Lingering aspirations

Part of me still ponders aspirations I've had for many years to become a police officer. Its something that I've thought about on and off for almost 19 years now. Apparently I can keep thinking about it as there is no maximum age limit for applicants to the Australian Police Force. Of course there are entrance exams that must be passed, including physical fitness tests.

The whole interest actually sparked one day when I was in a police station during my university days. I had been given a defect notice about a broken headlight, and the officer just directed me to drop into the local police station to have it visibly inspected by an officer once I had it repaired. While waiting at the station for an officer to become available, I passed the time reading the various paraphernalia that was plastered around the walls, and then came across the plaque that bore the creed. I can't remember the wording of it now, and a bit of internet searching didn't turn anything up. But the sense of inspiration that I got from that time is what is burned in my memory.

About 8 years ago, I went past a recruiting booth for the police force and sat down with one of the officers to talk about what was involved and the renumeration plans. Its probably going to sound shallow, but the problem was I had a mortgage that I was managing ok on my salary as a programmer, but it turned out the salary while at the academy, and initially after graduation, would have been quite a severe hit. I ended up letting that opportunity slide.

I've recently been checking on the recruitment pages for the Australian police force, and it is good to see that the renumeration has been increased substantially from when I enquired all those years back. It has me considering it again, but now this time around I am married and so there are different things to consider.

This post was all brought to the surface after recently reading a blog that had been kept by an officer in Arizona [Office Gary]. Its worth reading if you're interested, although sadly he stopped updating back in 2009.