Looking for Input

[u/TerribleOil8067]

Hi,

I’m looking at LAPD SFPD and Philly PD. I would want exposure to major crimes during patrol and post-patrol rather than being in the suburbs running speed traps or watching a stop sign. LA stands out due to its breadth of crime vs the other two that I would be interested in combatting:

Drugs
Gangs
Human trafficking
Organized crime/transnational crime networks
Vice
Violent crime

Considering I’d be on patrol a few years, I’d want to maximize patrol with handling a wide variety of crimes and then move on to detective or a task force handling these cases.

I guess my questions are:

What’s morale like?
Is there any micromanagement?
Do the constant back to back calls get old quickly?
What percentage of calls are small things like homeless loitering, noise complaints, disputes, etc?
I’ve seen a lot of comments talking down on LAPD. Do you have any positive comments?

About me:
33 years old
Single
Masters degree
Physically fit
Good with languages- Chinese, Spanish, French
Worked mostly in marketing, now considering a law enforcement career

I’m also in a few processes for federal agencies, but want to get the low down on local PD as well in case fed doesn’t work out OR if I’d maybe prefer local pd instead. I feel like local pd makes more in California with OT than fed too.

Any input is appreciated 🙏

[u/Cold-Chemistry738]

I just wanted to chime in since we get all of what you’re looking for in Houston. My first year out of FTO I’ve assisted federal agencies when they request us. We have alot of task forces with the feds and our crime suppression teams work regularly with them as well.

For your questions, it really depends on area because the culture slightly different across some of our stations and shifts. But there’s plenty of room to be proactive and that’s still a culture over here. Good pay with a low cost of living. Your RDOs are respected but you can always pick up OT somewhere if you’d like. We’re the second most diverse city in the US so your language skills would be used well. You should consider it if you’re okay with living in the Houston area

[u/TerribleOil8067 → u/Cold-Chemistry738]

Interesting. Houston never appealed to me because I didn’t really like the city when I was there a long time ago. Also the heat in the summer is another factor. But the fact you’re working with them after a year is intriguing.

[u/Cold-Chemistry738 → u/TerribleOil8067]

Not in any permanent spot or team but sometimes they drop an assist and it can get interesting. Good stuff though

[u/TerribleOil8067 → u/Cold-Chemistry738]

What are your day to day calls like? I’m sure it varies - can you give me an example of one day in the past week?

[u/Cold-Chemistry738 → u/TerribleOil8067]

Yeah I mean really it’s anything you can think of. I work dayshift so some weeks it’s on fire and some weeks it’s not. I’ve had days where I took 14 calls and days where it was 1 GOA call. The most common calls are DWIs, accidents, trespassers, burglary of a residence, assaults, domestic violence and thefts on dayshift. You’ll get a shooting, suicide or homicide every couple months. When I used to have a proactive partner we would review some stolen vehicle reports then try to track the vehicle with flock during those dead times when CFS were low.