Originally Posted by rcooled (Post 7496191)

If you're in sales, you at least get to disconnect from it and take time for your personal life once in a while. When you're in LE, it's a 24/7 job. A classmate who joined the NJ State Police many years ago was required to always have his weapon with him (don't know if this is still the case) because he could've been called into an emergency situation at any time. LE is a very exclusive fraternity and many cops develop an 'us vs. them' attitude with regard to the general public. Although this doesn't seem to be the case in your situation, I've found that cops will usually only socialize with other cops when off-duty and rarely have any close friends who are not also in law enforcement.
Don't be lulled into thinking that if you become a cop, you'll have a job for life. Budget cuts are a harsh reality these days and they affect big cities as well as small towns...even 'rich' ones...and this situation will not be improving any time soon.
One final comment on the 'danger' aspect of law enforcement. I live in a small city that's rarely ever had anything more than traffic incidents, rowdy parties, burglaries and other property crimes to deal with. Many local cops have worked their entire careers without ever having to draw their weapon against another person. That all changed earlier this year when two veteran cops were shot dead by some nut-job they were questioning about a harassment incident. The world is getting crazier by the day with no turn-around in sight.

Originally Posted by 911SauCy (Post 7496546)

The boozing and infidelity thing is a normal part of what I see...you read I was in sales right? Every sales conference I've been to someone is banging someone and people on sales teams are always hammerin another teammate....