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I wonder if there any disgruntled ex-cops that frequent the police forums and suggest being a pilot is a great alternative to the crappy job of being a police officer...
Cops is my favorite TV show. Bummer I missed it tonight. But no way does being a cop look like a job with better QOL than flying.
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I wonder if there any disgruntled ex-cops that frequent the police forums and suggest being a pilot is a great alternative to the crappy job of being a police officer...
Ha ha! This is funny. It does seem that no matter what people are doing for a living the grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side of the fence. Great observation!
Alright I couled not resisite to comment on this one. I am a firefighter fulltime. I make realy good monney at firefighting. As far as this job goes I works 8 days a month and 24hr shifts. Benis are good and QOL is great. As you may or may not know all firefigters have side jobs. Me inclued I am a FO for an airambulance opp. I fly for them about 65-75 hrs a month and the pay is not all that bad. I instructed as my side job prior to that. I belive that if your leaving the carear all together then firefighting is a great opputunity. If any body wouled like more info please PM me.
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If it's too good to be true it probably is.
Curious if you could give us a number? Good money kinda depends on where you live. 60K in central Mississippi is a lot better than 60K in California.
Also, since this is a career changer forum, I'm wondering how easy it is for a mid-30's airline pilot to get through the physical test. I know the test is very demanding. It's something that a guy in his early 20's might be more suited for but certainly there are those older folks who could get through it. To put it bluntly, when was the last time you saw a fat firefighter....
I've known three guys who are/were firefighters. All had great time off and all owned their own planes to include a Navion, a Cherokee 140, and a Comanchee 260.
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Actually, my sister is a NY firefighter. I know, she cusses like a sailor yada yada. She's also a pro body builder. So 727 is right, you better get in shape if you want to be one.
Ha Ha Just today when I worked there was an unfit guy working. No there are definitely unfit firefighters out there but not many. The internal Physical fitness are tough but and person in there 30 that is reasonably fit coiled make it through. Although the academy is tough. There is very little classroom work and your in your turnout gear all day. Then when you go to work the gear that we ware is approximately 100lbs. I am in shape and have to just because of the job. I work a little bit of overtime here and there since I still have to fly this year being my 3rd year with my fire dept I will make about 90k from basepay,stipins,incentives,education,and OT. If i did not fly and just worked at the fire dept I would probably make about 110k. ( I also work in an upscale community and we have a good contract.) I also live in the northeast.
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.............As for a career in law enforcement, I spent 8 years at a large metro-Atlanta police department before leaving becoming an airline pilot.............The first 5 years of law enforcement are great fun. Then the newness wears off and you realize it's not so fun anymore, it's a job. Worse yet, you deal with the worst of society day in and day out ..........
Wow, that's what I always liked most about police work. I guess that is why I am still a cop after almost 34 years of it.
Police work is 95% monotony and paperwork. The other 5% is frenzied and chaotic.
Kinda depends on where you work. When I worked uniformed patrol and then plainclothes/detective/undercover assignments, I'd put the percentages at more like 50% monotony and paperwork and 50% frenzied activity. But all of my patrol and Detective/undercover assignments were working night shifts in South Central Los Angeles...... fairly busy place in the 1980's and the first half of the1990's when I was on the streets there.
And the pay scales for new Officers/Deputies is highly dependent on geographic region too. Many big city urban areas pay pretty well, just have to do your homework. And whoever said that most cop jobs require a Bachelor's degree is wrong. Very few do. They probably should require a BS degree, but most don't. A High School diploma is all that is required for probably 85% - 90% of the police jobs out there.
I gave up flying as a sched Part 135 Captain well over three decades ago. And now, in the twilight of my law enforcement career, I am very glad that I did. I kept flying on the side, part-time CFI'ing, bought my own little airplane about 15 years ago, and eventually ended up at the Aviation Unit of my Department, where I've been for the last 10+ years. I get to fly what I consider fun stuff, though, I admit, not very glamorous..... Eurocopter A-Star helicopters, Cessna 210's and a King Air B200. When I retire, in a year or two, my salary as a Sergeant with Flight Pay will be about $145K a year, and my defined benefit retirement plan will give me about 85% of that in my retirement years. Not too bad. Truth is, when I started into law enforcement, I never even thought of retirement or retirement benefits (who thinks of that stuff when you are in your early 20's?)........ I just saw a career that seemed to have a lot more adrenaline-action than flying gave me; and I was home sleeping in my own bed every night (or "day" if I was working graveyard shift).
Funny thing is that I sometimes fly people - Detectives, brass, etc - around in our King Air, guys I worked patrol with 25 years ago, and, despite the fact that we all admit we did pretty "well" over the course of our law enforcement careers (promotions, "good" assignments at specialized units, etc), and have what most on our Dept consider "great" assignments now (in our later years on the job)...... we all agree that the BEST job we ever had was working uniformed patrol in South Central Los Angeles, "back when we were young". That was truly the only job I have EVER had where I didn't want to leave at the end of the shift (afraid I might "miss" something), and could not wait to get back to it again the next day............. It was the most fun I ever had with my clothes on.
But I guess you have to have a certain personality for police work. It certainly ain't for everyone.
...I would submit to you that being a cop is far more dangerous ( more cops killed in the line of duty each year than pilots killed in commercial aviation.....even when adjusted for size of work force ) than being a commercial pilot.
Not to take away from the dangerous work police officers undertake to protect us, but actually pilots suffer a higher on-the-job fatality rate.
90 per 100,000 for pilots/flight engineers versus 17 per 100,000 for police officers/sheriffs' deputies, in 2006 (most recent stats I've found).
We suffer the second highest death rate (civilian occupations), behind only fishermen.
Being a pilot has a higher fatality rate. It however is not considered dangerous. Flying is now considered a normal everyday safe activity. However stopping a car at 3 am or going in burning building is not a normal everyday occurrence. There are different statistic for the different category of working too. There is normal duty,Hazardous duty and Ultra hazardous duty.However we don't have a high fatality rate because 80% of the academy is staying alive. I know when I was getting my ratings there was training on emergency procedures but not 80%. Also remember the way the statistics are worded and the data provided. Like I said I am not bias towards one or the other because I do both. (Oh no what does that mean for me)
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