"Patrol is the back bone of this agency"

[Unregistered]

"Patrol is the back bone of this agency" is something I have been hearing for years now but it seems like more of a punishment because when you get fired or "let go", that is where they send you. Maybe you get a year off and then they rehire you and send you back to purgatory(Patrol). Then after being in purgatory for a year they send you back to your original position. All the while you have good patrol deps working their asses off or trying to kiss ass so they can get into someones inner circle(Deps that have not been in trouble).They never get a shot yet other people just get sent back to patrol as a punishment. I hope something changes because as much as they say how important patrol is they sure don't make the peon patrol deps feel that way.

They continue to say we are short on the street and short on supervisors. Why do we need so many damn supervisors anyways? Do we need a LT that works midnights on weekends? A Sgt can run a squad just fine on the weekends. Why do we need to have street crime squads if we are short? Maybe combine the squad and have a cpl and sgt run the street crimes squads instead of have 4 supervisors for 2 squads. God forbid if we think logical because we are top heavy as an agency when it comes to brass. who am I to question the almighty...

[Unregistered]

"Patrol is the back bone of this agency" is something I have been hearing for years now but it seems like more of a punishment because when you get fired or "let go", that is where they send you. Maybe you get a year off and then they rehire you and send you back to purgatory(Patrol). Then after being in purgatory for a year they send you back to your original position. All the while you have good patrol deps working their asses off or trying to kiss ass so they can get into someones inner circle(Deps that have not been in trouble).They never get a shot yet other people just get sent back to patrol as a punishment. I hope something changes because as much as they say how important patrol is they sure don't make the peon patrol deps feel that way.

They continue to say we are short on the street and short on supervisors. Why do we need so many damn supervisors anyways? Do we need a LT that works midnights on weekends? A Sgt can run a squad just fine on the weekends. Why do we need to have street crime squads if we are short? Maybe combine the squad and have a cpl and sgt run the street crimes squads instead of have 4 supervisors for 2 squads. God forbid if we think logical because we are top heavy as an agency when it comes to brass. who am I to question the almighty...

Every recommendation for police supervision from every expert source suggests a 5 to 1 ration of supervisors to subordinates. If you didn't want to get kicked back to patrol, then you shouldn't have been such a screw up in CID for so many years.

[Unregistered]

Patrol is where everybody begins their careers. Most people move on to other components of their agency during the course of a full career. Some, stay Patrol oriented, traffic, dui, major accident investigation, cpo etc. Patrol also is the default assignment when you have been thrown out of other areas for whatever reason. Most assignments non patrol related, have less supervision, hand selected, and far more responsibilities to get the job done without being closely supervised, another words, its on you, to manage caseloads, prioritize your time, and not have to be baby sat to ensure that you are getting the job done. Unfortunately, patrol oriented careers has always been seen as not being well rounded and has never been given the status that detectives and other investigative components of the agency seem to get. A really good patrol oriented deputy with experience has to be versed on a wide variety of investigations and has to make decisions quickly, gets wet, and works weekends.

[Unregistered]

To each their own. I've been on patrol for 8 years and I have refused other units that have asked me to join. Patrol is not a punishment, it's where everyone starts. I do everything at my pace with no one messing with me. Do what you can stand. Make it work for you.

[Unregistered]

Patrol is where everybody begins their careers. Most people move on to other components of their agency during the course of a full career. Some, stay Patrol oriented, traffic, dui, major accident investigation, cpo etc. Patrol also is the default assignment when you have been thrown out of other areas for whatever reason. Most assignments non patrol related, have less supervision, hand selected, and far more responsibilities to get the job done without being closely supervised, another words, its on you, to manage caseloads, prioritize your time, and not have to be baby sat to ensure that you are getting the job done. Unfortunately, patrol oriented careers has always been seen as not being well rounded and has never been given the status that detectives and other investigative components of the agency seem to get. A really good patrol oriented deputy with experience has to be versed on a wide variety of investigations and has to make decisions quickly, gets wet, and works weekends.

I agree 100%. I just wish they wouldn't look down on patrol as much as they do. They meaning... The Brass. Even though it should get more respect.

[AD1]

Patrol is never going to get respect from this regime. Most, if not all of them spent very little time in patrol over their careers. They have no idea what patrol does and the actual diversified skills you have to have in order to work the streets effectively. Throw them into a marked car and assign them a zone and actually have them work it and they would be baffled.

[Unregistered]

For a period of time, the staff was required to ride with a deputy on a periodic basis. We were told it was so they could re familiarize. Later, there was speculation it was so they could retain their high risk classification.

[Unregistered]

Punishment should be being sent to the work in the jail. Now that one would hurt. I mean what is lower than working at the jail? Nobody wants to be in that hell-hole.

[Unregistered]

Does anyone remember from several years back when that directive came down that everyone not assigned to Patrol had to work a patrol zone one day a month? That happened the first month, then the second month everyone and their brother had an exception, and by the third month it never really happened again.

[Unregistered]

A funny thing happens when these people who haven't worked Patrol in years and years, either get sent back, or get promoted and return. They discover what you have to know and how quickly you have to make decisions. You don't get to plan your arrest, be briefed, call in other components of the agency like SWAT etc before you go out and arrest your target. Love the stories, back when I was in Patrol, 20years ago we didn't take shit off of nobody and we took care of business. Might have been true, try policing like that today and see how it works out for you. This is truly one of the areas where senior command's perceptions of Patrol hasn't kept up with the times.