. So the better question is probably why wouldn't you want to be a cop?

 

Here you go, with video's like this it's no wonder people are lining up to join:

 

Have you heard of Tynan and Eyre?

Constable Steven Tynan and Constable Damien Eyre | Monument Australia

And; have you forgotten the two cops that were attacked with a knife outside the police station a few months ago - the attacker was shot and killed in the end as we all know...a Terrorist plot to kill cops..

We are very similar to the USA; we might not have the same level of gang associated crime and danger, or drug related crime, but the domestic danger; or the danger from being attacked during a routine stop - is just as real; as are the false accusations.

 

I'm not suggesting being a cop isn't a dangerous occupation. I'm just disputing the life of an officer in Australia can and should be compared to that of a cop in USA.

Our police have vastly different recruiting and training then those in the USA. Although it appears the USA is slowly Changing their training procedures after the deserved outcry over recent high profile police shootings.

This quote says it better then I could.

Policing in the USA is safer now than it has ever been. Violent attacks on officers, particularly those that involve a serious physical threat, are few and far between when you take into account the fact that police officers interact with civilians about 63 million times every year. In percentage terms, officers were assaulted in about 0.09 percent of all interactions, were injured in some way in 0.02 percent of interactions, and were feloniously killed in 0.00008 percent of interactions. Source: How Police Training Contributes to Avoidable Deaths

And I'm confident you would find the stats in Australia are a lot lower the. These for the USA.

 

There is a Police psychologist from Phoenix who tours the US, Canada and Australia - Dr. Kevin Gilmartin.

I can't remember the exact figures however police murder rates have generally been declining since the mid 70's in the US and here due to better training, equipment etc.

The suicide rate however is multiple times more than the murder rate (may have been 5 times the murder rate but not sure now).

 

I recall talking to an Aussie cop who went to America to meet up with some police. They were standing by a car and he said they heard a loud sound like a car back firing and all the american cops immediately did rolls on the ground and pulled out their guns before the aussie had time to react.

Police in Australia rarely draw their firearm. If they do they have to write a report.

 

My industry (childrens counselling) is predominantly women. Probably 3 women for every 1 male.

As a man I have never thought that there should be more men working there. I dont think "oh boy my gender is so hard done by here".

I just recognise that women generally exhibit the strengths and motivation to help more effectively in a job like this. And thats fine. Men and women are different in some ways. Why is that a bad thing?

 

I think cops in the USA have to write a report if they haven't drawn their gun for a week.

 

This has gone from being a topic about being defamed and sued, and lied about to get off a conviction and thus destroy a cop's career; to who draws their gun the most - US or Aus.

Happily; I know our boys ad girls draw their guns less than their USA colleagues.

 

If I was a cop I'd want to be out on the streets.... why work in an office all day?
Being a nightfiller (8 years at Big W) was probably my most fun job of all.... I like being active.

 

I'm not in an office, but the appeal to work in an office can be great. To have a day that you aren't yelled at, spat at, punched at, doing reports till your eyes bleed, constantly speaking to people in their darkest hour and having a lunch break for the first time in 9 years?
Alot of appeal and just a little bit of jealous of those 'housecats' some days

 

One of our very good friends is a Cop in the Tech Squad - now THAT would be really cool; listening, surveillance and eventual take-down of criminals.

The only downside is the hours spent sitting, listening ad watching to gather evidence.

But our mate loves it....doesn't have to interact with the general public of low-lifes, drunks, drug addicts and general feral deeheads who "know their rights" and be at risk (he's done all that), but still gets the warm fuzzy feeling of getting the scum off the streets (the SOG squad do the actual take-downs most times).

That'd be awesome; ridding the planet of idiots, but not having to go anywhere near them and interact with them; not having to listen to their crap.

 

That USA clip was not meant to turn this into a USA versus Aus competition about danger...

My original post was not so much about the danger (it is high) it was more about the treatment they receive in their day to day dealings with folks who have committed offenses...the disrespect and worse; false complaints and so on..

This aspect of their job is exactly the same here - as over there...and it is increasing.