Posted: 4/30/2013 8:06:05 PM EDT
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i have a very involved question and i need a bit of advice.
a few years ago i left my local fire department, and ever since i have felt like i should be doing something more to help out in my community. about a year ago i moved to a small town not far from where i was at. i have been offered a training position at the fire department here, but seeing as there is still a feud in place and i have morals, i obviously can't take it. i know there are a few volunteer positions open with the local pd, that i could take if i applied and was accepted. has anyone here made that switch? was it tough? |
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I have been offered a full time LEO job twice (damn near begged by the sheriff the first time) which would require me to leave my full time job as a firefighter. After thinking long and hard about it the first time I turned it down, the second time was an immediate no thank you, but thanks for the offer. There are parts about each job that suck big donkey dick, but there are pros over each one too. I know several that have swapped in each direction. Initially the guys that left the FD to go LE were happy, but after 10 years they have regretted it. This would also depend on the leadership at each place. LEO is a more mentally draining/stressful (stressful due to worry and other nonsense) job due to all the bullshit that goes along with it. I continue to work part time/reserve in LE.
To be perfectly honest I would have taken the job had they been on 10 or 12 hour shifts opposed to 8's. Working 5 days a week is for suckers in my opinion (i work 6-7 due to LE and side jobs, guess I am a sucker) Also remember working part time/reserve/volunteer (FD or LE) is a little different than having to go in because it is your livelihood. When I was a volly firefighter I thought being a full time career firefighter was the greatest thing in the world. Now that I have done it for almost 10 years my perspective has changed. Everything is different when it becomes your primary job and you have to be there. Take the position and enjoy it, but remember what your job is as LE opposed to FD/EMS you have to flip the switch. |
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You crazy OP take the FD job and work out that feud. i used to run into burning buildings, the part in bold goes without saying. if i took the training i would end up the man without a department. the guys in the new department wouldn't trust or respect me and all the guys i used to fight fire with would see me as a traitor. like i said, the training position is not really an option. |
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Damn. May I ask what happened? we got called in for mutual aide and WE ended up sending two of our guys in to save the dog because they refused to do so much as open the door and call the dog. t he structure burned to the ground. ETA: this is what i was told by someone who was there when it happened. |
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Damn. May I ask what happened? we got called in for mutual aide and WE ended up sending two of our guys in to save the dog because they refused to do so much as open the door and call the dog. t he structure burned to the ground. ETA: this is what i was told by someone who was there when it happened. We have a couple of guys on our PD who wanted to crossover, didn't work out for logistical reasons. We also have 3 guys that I know were LEOs when they were young, one left the police academy on the 1st day when an offer from the FD came thru. Another option for some is to do both, Full time FD and part-time/reserve PD. As to the feud, it's sound like a BS to me. Someone probably got pissy about rig placement or some trivial matter and that snowballed into the current story. In my career I've seen events in person that get totally changed in 2 days between shifts. Obviously I know very little about department structure and AO, but with out knowing the circumstances I'll give just as much  to trying to save the dog as I would not saving a dog
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Had a full time FF from a city within our parish switch and become a patrol deputy. Finished the academy, fto, and became an excellent deputy. Then for family reasons (wife had a baby (yes it's his)) he went back the the FF business with the dept he left.
Bottom line is with the right mentality you can excel in either profession. |
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Quoted:
i have a very involved question and i need a bit of advice. a few years ago i left my local fire department, and ever since i have felt like i should be doing something more to help out in my community. about a year ago i moved to a small town not far from where i was at. i have been offered a training position at the fire department here, but seeing as there is still a feud in place and i have morals, i obviously can't take it. i know there are a few volunteer positions open with the local pd, that i could take if i applied and was accepted. has anyone here made that switch? was it tough? You have "morals" so you want to be a cop? 
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I've contemplated the same thing. Full time fire/medic here. I also teach EMS at a local college. I've taken the entrance exam for the law enforcement academy and am supposed to start in Aug.
My current dept. sucks, to put it mildly. Our management is terrible and only seems to be getting worse. I've talked to many Deputies and asked how they like their job and just like every job, some love it, some hate it. I've known a few Deputies that went from fire to LE and they love it. I know that every job has a good and bad, but when I dislike going to work, it's time to move on. The main reason I've wanted to go LE is to work with the State as an arson investigator. |