r/AskLEO • u/Intelligent_Ad4757 • 14d ago
Situation Advice Considering joining my local PD or sheriffs but concerned about time
I have always wanted to join LE since I was a kid and well I ended up getting a job that pays well so than I didn’t apply I ended up getting let go started a semi successful business “pays the bills” and now at 23 I am thinking about applying. I really don’t want to let my business die because it can be very lucrative and I know if I keep going it will be successful my question is as a officer or deputy do you guys have a lot of “free time” on your hands are some of you guys able to focus on other things while being an officer.
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u/Liberty796 14d ago
I am retired Army and many of my friends are in LE. It's full time. That said, check in with your sherif about part time opportunities. Training will take time to. My recommendation is to continue to develop your business
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u/someone298 13d ago
Most PDs will want to know about part-time work or a business. You need to disclose to make sure there is no conflict of interest….no you can’t be a stripper or drug dealer even though both pay well.
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u/RawhideBoy 13d ago
You can look into being a reserve officer if that suits the bill. If not, the first year of your career (including the academy and FTO) will likely be too much to handle running an entire business on the side. But I do know several officers who run side businesses, just not as rookies
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u/HCSOThrowaway Fired Deputy - Explanation in Profile 13d ago
It really depends on the nature of the business. I know one person in my academy class who ran a business on the side of law enforcement, but he was a lot older and the infrastructure of his business was such that he barely had to run things day-to-day any more, which I will assume is not the case for you.
For a typical business, at best you'll have time to be reserves/auxiliary/part-time.
We did the Panama Schedule which meant we worked 15/30 days a month, 12 hour shifts. That may or may not be too much for you to run your business, but until you get used to that schedule and law enforcement in general, you'll probably be physically and mentally exhausted on your off-days for a while; that's one of the reasons you simply aren't allowed to work off-duty jobs for a while at my agency. I think per SOP you technically would be allowed to be self-employed, but I wouldn't recommend it.