For any of you that are LEO's: what is the general attitude towards you? I'm considering becoming an LEO if I can't get my PhD, so I'm curious what the job is like.
Actually, if anyone is willing to PM me and give me some info (how to become an officer, requirements, etc.) I'd really appreciate that. I don't want to de-rail the thread.
Anyways, to contribute:
The first time I got pulled over was a month or two after I got my license. I was going ~80 in a 45, like a complete moron, and so the officer finally caught up to me. He actually pulled me over ~20 ft. from my own driveway, right in front of my neighbor's house. He was very polite, did not make assumptions, and did not give me any attitude. He asked me how fast I was going, and told him I wasn't sure (I had a ballpark idea, but didn't have an exact number). He asked again, so I just told him I was going around 70 or 80, and said I wasn't completely sure. He took my license (didn't even ask for my registration), and came back with a written warning a few minutes later. He then lectured me sternly, but not in a pompous manner, on safe driving, and why following the speed limits is important and beneficial. Then, on his way back to his car, he spotted some empty IBC root beer bottles in the back of my car (those are the ones that look exactly like beer bottles), and suddenly asked, "What are those?!" I told him what they were, and he said, "...Oh." Then he went on his way.
Fast forward a few years, and I'm getting out of work one Sunday, and I decide to run back inside for something, but in the process lock myself out of car. I see an officer in the parking lot, so I make my way over to ask him if he can help me. (It's the same officer from my first story.) He says he can help, and gives me a ride over to my car, and has me sign a waiver so that I don't sue him if a window breaks. So he opens my car for me, and then leaves. But then he circles back around and blocks my car in (!). After a moment he pulls up beside me and motions for me to roll down my window. I do, and he asks if I'm going home. I tell him I am, and he tells me he's going to follow me. At this point I am
freaking out. I figure I have a warrant out, or there's some family problem and an officer was sent to find me or something. I have no idea what's going on. So we get to my house, and the officer tells me my registration had expired last week. Oops. He told me since I've lived in town my whole life, and had worked in town for a few years he'd cut me a break. He followed me home so another officer wouldn't pick me off. He also told me that he told dispatch that I'd already left, and to let it go. Wow.
A couple days later, I'm on my way home from the RMV, and I've forgotten to put my expiration year sticker on my license plate like an intelligent individual, so I get pulled over, and the officer tells me my license has expired. I explain there must be a mistake, and that I just had it renewed, and show it to him. Then he explains to me that the proper indication must be visible on the outside of the car, and then I realized I had the sticker next to my shifter. I held it up, the officer shook his head, and left.
All in all, I've had good experiences.