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[Shadowdrop]

No offense to the boys in the blue bowties, but I would recommend avoiding CHP. State agency = subject to state budget problems more so than local agencies. Two-tiered retirement. Lots of remote assignments all over the state. Not nearly as much exposure to criminal investigations a city police officer will see. You better really enjoy cites, DUI's, and T/C's too.

[SimonBirch]

ha

CHP.

Ya. And deal with the BS politics? Believe me I guarantee its a lot worse in the highway patrol

[ncortez11]

Experience vs. comfortable. Promotion vs. satisfaction. Specialize units vs. patrol. Lateraling vs . retiring. It's what you see yourself in the next 20 years. Small or big, as long as your heart is in law enforcement, you should be good.

[34marine]

CHP.

[1CavScout]

I worked for a large agency. The upside was a lot of opportunities to do various jobs not always available at smaller ones (SWAT, Air Unit, Bomb / Arson etc...). The downside was they could transfer you and dramatically increase your daily commute. Like others have said, take the first job you get and then lateral if not happy. Getting your foot in the door is the first big step.

[jaysen]

I cannot agree more with what everyone has already expressed, and most definitely chase the pay and benefits! If you're doing the same job at a bigger agency as you would at a smaller one, why not get paid more for it?? Keep in mind a bigger agency won't always be comparable in pay as a smaller one and vise versa... As an example I work for an agency where our Patrol guys top out at $94k and offer lifetime medical for our retirees - which is almost unheard of nowadays. The downside to my department... Were approx 70 sworn and the room for advancement/special assignments are very limited.

Here is a short list of agencies that are mid-size with relatively decent pay and moderate room for advancement... I don't work for any of them however know many people who do and are very content;

Santa Ana
Anaheim
Ontario
Pasadena
Riverside

Honorable Mention;
San Bernardino (Pre-Bankruptcy)

[Bobby Ricigliano]

I think anyone who expects to pick and choose which departments they are willing to work for, has an overestimation of their abilities. Anyone who is serious about a LE career needs to do everything they can to prepare and test with as many departments as they can reach.

I personally tested with 8-10 different departments, some more than once, before I finally found a home. Nearly 15 years since and I never looked back.

[micro911]

I suggest a bigger department. They have more assignments and movements just in case you want to move around until you find an assignment that you like. I had several assignments in my career, and my current assignment will give me about 15 years out of 29 total when I retire.

[Shadowdrop]

I never realized how much culture can vary between depts until I was working. Some depts trust their officers, others micro-manage. Some discourage self-initiated activity, others thrive on it. City budget, salary, specialty assignments, morale, and leadership are all things to consider as well.

Best thing to do is go on a few ridealongs and tactfully ask the officer about his/her dept. I am always honest with my ridealongs about the positives and negatives of my dept compared to surrounding agencies. No place is perfect but there are certain places in Orange County I would not work. As a new applicant in the current job market, however; you should be accepting whatever job offer that'll get you through the academy. Lateraling is your best bet if you start at a less-than-ideal dept.

[RickD427]

I'll be the fourth in line to back-up Capt Mike's comments.

I started out in a very small campus PD, then did fisheries enforcement in Alaska, and the last 31 years with LASD.

Small departments can give you a lot of broad exposure more quickly than a big one. But things can also get very old, very fast. You don't want to be at the point where "you've done it all" with 25 years left until retirement. Small agencies are also apt to change very quickly (it works two ways bad to good, and good to bad) with the change of just a few folks. Big agencies are more stable.

If you're looking for a long career, I would definitely go with a big agency. LASD is at the top of my list. LASD is going through a couple of trials right now, but it will come out a lot stronger. It's a only a few knuckleheads in high places that got us into this mess. The worst offenders are now toast, the remainder have been identified, and the re-education camps have been established. LAPD is second on my list, they've had a series of issues going back at least thirty years, but have made some pretty tremendous progress in the last five.

[diverwcw]

The best quote....

Your department is what you make of it.

This^

[omgwtfbbq]

Your department is what you make of it. Smaller departments may give you a quiet career but your opportunities fir advancement may be limited. I have fruends that work in a department of 18 officers that like the small unit feel but are limited in terms if what they can do. Larger departments like my brothers in LASD have lots of different areas that you can make your way in to such as narco, training, motor, jails, courts etc. You can be very happy in a large department once you make it to where you want to be. Good luck

This is pretty spot on. I work for a fairly small department and it has it's advantages and dissadvantages. You definitely get to know your fellow officers and their strengths and weaknesses, which I think is really imporant.

On the downside, as CaptMike states, it takes forever to advance or get into specialty positions if you that's what you're looking to do. One of my career goals is to be a firearms instructor for my department and the two officers in those positions have no interest in giving them up. I pretty much have to wait for one of them to retire. Thankfully I have another 28 years until retirement anyway.

[mixicus]

CaptMike (see above) has a great line of thinking.

"Best Department" depends on the person and their personal drivers at a particular point in their career/life. If you want a hard charging department (Santa Ana), a sleepy little dept (Irvine Valley College) is not going to do it for you. If you want a career long special assignment, better go to a dept that has those. Don't want to do custody, skip the SD's. You get the idea.

There are few departments widely viewed as complete no-go's (for various reason) across the span of a career or even a 10 year stretch. Also keep in mind, a dream dept may change what makes it a dream for you. Say you're eying a mid-sized dept with a lot of task force and special details but the chief changes or budgets get cut and those details evaporate. That dept may not look as dreamy.

[Tacit Blue]

Want a honest answer, the first one that hires you. Because then you can lateral out later on.

[CaptMike]

Your department is what you make of it. Smaller departments may give you a quiet career but your opportunities for advancement may be limited. I have friends that work in a department of 18 officers that like the small unit feel. The problem is that they are limited in terms if what they can do. Larger departments like my brothers in LASD have lots of different areas that you can make your way in to such as narco, training, motor, jails, courts etc. You can be very happy in a large department once you make it to where you want to be. Good luck