Not sure how it works there but do any of the local collages offer a law enforcement academy curriculum? Teaching what you know can be the golden ticket to loving your job.

Been doing the math myself, and for the same reasons… Only benefit I have is the pay, up here in the whacky west, we do get paid “real money”, there’s no way I could match salary in the private sector.

But, if I can hold on at least five more years, it should make up enough for my very late start. And I’m far enough south of Seattle that we still get a lot of local support from the community (when people wave, they usually use all their fingers)

Sounds like you are going to land in a way better spot, and congratulations on your new life of less stress, better hours, more money, and less stress!

Bill R

quote:

Originally posted by SpinZone:
Not sure how it works there but do any of the local collages offer a law enforcement academy curriculum? Teaching what you know can be the golden ticket to loving your job.

I absolutely loved teaching at our local police academy. It was the one remaining part of the job that I really looked forward to.

But there are only four police academies in the state, not counting departments that run their own in-house. Three are state agencies, and there's a total of maybe a dozen full time instructor positions in the entire state for those. They primarily operate with adjunct instructors - like I was - who come in on loan from their agency to teach a class for 1-3 days at a time before going back to their real job. So chances of landing one of those jobs any time soon are slim. I already tried a year ago, and wasn't selected.

The fourth academy is part of a college, but it's on the opposite side of the state. (One of our very own fellow forum members happens to teach there, by the way.) I have a 2% mortgage on my house, so short of some job offer with a ridiculously high salary that I'd be insane to turn down, I don't have any intention of moving any time soon.

And I don't really have any desire to do something like be a Criminal Justice professor at one of the local universities, since those require going back to school for graduate degrees, then publishing papers, doing academic research, etc. Not really my cup of tea.

If I were to get into teaching full time, I had envisioned something more like a corporate trainer, or leading active shooter response training for a security consulting firm, or teaching first aid and CPR classes for a local hospital network, or similar.

Best to you. Drive on, brother.

If you are still interested in a federal career you could look at positions such as intel analyst. With your education and work experience you'd probably be competitive. You may have to relocate though.

quote:

Originally posted by Skull Leader:
If you are still interested in a federal career you could look at positions such as intel analyst. With your education and work experience you'd probably be competitive. You may have to relocate though.

Funnily enough, I just applied for one of those a few days back. And it's located ~60 miles away, so wouldn't require relocating, just a bit longer commute.

But with the looming federal shutdown, I don't expect they'll be doing any hiring anytime soon.

Given your field, I can't blame you one bit, Rogue!

I wish you all the best and I suspect you'll come out far better than you might have first thought.

Good luck!

With your background and experience and sheepskin it's pretty obvious you will end up pretty good. In my area there are a metric ton of important and professional jobs needing to be filled with insufficient qualified applicants. With your background it seems you'll be near the top of the heap with multiple options.

Look at a defense contractor is my advice.

I work alongside retired NCIS, retired PA State Police, veterans from all the military services. Our director 7-8 years back was the retired Director of the US Marshals.

That would be a good place to start IMO

Being miserable in life because of a job is no way to live. Learned that lesson the hard way. You’ll be fine with your experience and work ethic. I bailed out of great pay and 6 weeks of vacation after 13 years and it was the best decision I ever made. Took a low stress job for a year before a great new opportunity found me. I’m making better money with less stress. You’re gonna be just fine.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
I absolutely loved teaching at our local police academy. It was the one remaining part of the job that I really looked forward to.



And I don't really have any desire to do something like be a Criminal Justice professor at one of the local universities, since those require going back to school for graduate degrees, then publishing papers, doing academic research, etc. Not really my cup of tea.

I completely get it. As a technical training lead as a side hustle at my job I get to pick and choose what and how I do training classes. There are some training area's that I have absolutely no interest in getting involved in.

I sent you an e-mail.

Best of luck Rogue. I pray you land your feet, with gusto. I am not in LE but in a similar situation and figuring out a way to jump out of the plane myself. Stay strong. You will be successful.

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
You'll still be fighting the good fight. You'll just be doing it someplace where you'll be better appreciated.

I can’t say it any better than that.

Good on you Rogue.

The job is crushing, especially when the brass have their heads up asses.

I retired a little over a year ago giving up great pay from the fire service career. Best move ever! Just like LE we also had the daily BS, poor leadership and politics that are the death of the senior guys just not wanting to endure that crap….it’s bad for your physical and mental health! It takes its toll….the smart ones get out and enjoy what life is supposed to be.
Good luck Rogue….although I don’t get the impression you’ll need any luck…your gonna hit the ground running and be fine!

Court security? Federal court may be contracted out. Hospital security usually has good benefits.

Thank you for giving all the time that you did! Best wishes to you!

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Court security? Federal court may be contracted out. Hospital security usually has good benefits.

It is at the federal courthouse around here. I had applied a little while back, and got the "thanks but no thanks". That's a bit too close to what I'm trying to get away from now anyway, though at least they get to work banker's hours.

Hospital security (or really any type of typical "security guard" work) doesn't interest me at all. Too much like law enforcement, with similar hassles and shitty hours, just without any actual authority, and with much worse pay.

About the only thing like that I'd consider would be school security for an elementary or middle school. Basically a non-police SRO. I enjoyed my time in the schools. Unfortunately, around here, those gigs pay like $16/hour, and you're only paid for about 180-190 days per year (only on school days), so it works out to basically minimum wage annually. It'd be cool for a retirement job to supplement a pension. But it'd be terrible pay for a real job.

I understand what you did and why you did it. Many of my friends in law enforcement are at your stage too. They've simply had it.

So, where do you go? I would suggest you look at your skill set from a wide angle lens point of view. Some examples would be:
- Working well under pressure
- Critical thinking skills under pressure
- Able to manage a situation or task in a highly dynamic environment
- Focused on doing the right thing
- Expert in extracting information
- Comfortable in tense meetings when barraged with questions
- Ability to consume large amounts of coffee and not pee during working hours.

Sorry... had to slip the last one in to see if you were paying attention. I think you see where I am going with that.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
- Expert in extracting information

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