<p>Wow that is interesting. I didn’t know cops made that much. Special agents in the FBI start with $59k - $69k. </p>
<p>My original goals were to go for government agencies like FBI, CIA, NSA, etc (I’m studying languages at the moment - Majoring in Russian, learning Arabic and Farsi). And I know you can go the police route which wasn’t anything I was really considering until I started thinking about grad school and how I don’t really want to go. It’s expensive and I’d have to pay for it on my own and I don’t really have a clue what I would get a degree in. I was thinking about law but it’s just like ‘oh I don’t know what I would go to grad school for let me pick law’. But it’s a little too boring for me. </p>
<p>I am not sure how my parents are going to like it. I told my mom I wanted to intern - just intern, most likely filing and the likes - at Austin Police Department and she said “Why? You don’t want to be a police officer.”</p>
<p>What about summer jobs or post-graduation-stepping-stone positions in law enforcement?</p>
<p>why would anyone with any ounce of self confidence want to be a cop?
it’s all abuse of power… become a lawyer/judge/politician if you want to actually make a difference.</p>
<p>My father is a field training officer in the SF Bay Area. Last year he made $145,000 with overtime before taxes. This year will be significantly less, probably 100000. All of his trainees have BAs, some masters. Its really all about how you handle yourself during the oral board, background, polygraph, and training program if you want to be hired. Being a cop can be extremely rewarding. You get to impact people’s lives with the decisions you make out there. It’s mostly at your discretion. That’s what makes good cops and bad cops. People that stereotype police work like the person above who have absolutely no idea what its about just leave jobs open for me so keep it up.</p>
<p>ryuzaki:
Because law enforcement officers do make a difference. Lawyers and judges can’t do anything unless cops make arrests. Laws without enforcement (i.e. Confucianism) would essentially result in chaos. Let’s see how long it’d take society to collapse without the FBI or local police departments.</p>