I am currently a senior D1 runner in college entering my last semester. I'm interested in continuing my running career to some extent after college and I plan on becoming a police officer down in Florida. I am curious if anyone knows how much time someone new to a law enforcement career would have to devote to training? If anyone has any input/experience with this I'd really appreciate hearing what you have to say.
I am currently a senior D1 runner in college entering my last semester. I'm interested in continuing my running career to some extent after college and I plan on becoming a police officer down in Florida. I am curious if anyone knows how much time someone new to a law enforcement career would have to devote to training? If anyone has any input/experience with this I'd really appreciate hearing what you have to say.
I wouldn’t plan on anything outside of P.O.S.T Academy dedication and new unit assignment for an entire first year.
I know several people who were able to keep running once they became Police Officers. The typical Academy is 40 hours a week during the day with occasional variation for night time training. Weekends off and some study time but nothing crazy. It gets more challenging once you get to patrol. Shifts can vary from 8-12 hours in length, working 3-5 days a week depending on shift length,. Throw in overnights, swing shifts, and changing days off and scheduling training can be challenging. Like if you work 9pm to 7am do you run before or after work? It's doable, but you definitely have to be flexible as schedules can shift weekly, monthly or every few months depending on what agency you work for.
If you insist on a law enforcement career, you need to focus on two things: 1) your ethics; 2) getting promoted and getting away from being a patrol officer.
The longer a cop is a patrolman, the longer a cop is asking for trouble.
* Look at Rodney King arrest, look at George Floyd arrest and look at Tyre Nichols arrest. Even if your ethics are strong enough not to beat an unarmed person at a traffic stop, are you ethics and morals strong enough to stop the other officers? If not, you may go to prison or surely be fired.
* Accidents happen. Everyone says Mohamed Noor was a nice guy. Mohamed Noor, former Minneapolis police officer is serving 6 years in prison for an accidental discharge.
* A guy with whom I went to college, become a city cop, had a confrontation with a White suspect. No officer, Black or White want to kill a White suspect. Said officer is in a wheelchair for life because he hesitated.
Forget running. Make it your mission to pass detective exam as soon as possible.
Noor's shooting wasn't an accidental discharge. He pulled the trigger after pointing the gun at the woman. That's not an accident. He may have panicked, been poorly trained, etc, but it wasn't an AD.
I am currently a senior D1 runner in college entering my last semester. I'm interested in continuing my running career to some extent after college and I plan on becoming a police officer down in Florida. I am curious if anyone knows how much time someone new to a law enforcement career would have to devote to training? If anyone has any input/experience with this I'd really appreciate hearing what you have to say.
I wouldn’t plan on anything outside of P.O.S.T Academy dedication and new unit assignment for an entire first year.
I agree with this individual. Too much going on the first year.
There's also the Police and Fire games and there's a good relay run annually called Baker to Vegas. 100 mile relay where it consist of 5-10 mile legs. The competition is not as strong as D1 competition so this will be a breeze for you if you stay fit.
If you insist on a law enforcement career, you need to focus on two things: 1) your ethics; 2) getting promoted and getting away from being a patrol officer.
The longer a cop is a patrolman, the longer a cop is asking for trouble.
* Look at Rodney King arrest, look at George Floyd arrest and look at Tyre Nichols arrest. Even if your ethics are strong enough not to beat an unarmed person at a traffic stop, are you ethics and morals strong enough to stop the other officers? If not, you may go to prison or surely be fired.
* Accidents happen. Everyone says Mohamed Noor was a nice guy. Mohamed Noor, former Minneapolis police officer is serving 6 years in prison for an accidental discharge.
* A guy with whom I went to college, become a city cop, had a confrontation with a White suspect. No officer, Black or White want to kill a White suspect. Said officer is in a wheelchair for life because he hesitated.
Forget running. Make it your mission to pass detective exam as soon as possible.
Noor's shooting wasn't an accidental discharge. He pulled the trigger after pointing the gun at the woman. That's not an accident. He may have panicked, been poorly trained, etc, but it wasn't an AD.
Of course it was an accident. What was his motive? There was no argument between M Noor and J Damond. It happens often. Every day there is an owner of a semi-automatic pistol accidently firing their pistol. Leaving a round chambered is dangerous. Luckily, most owners of semi-automatic pistols who accidently discharge a pistol do not hit anyone and if they do, no one usually is killed. It was a perfect storm for Mohamed Noor. He accidently discharged his semi-automatic pistol. M Noor hit someone and J Damond died. Eg. Lee Harvey Oswald had an accident discharge of his firearm, was it a pistol or M-16 while in USMC? Lee Oswald suffered a Court Martial due to his accidental discharge. If someone would have died from Lee Oswald's accidental discharge he would have suffered the same fate possibly that M Noor is suffering.
Noor's shooting wasn't an accidental discharge. He pulled the trigger after pointing the gun at the woman. That's not an accident. He may have panicked, been poorly trained, etc, but it wasn't an AD.
Of course it was an accident. What was his motive? There was no argument between M Noor and J Damond. It happens often. Every day there is an owner of a semi-automatic pistol accidently firing their pistol. Leaving a round chambered is dangerous. Luckily, most owners of semi-automatic pistols who accidently discharge a pistol do not hit anyone and if they do, no one usually is killed. It was a perfect storm for Mohamed Noor. He accidently discharged his semi-automatic pistol. M Noor hit someone and J Damond died. Eg. Lee Harvey Oswald had an accident discharge of his firearm, was it a pistol or M-16 while in USMC? Lee Oswald suffered a Court Martial due to his accidental discharge. If someone would have died from Lee Oswald's accidental discharge he would have suffered the same fate possibly that M Noor is suffering.
He drew his gun, pointed it at her and pulled the trigger. An accident would be if he was reholstering and part of his jacket got caught in the trigger guard and it went off. An accident would be if he was taking his gun apart to clean it, didn't do a proper safety check and pulled the trigger with a round in the chamber as part of the process to take the weapon apart (like with Glocks). Noor panicked when she surprised him, he was poorly trained, etc, but what he did was not "accidental" He killed an innocent woman.
This may help a little; I am a retired federal law enforcement officer (33+ years). I ran DII XC and Track for very competitive school - and raced during pretty much my entire LEO career up to 85mpw and consistently at 50-60. Managed close to a dozen marathon distances plus in my late 30s to early 40s (all small affairs, butwon two and third in another). I am still running racing now 10 years into retirement. USATF 1/2 marathon Masters in a couple of months.
Summary: If you want it bad enough you can make it work. It will not be easy.
Although it was Federal level, I had lots of shift work and overtime in my job. Bottomline, if you want to run and compete, you can absolutely do it. Just know there will be sacrifices. It won't be carefree like in college. It may (and probably will) mean doing runs at 05:00 or 21:00 solo. Part of the keys is to have you gear ready to change into right after end of shift.
Due to the nature of the work and schedules you may have to plan your key races a long way out and use vacation time to run them. I found myself not being able to run a number choice races due to not being off on that particular Saturday or Sunday. But since you are in Florida there are lots of races pretty much all the time. That may help.
Hopefully the department has an plan where you get a couple hours 'on duty' time to workout. My agency didn't offer this until after I retired. It would have been a huge benefit. And even if you are dragging if you can maintain some mileage during the academy it will be hugely helpful when you are done.
Find other officers to run even if they may not be on the same level as you. Or at least find your community (club/group/whatever) Even so I probably did 80-85% of my training alone and it was tough.
You didn't ask, but I would suggest that if you have not fully committed to local LEO work, you consider State or Federal employment.
Lastly, you can have a career in LE, be a decent human being, and have a running life too. Forget the losers who are commenting BS heckling you about your career choice. It is your life. Live it the way you want. Good luck
Here’s some advice that nobody here has given: if indeed you are determined to pursue a career in law enforcement, be sure to consider your long-term plans. As a career police officer, with six years as a pilot and more than twenty years as a patrolman, I can assure you that the job will change you. If you intend to start a family, your children must be your priority. If you aren’t careful, you will bring your stress and emotional baggage home with you, and that is one of the reasons why so many police officers abuse their spouses and children. Whenever I speak with people interested in this career path, I always encourage them to think carefully about the life they want for their families. Remember, there are various other ways to serve the community, and the alternatives are generally more compatible with raising a family. I regret that so few officers ever take the time to patiently contemplate these matters, and it is for this reason that so many of their children (known as cops’ kids) grow up in abusive households, left to fight demons throughout their lives. Once you’ve reconciled all of this in your mind, I encourage you to commit to a plan and regular counseling to stay the course. We owe it to our children. Best of luck.