overnighttoast t1_j10ovgs wrote on December 20, 2022 at 8:34 PM

So, I think in general you will find the same complaints about police departments in any major city. Overall MPD is not as drenched in scandal as some other places. That is not to say they do a great job, my previous employment gave me great insight to some of the really problematic aspects of the work.

If its just about the money and you don't care where, I think Seattle PD is actually one of the highest paid in the country. But that may not be true anymore. I do know based on the MPD recruiting emails they pay higher than here.

As others have said if you truly have an interest in making change and doing good, sure. Go for it. However many good natured people lose themselves in law enforcement and are burned out trying to do good and end up falling into bad habits. So do consider what this work really means to you and how far you're willing to go for it. A friend of mind joined with this mindset and ended up becoming frustrated with how little space there was for good meaningful change and ended up leaving to go into policy.

MarkinDC24 t1_j17arhy wrote on December 22, 2022 at 4:41 AM

Nothing like seeing the “inside” of an organization to really understand its issues. At least, your friend left and is trying to make it better from the outside. Care sharing what you mean by “fall into bad habits.” Institutionally, I am trying to understand phenomena in police forces (e.g., burnout, taking bribes, unethical behavior).

overnighttoast t1_j17bnjq wrote on December 22, 2022 at 4:49 AM

I thought my friend had done an interview after leaving but I couldn't find it. But I was actually thinking less of the actual unethical behavior and more about something I think I remembered him talking about which was just the burn out you get from trying to do good in a system that's so stuck in the mindset they're in. Falling into bad habits as in falling into complacency. If I'm remembering correctly he saw many other offers who started out similar to him and end up just feeling like it wasn't worth it anymore and would let the more traditional bad apples act out, and if the department was doing things they disagreed with they didn't have the energy or motivation to push back anymore. And unfortunately the offices that fall into that are a part of the problem too.

But yes my friend is much more hopeful and motivated in their new position now. It's just unfortunate that it's so hard for good cops to make a difference.