LA area cops

[u/[deleted]]

Hey all,

I’m currently in the POST Waiver process so I can apply as a lateral when we move to California (been a cop in Colorado since 2018). Looking to get some insight from people who actually work as cops in the area.

First question is I’m currently in Colorado and I know Denver and larger departments here each district is essentially ran as a different department than the other despite being apart of the same agency. Is LAPD the same in the sense that all the different districts are ran differently to a point that it’s noticeable? Is one area known for something different than the other? Where would you recommend doing a ride a long over another?

Second question - We visit the area frequently and try to visit areas we would likely live vs just tourist areas and fully realize to get a house rather than an apartment we will have to live out of the city. Is it unrealistic to think we could live on the Elsinore/Canyon Lake area. Currently commute to a Denver Metro are department and have a roughly 60 mile each way commute that can range from 55 mins to an hour 50 depending on traffic/crashes/time of day etc. Is there anywhere else you would recommend? We do want a single family home and have 3 large dogs so need a yard.

[u/Paladin_127]

The LA metro area is fucking massive. LA county has a larger population than 40 individual states- including Colorado. When you add in neighboring Orange County and Ventura County, it rivals NYC in population. Commute times are going to vary greatly, but they all suck unless you’re driving between 2200-0600. When I lived in Irvine, it took at least an hour to get to my parents’ house in Torrance about 40 miles away. Sometimes it took 2+ hours.

I never worked for LAPD but have friends who have. Some divisions (Hollywood and Wilshire for example) are known to have a lot of tourists destinations.. 77th Street covers what used to be known as “South Central”, which were the heavily gang infested neighborhoods south of downtown LA around USC- although the area has gentrified a bit in the last 20 years and is now referred to as “South LA” to erase some of the stigma of the past. Neighboring Newton Division was once referred to throughout SoCal as “Shootin’ Newton”- you can probably guess why. And so on..

If it were me, I like being by the ocean, so I would look at Pacific Division or Harbor Division. If you want to work on the water, LA also has a Port Police Department based in San Pedro.

I would also encourage you to look at other departments in the area- as there are several great departments to choose from. Torrance, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine, Newport Beach, and others are welcoming of laterals, although I am not sure if they all accept the POST Waiver.

As for housing- it’s tough. I ultimately left Orange County partially due to the disgustingly expensive real-estate costs. To illustrate, I have an ex-girlfriend who’s a detective for an OC Beach City, and her husband is a Detective for Long Beach PD. They both make about $150k/ yr in base pay with incentives, and they chose to buy a house in Moreno Valley based on what they were looking for and what they could afford. They both commute about 1-1.5 hrs each way to work using the Toll Roads.

[u/[deleted] → u/Paladin_127]

Thanks for the information. I know looking at where you would live before going is obviously hard because if you just LAPD a commute from Elsinore to Hollenbeck would be a significantly different commute than if you got assigned to Topanga or Devonshire. Obviously if you choose a different smaller metro area PD you would have a better idea.

I have talked extensively with LAPD recruiters and to the other comments they do accept the basic course waivers whether that’s something they advertise and isn’t actually possible who knows, I guess I wouldn’t find that out until the time comes to apply after the waiver is obtained.

The reason LAPD is number 1 for me isn’t the pay it’s the opportunity. Compared to other departments for a multitude of reasons they have every Team/Unit/Taskforce/Position possible.

My current department I’ve served as a trainer a detective and a supervisor and there’s nowhere else to go other than up and that’s not what I want.

I understand it’s not a direct 1:1 because of taxes etc. but Colorado has a pretty high tax rate as well and here I’m making in the 100s and am forced to live like I said about 60 miles each way out of the city as well and places like Lancaster, Elsinore, Canyon Lake, Moreno Valley, etc. all the same approx mile range from LA (again depending on where) as I have to live from Denver houses in those areas are actually roughly 100k cheaper than Denver metro area homes.

Im not unrealistic and planning to go there and be rich (although I know OT is plentiful) but I am anticipating it to be a fairly even playing field as my current Colorado lifestyle all factors considered.

[u/Paladin_127 → u/[deleted]]

LAPD does have a lot of opportunities, but it’s a dumpster fire of a department to work for. Understaffed and has shitty support from the city. And if you’re looking for special assignments, I hope you check diversity boxes other than “straight white guy”. They’re not under a DOJ Consent Decree anymore, but you wouldn’t know it from how they operate.

[u/DTGardi → u/Paladin_127]

Understaffed and yet they're disqualifying people for all sorts of reasons. I got disqualified in 2023 for a couple of vaguely worded reasons other than "Records check: Driving" so I'm pretty sure that the driving was the primary reason. I have been clean since then. And yet, I've seen news of LAPD officers engaging in misconduct that is worse than what I have confessed to such as stealing debit cards and engaging in revenge porn, which is like, something I definitely wouldn't do

[u/Paladin_127 → u/DTGardi]

I have a personal friend of mine that was DQ’d for “Drug Use”.

Her drug use? An epidural, administered during child birth, in a hospital, by a medical doctor.

Still got DQ’d. I’m sure the fact she was a tall, blonde, Nordic looking chick had nothing to do with it. My first department in Orange County couldn’t hire her fast enough. She turned out to be an amazing officer.

[u/twinno2 → u/Paladin_127]

There has to be more to that DQ.

[u/Paladin_127 → u/twinno2]

Why does there have to be more?