The Top 20 Rules for All New Cops

20 rules For New Cops

Salty wisdom..

Like everyone else, time is a most precious and valuable commodity to me.
Trying to juggle being a full time police sergeant and providing quality content to my followers is a challenge. I am not the greatest fan of lists but, oddly enough, I found making this list the easiest and most direct way of helping new cops. Starting a career in law enforcement can be scary. No one likes being the new guy.
 
Fortunately, all of us start in the same place. Here is a list of 20 rules all new cops should follow…
 
  1. Hands kill, but the eyes are the windows to the soul.
  2. I know it’s a pain in the ass but wear your seat-belt.
  3. Never accept free food, but if they insist, leave a more than generous tip.
  4. Always take the seat in the front for line-up your first year. The salts usually sit in the back.
  5. Do not give your opinion to veteran officers unless they ask.
  6. Do not call out sick unless there’s a chance you may die your first two years.
  7. If you have a question, start with another senior officer before you call your sergeant.
  8. Don’t bitch about pay until your 3 year mark.
  9. Show nothing but gratitude and thanks when getting your first take home car.
  10. When your sergeant starts talking “old school” just smile and keep the eye rolling to a minimum.
  11. Every story your sergeant tells is 100% accurate and not embellished in any way.
  12. Do not ask for a female officer for every search or sexual offense report involving another female.
  13. Do not talk politics at work.
  14. Be very careful in your last 30 minutes on shift. This is when officers make bad decisions.
  15. Just take the report.
  16. Domestic assaults = someone is going to jail (usually).
  17. Be nice to those in property and evidence.
  18. Always start out nice and treat everyone with respect.
  19. Seek help if you are struggling with a critical or traumatic incident you worked.
  20. Don’t lie.

This list could literally go on forever but after 20 I think we would be beating a dead horse. Please, as always, feel free to add to this list or give your comment.

-The Salty Sarge


You can find other ORIGINAL articles like this one and more at The Salty Sarge Facebook Page.

9 Comments

  1. He is right on the money! Follow this advice and you won’t go wrong. 33 plus years law enforcement, 28 as a Sergeant. Municipal Police Department, population 125,000.

  2. I would modify #6. If you are dizzy, nauseous, or otherwise debilitated to the point that driving a car is difficult, you shouldn’t be carrying a gun either. Plus you will get others sick. SO…if you are REALLY SICK, stay home. I’d rather have just one officer with the flu than the whole shift.

  3. You will become calloused. Things that would make an average person cringe and run away, you will learn to take in stride. You will develop a “dark” sense of humor. It’s a way of coping with the terrible things you will see and have to deal with. However, leave it at work.

    You work in a cruel and disgusting world. You see the worst in people. When you come home, it’s hard to realize that your daughter’s skinned knee is really a big deal, and she needs some daddy attention. Especially when you just spent two hours at the hospital taking a report on a two year old child that was beaten to death by some meth head boyfriend of some whore.

    A skinned knee may be nothing in comparison to a dead child, but that is not your daughter’s world, that is your world at work. Your daughter’s world is you. If you can’t separate the two, find another profession. Otherwise you will be married 4 times before you get your 20 years in. You’ll probably have a drinking problem, and all of your children will think you’re a giant asshole. And eating your gun will be something that routinely crosses your mind.

    G.M. Lousignont, Ph.D. Criminal Psychologist, Former LEO

  4. Rule #1 Don’t screw over your dispatcher. You may know where you are, God may know where you are, but God help you if didpatch doesn’t.

  5. # 15 should be the first thing taught. Normally the answer 90% of the time. Anymore #12 is policy . …

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