Big city vs. Small town

[CAL]

As many of you know I have been doing research and talking with people in various agencies in and around my area in preparation for getting out of the academy and finding a gig as a reserve. I recently stumbled upon an agency that seems to be pretty keen on hiring me as a part time officer right out of the gate. In fact, after a telephone conversation with the Chief I have a meeting with him coming up. Normally I'd be totally pumped about this opportunity but I'm concerned about working for this agency because it is a small city (population ~2500). My main concerns are 1) Will I be bored? and 2) My nearest backup could be who knows where. Apparently, there is only one officer on duty for this city, one sheriff's deputy that goes home at midnight, and one DPS Trooper that is roaming the county. I'd like to hear your opinions on whether this is a good opportunity or not, pros vs. cons, etc.

[TXGrunt]

Im glad you asked this Cal, although Im not quite at the hiring stage yet it has been a big question for me too. Personally though Im thinking bigger than this town you are considering because I feel I would get bored, and lateral moves and differnt jobs within the smaller agencies seem to be hard to do. Lets see what the salt dogs have to say...

[mfields907]

This is a very good question. First off I will introduce myself being as I am new here. I have 11 years LE and 6 years as a patrol supervisor. I am certified as a Field Training Officer, and Crisis/Hostage Negotiator and a TCLEOSE instructor. I work in a city with a population of approximately 18,000 and we have a thirty man department with 15 officers, 4 sergeants and 1 Lt. in the patrol division. I have been with this department for a little over 9 years now. I started in 1999 working for the sheriff's department in my home town, a small town of 3500 maybe 10,000 in the whole county. My suggestion on small S.O.s is to STAY AWAY!!! The politics suck. In 2000 our sheriff got voted out and the new sheriff came in at about 1430 on new years eve and informed the four of us that we did not have a job after 2359hrs. That sucked.

Now depending on what you are wanting to do in your career a small department can be a good place to work. First off you are the patrol officer, you answer the initial call. Next your are the detective, you work your case from start to finish. You are the crime scene investigator, you get to process the crime scene and all of you evidence. And finally usually with a small department, you can go to any school you want (if the dept. has any money at all). The reason for this is that you do everything so they are usually willing to send you to anything. I really enjoyed working for the small department. Downfalls are #1 as you stated back up. I was luck with my department. When we were off we still listened to the radio and backed each other up 24/7, but like you said, I might of had to wait for my backup to drive 40 miles across the county to get to me, you just have to be careful and always alert. #2 you may not want to do EVERYTHING or work all the time, which you will do. #3 As for being bored, it's all what you make it. It depends on how proactive you are and what your dept. admin. will let you do. You can always stay busy.

When I moved to my current department I was put with an FTO for the first 14 weeks. I learned more in the first six weeks than I would have learned in six years with the S.O. Back up is almost always available. There is opportunity for advancement and there are several other opportunities, such as Tactical Team, Bicycle Patrol, Motors Unit, SRO, Detectives Division and many others. In a department of this size you start as a patrol officer. You answer the call and make the initial report. After that if that is all you want to do you forward it to CID and your done for the most part, but you will be a patrol officer for your career, or you can take the call and work it all the way, until you can't go any further. Doing this prepares you for CID if you have that in your sights.

Now I have six minutes to get my shift briefing typed so I must stop. Hopefully I have helped some.

Good Luck and Stay Safe.

[DD78]

I work in a "small town" in a sense but it's got big city problems. 30k people in 8 square miles. 60 man agency.

You have some time and you'll be but a reserve. It's not like this will be a primary source of income for you. My advice is that if no one else is biting and this is what you have, take it. Get some experience and move up and out.

The politics may suck but if you get fired due to a new Sheriff, it's not the end of the world for you as it would be if you were a full timer.

[Broke Hoss]

I would also add; What kind of personality do you have?

Me, I'd fit in a small town with my country boy attitude. I figger the chief thinks you'd be a fit or he wouldn't have offered the job.

I like Abilene, pop: 116K, 180 on PD. It has a little of both "big city" & "small town" going for it. I know I couldn't live/work in a DFW or Houston; just ain't my style. But I didn't stay with the SO years ago because thier patrol was glorified cow chasers back then. They literally got wrote up for traffic enforcement, to include DWI. MUCH better now, thier professionalisim has really improved from back then.

Maybe you can find out about thier training program & other employees. Do they help get you started or toss you keys & say get after it? Do they have qualified employees that want to be there? Or are they guys that couldn't get/keep jobs elsewhere?

I guess what I'm saying is if it is a department that you can be proud to work for; and you can give them an officer they'll be proud of; sounds like a deal to me.

[CAL]

I would also add; What kind of personality do you have?

Me, I'd fit in a small town with my country boy attitude. I figger the chief thinks you'd be a fit or he wouldn't have offered the job.

I like Abilene, pop: 116K, 180 on PD. It has a little of both "big city" & "small town" going for it. I know I couldn't live/work in a DFW or Houston; just ain't my style. But I didn't stay with the SO years ago because thier patrol was glorified cow chasers back then. They literally got wrote up for traffic enforcement, to include DWI. MUCH better now, thier professionalisim has really improved from back then.

Maybe you can find out about thier training program & other employees. Do they help get you started or toss you keys & say get after it? Do they have qualified employees that want to be there? Or are they guys that couldn't get/keep jobs elsewhere?

I guess what I'm saying is if it is a department that you can be proud to work for; and you can give them an officer they'll be proud of; sounds like a deal to me.
That sounds a lot like me. I grew up in the country but have been living in the city for my adult life so I'm comfortable in either setting. Your "cow chaser" analogy is spot on with one of my main concerns about working in a small city. From my initial meeting with the Chief, he did speak about a formal training program that I would have to go through - which is a good thing.


You have some time and you'll be but a reserve. It's not like this will be a primary source of income for you. My advice is that if no one else is biting and this is what you have, take it. Get some experience and move up and out.

The politics may suck but if you get fired due to a new Sheriff, it's not the end of the world for you as it would be if you were a full timer.
Yes, I'm not doing this for any sort of career path or source of income - truly to help the community and bust up some knuckleheads. I have other opportunities, some in my area (the 7th largest city in the U.S.) and some in mid sized areas so it seems I can go from one end of the spectrum to the other. That's the funny thing about TX - I live about 5 mikes from the middle of nowhere :mrgreen:


My suggestion on small S.O.s is to STAY AWAY!!! The politics suck. In 2000 our sheriff got voted out and the new sheriff came in at about 1430 on new years eve and informed the four of us that we did not have a job after 2359hrs. That sucked.

The politics is something I forgot about - I don't deal well with "political B.S." so that is something I want to avoid if possible. That said, I don't know that it is possible since every governmental agency has that inherent in it. I guess I just have to figure out if it would be better or worse in a small city. Big city = more exposure to the public = tighter reigns, right?

Now depending on what you are wanting to do in your career a small department can be a good place to work. First off you are the patrol officer, you answer the initial call. Next your are the detective, you work your case from start to finish. You are the crime scene investigator, you get to process the crime scene and all of you evidence. And finally usually with a small department, you can go to any school you want (if the dept. has any money at all). The reason for this is that you do everything so they are usually willing to send you to anything. I really enjoyed working for the small department.
I don't mind the "jack of all trades" aspect of the small city - I just wonder how much that would apply being that I would only be a part time/reserve status.


Now I have six minutes to get my shift briefing typed so I must stop. Hopefully I have helped some.
.
Thanks for taking the time to post that. :thup:

[mfields907]

"Big city = more exposure to the public = tighter reigns, right?"

I don't think this is correct. The smaller the city or town is the more you see the ppl. They will know you, whether you are full time or part. They will know what you driver, where you live, and who your family is. That's just part of small town life. They will know almost as much about you as you do.

I would think the bigger the city the more ppl there are to care less about you or what you are doing. And if it is a large city you can work in one part and live in another. It's like two different worlds.

As for the politics. Yes they are everywhere when the government is involved with anything, but they are much less with a PD than a SO and the larger the department the less it affects the little man, and that goes for SO also. If you work for Harris Co. SO, as a deputy it would be now different than working for a PD. Hell there the sheriff wouldn't even have the slightest clue who you were.

[Feet]

As I rookie, I remember I was overwhelmed with the amount and types of calls I responded to. At first I was stressed but after hundreds of calls for service in the first month and dozens of arrests, I became more knowledgeable and confident. It only got better from there.
A plus to working in a small town is it is relaxed and you might get to know all the citizens. On the down side, you have little or no backup and you will be a rookie. A rookie should be going to every call and have plenty of officers and detectives to call upon for advice. If you went to a small town as a reserve, do you think you would get the calls and experience needed to be a good officer/deputy in a reasonable amount of time?
You are a smart guy so I know your learning curve would be much better than most but police work is about knowledge and experience which comes from repetitions!!

As a rookie I would have not done well in a small town. Now, after a billion calls for service, hundreds of use of force and fights, I would feel very comfortable going to a small town and answering any question or call which was brought before me.

I guess you have to do what your gut tells you but more reps is better. You can always move to another smaller dept for the country bumpkin feeling once you get some experience.

[CAL]

I appreciate everybody's input on this. I met with the Chief for about 2.5 hours which included meeting the mayor, city manager, and county judge. To make a long story short, the situation seems a lot better than I thought it would be going into the meeting - from department policies to law enforcement philosophy to political "ramifications", etc. At the end of the meeting I was told I have a job if I want it, and I'm about 99% sure I'm going to take it. An added bonus is that I will not be a reserve officer, I will be hired as a regular part time officer. Now just about 2 months until I can get the party started.

[Broke Hoss]

Good Deal! Good luck with it.

[FerretLE426]

Woo hoo

Now send me a free get outta jail card :rock:

[Sgt. Smith]

Smaller agencies are great places to start out, kinda like a training ground. You get to do just about everything. I started out in a small town with the intention of moving to a larger agency after a few years, but as time went on, I grew to like it there. I stayed with that department for 11 years, before moving to my current department, which is also in a small town. If you can find a department with good administration, small or large the experience is worth a fortune.

[Shadowcop92]

I have worked both large and small agencies and the pros and cons are numerous with each CAL. Sounds like you have a good deal ahead of you and it should be considered the proverbial foot in the door, I say go ofor it Bro, I have no doubt you will be awesome.


AATW

[lillawangle07]

Personally I'd rather be in a small town vs. a big town.. Grant yes your back up may be god only knows how far away but it means it's fewer people to be responsible for. Also your back up will probably get there faster than a big town since there's probably less traffic. I know I'm only a civilian and not a cop so I don't know everything but there's other ups for small. You'll get to know the good people easier and you'll DEFINITELY know the bad people and who to avoid unless you have backup within two minutes drive. Why don't you see if he'll let you do a ride along? It won't hurt to ask at least you'll know. If they don't then ask another small town agency. Or you can just ask these questions to the other officer these questions. Also you can always look else where if you don't like it after a week or two.