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Posted: 11/25/2020 10:54:14 AM EDT
[#1]
When you no longer get nervous, it’s time to quit. Thanks for your service to the community, cops get a bad name these days but I always support em, while exercising my rights
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Posted: 11/25/2020 11:04:39 AM EDT
[#2]
I don't know. Been on the job 41 years.
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Posted: 11/25/2020 11:31:34 AM EDT
[#3]
When everyday is ground hog day...it's time to quit.
There is a much larger and happier existence after you retire. |
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Posted: 11/25/2020 2:34:05 PM EDT
[#4]
When it stops being fun. I was sitting in the office one day when an academy buddy stopped by. He asked, "John, why are you still here"? Of my class I was the last one still working. He told me to just call and run the numbers. I was gone two weeks later.
I had not even thought about retirement when I was working the street or even in a specialized unit such as Child Abuse because it was still police work. When i promoted to command staff and spent my time in meetings or horseshit disclipinary boards it turned sucky really fast. Not that i really need it, but you can contract for work on the side, I score a decent amount of cash vetting dept's ICS training and programs. Smaller agencies really sturggle with this sort of thing. |
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Posted: 11/25/2020 5:07:51 PM EDT
[#5]
Not a straight answer, but here's my thought on it (what I think my decision point would be)
Don't make a decision when you had a bad day/week. Make e decision when you are having a good day/week. If you are still thinking of retirement in the good times on the job, then you are probably ready to retire. If it's only when it gets annoying... well, everyone wants to retire then, even guys with 3 years  . YMMV, but some folks I know have had regrets because they felt like they left because of a bad season and wished they would have stayed (of course some are glad they got out when they did). All that being said, if you work in an area that will throw you under the bus if you have to shoot someone, or puts you in front of riots as a target instead of a peacekeeper, then I would retire from THERE even if you want to go police somewhere else later. |
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Posted: 11/25/2020 8:00:34 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Not a straight answer, but here's my thought on it (what I think my decision point would be) Don't make a decision when you had a bad day/week. Make e decision when you are having a good day/week. If you are still thinking of retirement in the good times on the job, then you are probably ready to retire. If it's only when it gets annoying... well, everyone wants to retire then, even guys with 3 years . YMMV, but some folks I know have had regrets because they felt like they left because of a bad season and wished they would have stayed (of course some are glad they got out when they did). All that being said, if you work in an area that will throw you under the bus if you have to shoot someone, or puts you in front of riots as a target instead of a peacekeeper, then I would retire from THERE even if you want to go police somewhere else later. In my opinion....good post and very solid advise here. |
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Posted: 11/26/2020 11:14:26 AM EDT
[#7]
Thanks Guys, there is some good advice. I really think I need some time off which I do have two weeks next month and I can use that time to really think this whole thing through. I do like the part about not leaving angry. Can't do that or the system wins.
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Posted: 11/26/2020 1:35:39 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Thanks Guys, there is some good advice. I really think I need some time off which I do have two weeks next month and I can use that time to really think this whole thing through. I do like the part about not leaving angry. Can't do that or the system wins. If you overall like the job even if you are seeing the end in sight, I’d keep building that retirement. On days when I’m feeling burned out (not many since I like my job and my department) I go calculate my retirement. The difference between staying longer and going out sooner is substantial for me. I have almost 20 years on and will be staying for another 12 if all goes well. Remember, MOST people underestimate how much they need in retirement. A few people I have worked with retired just past 20 (they also started building a retirement late in life) and several told me they wished they had stayed longer because their retirement pay doesn’t go nearly as long as they thought. With health care costs skyrocketing, it’s easy to under estimate how much retirement money you need. I DEFINITELY would not leave without something to go to. Just a thought....you are tired of dealing with the majority of the public but if you get a job at Home Depot or Lowe’s, you’ll be working with the public...... |
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Posted: 11/26/2020 1:53:53 PM EDT
[#9]
I went at 20 as a boss after getting fed up with being the only one, it seemed, who was always on call.
I had two pagers, a cell phone, and a take home portable. If they could not get me those ways, they called on the marine vhf knowing I was on my boat. Wife and I went through our finances and retirement funds and said it was time to go. I then became a teacher and administrator for the next twenty. Have something worthwhile planned after retirement. |
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Posted: 11/26/2020 2:01:08 PM EDT
[#10]
It only takes one bullet to have a bad day. What I mean is trouble can come in a hurry. The way things are in todays world I would get out now. I have never seen this much disrespect for the police and laws in my life. I'm 60 years old. I was an armed security guard for 3 years in the late 1990's
at a very large private school. We functioned as police to a large extent until they became a police dept. Nobody likes being told what can and can't do. Do what is best for you and your family. |
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Posted: 11/26/2020 2:10:47 PM EDT
[#11]
when you have better opportunities/prospects....
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Posted: 11/26/2020 2:20:44 PM EDT
[#12]
The time to leave is when there are more headaches than enjoyment.
Mine was the day my chief put a target on my back. I was assigned out to a state narcotics unit and he had little to no control over me, but he tried to override the state supervisors. Several things happened, that was all conducted under the state guidelines, which upset him and his control. He ordered me out of the unit, told me to shave my face, get rid of my cool haircut style, and report in uniform the following Monday. I put my papers in that day, and with my accumulated hours of sick time that was not compensable upon retirement, plus leave days and some comp time, I took 3 months off before my official day of retirement. HE WAS PISSED! Would I still be working in today's crap...hell no. |
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Posted: 11/26/2020 2:28:24 PM EDT
[#13]
I have a few years still before I am even eligible, let alone allowed to enter DROP (assuming it still exists and the world hasn't gone so insane that I just leave without even doing it...)
I have a lot of good friends that have pulled the plug recently. Not one regrets it, especially in today's climate. For some, it turned into risk -vs- reward. Do you stand to lose more than you stand to gain by staying? A lot of this may be based on the agency you work for. As someone above said, don't make the decision hastily on a bad day. |
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Posted: 11/27/2020 6:54:43 AM EDT
[#14]
I knew when I realized that I was on my sixth sheriff, the state was passing massive bail reform changes and the new administration was approaching the job from an SJW perspective
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Posted: 11/27/2020 10:49:05 AM EDT
[#15]
I planned on 32 ish years to max out.
I could go on vacation after Christmas and New Years and not come back until I hit my 25 year eligibility date. I am another NY resident. We are broke and shat upon. I saved enough 457b to add to my 50% pension that my income should be darn close to unchanged. My supervisors know I am looking at going. All my classmates are looking at going. That is how bad it has gotten. Maybe two to four out of my class of 40 will keep at it, One is up in management. the others have kid issues and still financially see the need to stay. I should get a half a year credit for the six months that preceded my decade of reserve time. Rumors of a retirement incentive for those of us on the old plans might help but I am not counting on that. If that sounds like it might be real I will stay long enough to see if it comes off. I doubt it will. We have had every good thing shut down, all the bad things are signed into law. No or very little OT, more micro management and schedule jerking around to avoud overtime. A useless union. Contractual back pay and raises withheld indefinitely. I got about $10k of back pay that they won’t pay despite a contract and that the money has been in a dedicated fund for it for three years. FUAC! |
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Posted: 11/27/2020 1:05:27 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I planned on 32 ish years to max out. I could go on vacation after Christmas and New Years and not come back until I hit my 25 year eligibility date. I am another NY resident. We are broke and shat upon. I saved enough 457b to add to my 50% pension that my income should be darn close to unchanged. My supervisors know I am looking at going. All my classmates are looking at going. That is how bad it has gotten. Maybe two to four out of my class of 40 will keep at it, One is up in management. the others have kid issues and still financially see the need to stay. I should get a half a year credit for the six months that preceded my decade of reserve time. Rumors of a retirement incentive for those of us on the old plans might help but I am not counting on that. If that sounds like it might be real I will stay long enough to see if it comes off. I doubt it will. We have had every good thing shut down, all the bad things are signed into law. No or very little OT, more micro management and schedule jerking around to avoud overtime. A useless union. Contractual back pay and raises withheld indefinitely. I got about $10k of back pay that they won’t pay despite a contract and that the money has been in a dedicated fund for it for three years. FUAC! That last paragraph sounds awfully familiar.... they keep taking more away and making it easier for guys to walk. Part of me thinks it is purpose-driven. |
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Posted: 11/27/2020 2:57:59 PM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryQuoted: That last paragraph sounds awfully familiar.... they keep taking more away and making it easier for guys to walk. Part of me thinks it is purpose-driven. It’s easy to confuse conspiracy and incompetence. Sometimes it’s hard to tell which one you are dealing with. One thing is for sure....crime rates are going to rise. |
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Posted: 11/28/2020 1:14:34 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: It’s easy to confuse conspiracy and incompetence. Sometimes it’s hard to tell which one you are dealing with. One thing is for sure....crime rates are going to rise. I agree. I'm not big on conspiracy theories, but if you knew the details of what I am talking about, you would understand. Plenty of incompetence to go with it, unfortunately. Even more unfortunate is that plenty of that incompetence stands to rise up through the ranks just by default. The future, both internally and externally, does not look so hot..... I am envious of those that did this job and were able to get out while the getting was good. |
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Posted: 12/1/2020 1:42:07 AM EDT
[#19]
 Get out while the gettins good. |
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Posted: 12/1/2020 1:47:19 AM EDT
[#20]
I'd leave today if I were in your position.
Seriously. Don't look back. You won't regret it. |
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Posted: 12/1/2020 1:49:35 AM EDT
[#21]
You are in DROP. You already picked your time. Cash should be very good, right?
I am enjoying the end years. Nothing like being able to do what you want and say what you want. It is good knowing I am a few steps from walking out. |
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Posted: 12/1/2020 1:53:33 AM EDT
[#22]
for me it was when the corruption and back stabbing became to much.. after 15 years i bailed and never looked back.
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Posted: 12/1/2020 2:01:45 AM EDT
[#23]
I'll hit three years in a few months. I think about walking away every day.
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Posted: 12/1/2020 8:28:48 AM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I'll hit three years in a few months. I think about walking away every day. That’s not uncommon even when things were better than they are now. Most cops leave the job sometime around the 5 year mark. |
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Posted: 12/2/2020 12:06:24 AM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I'll hit three years in a few months. I think about walking away every day. You're still a rookie! |
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Posted: 12/2/2020 12:20:49 AM EDT
[#26]
Only you can decide when.
My case, it was just time 34 years at 58 yoa (Definition of when you become a dinosaur, The day you sit down and actually figure out When you can say kiss this as you walk out the door) |
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Posted: 12/3/2020 12:58:10 AM EDT
[#27]
I knew it was time when going back to KAF was preferable to staying there.
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Posted: 12/3/2020 7:51:54 PM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I knew it was time when going back to KAF was preferable to staying there. The whole appeal to KAF was that it had amenities that you didn't have off in the middle of nowheresville. If the Boardwalk is rolled up and there are no amenities remaining, what's the appeal to being at KAF? |
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Posted: 12/12/2020 7:56:49 PM EDT
[#29]
The second I can I am gone.
I really dislike the guys who seem to stay forever and not Hang it up. You did your time, had your fun, now let someone else have an assignment that’s not patrol. |
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Posted: 12/15/2020 12:43:02 AM EDT
[#30]
I have a year to go. Told myself I would do 30 years on my PD. No real reason for it, just an arbitrary goal I have picked for myself. If I had my 2 years from Illinois I would be gone.
It's really just not that fun anymore. I love my guys and do my best to keep them out of trouble both inside and outside the PD, but every good day seems like it is offset by 5 knucklehead days. Plus the technology is starting to kick my ass  !SOON! |
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Posted: 12/15/2020 1:25:45 AM EDT
[#31]
Hell, I didn't care where I wound up overseas, as long wasn't pushing a cruiser around for 12 hours anymore. Stuck in a purely residential part of the township getting dinged on my evaluations for not making shoplifting arrests. Which was bullshit, I had already been informed by the Chief that I was "a troublemaker and malcontent who won't go anywhere in my department"
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Posted: 12/15/2020 1:35:29 AM EDT
[#32]
When it’s a chore to go to work. You’ll know. There will be times you’ll miss it and your friends but that will fade. The job isn’t the same anymore.
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Posted: 12/15/2020 5:02:16 PM EDT
[#33]
33.5 yrs on the job for me with 2 down in DROP. Have to pay for last year's divorce from the bi-polar whore.
Anger is my motivation to do 3 more in DROP. I gave up the house, am paying another 36 months of alimony and she'll get $.30 on the dollar out of my monthly pension. Thank God she is 12 yrs younger and I had 12 in before her. I am doing every day of 3 more years. She isn't getting $.01 of my 457 or 401 accounts per the settlement. |
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Posted: 12/15/2020 8:25:35 PM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Hell, I didn't care where I wound up overseas, as long wasn't pushing a cruiser around for 12 hours anymore. Stuck in a purely residential part of the township getting dinged on my evaluations for not making shoplifting arrests. Which was bullshit, I had already been informed by the Chief that I was "a troublemaker and malcontent who won't go anywhere in my department" It's amazing how the administrative track people... The ones who spent as little time on the street before finding the most comfortable desk to fly... look down on the people who do the actual work in an agency |
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Posted: 12/15/2020 11:09:25 PM EDT
[#35]
Find something you love that’s not connected to the job...something that pulls you away from the job.
When you feel that pull, not wanting to go to work so you can do that other thing, quit and do it. |
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Posted: 12/17/2020 10:06:59 AM EDT
[#36]
When you are sick of the amount of bullshit laws in your state,
When your local government is full of cop hating douchebags, When your chief, whom you respect, is retiring and being replaced with a cop hating douchebag, When you realize there are too many douchebags working in your department, When you are eligible to retire and there is no financial incentive to stay any longer. Not that I would know this from personal experience... 
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Posted: 12/17/2020 11:42:43 AM EDT
[#37]
Quote HistoryQuoted: When you are sick of the amount of bullshit laws in your state, When your local government is full of cop hating douchebags, When your chief, whom you respect, is retiring and being replaced with a cop hating douchebag, When you realize there are too many douchebags working in your department, When you are eligible to retire and there is no financial incentive to stay any longer. Not that I would know this from personal experience... Yep that’ll do it! |
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Posted: 12/17/2020 8:25:32 PM EDT
[#38]
I posted earlier but recently I just found out my agency is trying to do a forced involuntary transfer to a shit hole post so it looks like I might be burning up a whole ton of sickleave since I don’t feel so good these days and walking away from this shit. Fuck them.
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Posted: 12/17/2020 8:36:46 PM EDT
[#39]
My options are:
Retire in September 2022, get 80% pension, 100% health for me, 50% for family Retire in September 2025 when I turn 55.5, get 100% pension, 100% health for me and still 50% for family 2022 is looking better and better every day. |
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Posted: 12/17/2020 9:01:02 PM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My options are: Retire in September 2022, get 80% pension, 100% health for me, 50% for family Retire in September 2025 when I turn 55.5, get 100% pension, 100% health for me and still 50% for family 2022 is looking better and better every day. I’d really be trying to make that 2025 date if at all possible. More money in retirement is always a good thing. I think 3 more years would be worth it....but that assumes you have a decent place to work at. |
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Posted: 12/17/2020 9:12:47 PM EDT
[#41]
When my 401k hits seven figures, I'm out.
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Posted: 12/17/2020 9:32:26 PM EDT
[#42]
When you start questioning if it's time to retire...it's time to retire.
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Posted: 12/17/2020 9:53:10 PM EDT
[#43]
Quote HistoryQuoted: When you are sick of the amount of bullshit laws in your state, When your local government is full of cop hating douchebags, When your chief, whom you respect, is retiring and being replaced with a cop hating douchebag, When you realize there are too many douchebags working in your department, When you are eligible to retire and there is no financial incentive to stay any longer. Not that I would know this from personal experience... Damn, we work for the same outfit? |
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Posted: 12/18/2020 4:36:06 AM EDT
[#44]
I did 21 years in one agency and retired at the age of 52 and moved back to my home State... Kind of missed it, just a little, so after a year, I was picked up by another agency.
I’ll be retiring from that second position in about 70 days, after serving 5 years with them in order to get vested into their retirement and 401K plan. I don’t feel bad about leaving once I’m vested since I told my employers, up front, of my plans. I’ve been promoted several times and as a lieutenant, which I’ve held that position for the last 1.5 years, I’m officially done. I’m not worried financially about anything since my first agency had a great pension plan and I’ve been socking away an average of 15% of my monthly pay into our 401K plan for the last 23 years. I’m in my mid/late 50s and ready to go into full retirement now since. No regrets about working in law enforcement, but the politics have definitely changed for the worst lately. I live in the metro Seattle area, so that should give you an ideal about the politics I’ve to put up with. |
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Posted: 12/18/2020 8:13:22 AM EDT
[#45]
I left at 30 years when it was no longer fun
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Posted: 12/21/2020 8:05:27 PM EDT
[#46]
When I was more nervous about getting (another) writeup for a purported failure to comply with admin BS than how my crew or I were doing the job.
When the chief would boast about our crews, but nothing my crew or I did was good enough when nobody from outside was around. When my daughter told me she wanted her daddy back. |
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Posted: 12/21/2020 8:11:02 PM EDT
[#47]
Ask some cops from Chicago PD!!!!
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Posted: 12/22/2020 7:56:31 AM EDT
[#48]
Quote HistoryQuoted: When you are eligible to retire and there is no financial incentive to stay any longer. Pretty much. My old partner is at that point now, he's never going to top the OT he made this year. |
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Posted: 12/24/2020 7:45:45 PM EDT
[#49]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I'll hit three years in a few months. I think about walking away every day. I've got more time taking a dump on duty than you have in the business. That being said, if it's not for you, don't torture yourself. Find something else and be happy. |
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Posted: 12/26/2020 10:36:43 AM EDT
[#50]
At the point I had 26 years in, I just thought I had had enough, I didn't enjoy it any more, and was ready to go enjoy life some. I bought a boat and sailed to the Bahamas. When we came back two years later, I thought I was ready to come back. I took a job as an investigator with one of our state agencies. Three years of that, and I realized I was right to retire in the first place. I retired again, got on the boat again, and headed back to the Bahamas.
Since then, I've had a couple of offers from local SO's and PD's. I just say no thanks, I don't want to work there, and you don't want me to work there. |
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