any LEOs on here?

I've been working on my criminal justice degree for couple years now with the goal of being a county deputy or state trooper. However I can not shake the desire to farm, at least on the side. So just curious if there any officers on these forums doing the same thing I am thinking of doing. If so, how do you make it work?

Not me, but a very good friend was a Kentucky State Trooper for 20+ years while farming almost 700 acres in his spare time. (all grain farming then) Since retiring from the force, he's stepped it up to almost 2000 acres. John is a workaholic. I can see where that would make a considerable difference.

He must have been very busy his last three years when he was working a lot of extra details in order to boost his retirement up.

There's at least one dippity who frequents these forums. In my part of the world, honest citizens are as much at risk from the so-called "peace officers" as they are from criminals. I don't envy anyone who wears a badge; it's a hard job, but I wish they were held to the same standards/had to obey the laws like the common folk. I had uncles who were county sheriffs and police chiefs and was a 95 Bravo myownself.

i was born 2 August that makse me a LEO . lol

Yeah, I farmed part time while holding down the Trooper job. Little things like murders and 9/11 tended to get in the way, and of course that final 3 years where I worked 24/7/365 so I could rape the system, I mean, when I wasn't out gunning down innocents and selling drugs. Getting beyond the idiotic cop hate here, yeah, it's difficult. Family support helps, so does not getting too many irons in the fire.

Being a cop is a good job, but be prepared to be hated by all the "woulda/coulda/shoulda, but never did" crowd.

NOt ALL the "cop hate" you see here is irrational. If you were honest, I'm sure you wouls also have met a few over the years who always were bullies in their lives; it's just that when they pinned on that badge, they made themselves bullies who were untouchable.

I have a lot of friends in law enforcement. My friends not only know how to be tough, but they also have a heart, when the situation calls for it. Whereas some of the mean-spirited bully types think you should be a drill sargeant with the public 24/7, because the public is ALL scum and is ALL beneath them.

I ONLY have this attitude towards SOME law enforcement officers because of the attitude that a number of them have taken towards me over the years. Small-town cops, even those who have graduated from the academy, seem to be the worst...but not always. I try to see the good in everyone, but in some of these cops, it's apparently too small to ever come to the surface.

My FRIENDS in law enforcement have a sense of humor, love kids, and are more concerned with public safety and protection than in bullying the innocent. THAT'S what sets them apart. I know them to be honest AND respectful of those they protect and serve...and YES, folks, it IS possible to be BOTH. Unfortunately, some cops apparently don't EVER get THAT message. Problem is, when those flashing lights are operating, as a private citizen you never know which type of officer you're gonna get. While I do BELIEVE that the bullies are in the minority, they ARE out there...and I seem to run into them more often than the other kind.

My son has been a SC Trooper for 12 years, and a part time farmer for about ten. He raises pigs, chickens, some corn and some hay. He has the hay put up by a farmer neighbor. He nets about $5000 per year to augment his great (ha) salary.

I am retiring this year (70 years old) and we will expand his operations with me helping.

Well, I'm not a LEO and I wasn't a policeman, I was a teacher and then when I retired I became a mechanic..working full time and running a farm. Be prepared to work in all your spare time on the farm. After your day work, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. We baled hay after work, tended the cattle on my noon hour, cut and raked at night,..slept in the barn a couple of night when heifers were calving..you give up your social life, miss paries and family functions..I worked around that as much as i could,and with some planning you can get it all worked in..now grain farming may be more seasonal in planting crops and having some time until harvest, lots of farmers work off their farms to make ends meet and have a steady and reliable income..but if you are going to run cattle its demanding in order to do it right. Good luck with it and enjoy it..if it isn't enjoyable you will figure it out from there.

I know you are working for a criminal justice degree, but have you ever considered a career as a Firefighter? We probably have a better schedule, 24 on 48 off. And in many departments with that schedule you also get a "Kelly" day every three weeks. A Kelly day is a designated day of the week that you are off every time your shift fall on that day. So if you have a Monday for example, your shift would fall on a Monday every three weeks so every three weeks you have five days in a row off. This averages out to a 48 hr. workweek over three weeks. (You don't get overtime for the 8 hours over forty, but anything more and you do.)
Our dept. also allows us to trade shifts, either for time or cash. So during planting or harvest season, you can have some one work for you. You get paid like normal, but you work for them at a later time or pay them cash, the amount is between the two parties. The is generally a "going rate", it goes up for holidays, etc.
Lots of guys on my dept. farm or have second jobs. Just thought you'd like to at least know about this option.

If you are sucessful in life, you will have folks that aren't and will hate ya for it. I worked my butt off, retired early, and some folks hate mr for it. Living well is the best revenge!!!!

I'm a retired Kentucky State Police Detective and part time farmer. We just do cattle and hay. It is much easier now that I am retired! I don't know how I ever had time to go to work.

i tell ya, I could never be a LEO, i'm too short tempered, and when i see those shows like The First48, and COPS, i just want to kick the living sheets out of those "innocent until proven guiltys"

Yes, I"ve been a cop for 25 years and a part-time farmer/rancher for 20 of those years. it"s difficult to do both but both are very rewarding in their own sense.

It"s most difficult for me during hay baleing season since I sometimes have to time the baleing between rain and shift work.

The last 5 years I leased out most of my pastures and share crop the other since I was working on my retirement average and needed as many shifts as I could work.

You will also find yourself questioning what to do when part-time security jobs come up from time to time and pay you more than farming does.

Good luck in your LEO career, mine has been a blast and I"m glad I did it. Met many great people along the way and hopefully made a difference in making people safe.

It has been my experience that everyone in the world is a giant rectum of one sort of another. The degree to which they embrace or reject their faults determines how they are perceived. It has also been my experience that almost no one appreciates getting caught doing something wrong or illegal and they usually take it out on the cop that catches them. The harder you push most people the more they resist, cop or citizen. Deal with that for a few years, get popped in the face or crotch a few times and maybe wind up on the bottom of the pile in the trailer park with the beaten wife you came to help trying to kick your head in while her abusive hubby tries to choke the life out of you and you get kind of defensive and I'm sure it seems like the guy is stuck up and aggressive. It's survival/coping skill. Just like the way you push people away and don't get close to people except maybe one or 2 people your own age that aren't likely to transfer or quit.

All I know is the vast, vast majority of guys I worked with were decent, hard working people. All had their faults, all had their strong points, most were family men and women. Not all were as good at dealing with people as others. Some simply had no personality to start with, some were clowns that could put a person at ease quickly, some were overbearing retards, just like the people we dealt with everyday.

Nobodies perfect.

One guy on here I haven't seen for a few years. went by "SGT Bull" wondered many times of his status. Maybe he changed his "handle"

He gave me direction a couple times and was appreciated.

There are more officers on here than I expected. My uncle was a police officer in Des Moines back in the 70s-80s and a high school classmate is now a state trooper and both have said overall they enjoyed the occupation.

Someone mentioned a social life, what is that? haha Since I started this job with constantly varying hours and school I don't get much time to be social. Right now it's just myself and the dog. I have a few plans, now to find a way to make them work out. Thanks everyone for the encouragement

I have considered a career as a firefighter a few times. What seems to keep turning me away is the amount of medical knowledge a firefighter needs to know these days. I've tried joing the local volunteer fire dept. but my work schedule wouldn't allow me to make the meetings and training. My email is open if you wouldn't mind telling me a little more about it.