Future as a Police Officer

Hi!! My husband used to be a police officer and I was a corrections officer. I just asked my husband and as far as he knows crohns is not a disqualifying condition. But you have to ask yourself. How severe is your crohns? Could you survive the academy? My husband has IBS and that with the limited food supply and tons of exercise at the academy he lost SO much weight and got so skinny. You have to march for miles, in formation. Do you have D and urgency? Would you be able to handle not having constant bathroom access? My husband managed to do it. How I have no idea. But in the long run it caused him a lot of stress at his job. He never knew how long he would be away from a bathroom and when and if he would get sick. He started not eating before work and thats not safe either because you obviously need your strength as a police officer.

I had a lot more bathroom availability as a corrections officer. They were better able to accomodate me. I told them I could only work positions that had other staff available so if I need to run to the bathroom I could. Even still, the every day stress didn't do my belly good. We also ate the same food the kids ate and it was not healthy. I did find however when true emergency situations came up, my gut was the furthest thing from my mind. Fight or flight kicked in.

I know as a police officer it is harder. Any time you stop at a gas station or McDonalds everyone stares at you. You have a 25 pound gun belt you have to take off and secure every time you need to go to the bathroom. Also your vest is an extra 10 pounds and your boots are about 10 pounds so if you are feeling weak just getting around with an extra 50 pounds on your body can be tough.

I worked an internship in probation and parole and depending on where you live this might be your best bet to do law enforcement and not worry too much about your crohns. You have an office and people have to come to you to check in. You have to do random home visits throughout the month but the key is, they are random. You do them when you feel up to it. You can see everyone in one day or see two people and head back to the office. You don't wear a traditional uniform but you do have a gun and vest (depending on your state). You are not being called places by dispatch and are rarely backing people up. Thus, spending 20 minutes in the bathroom isn't putting anyone else in danger. You may still have to do an academy to be a PO depending on your state. In NH the PO's go to the police academy. In Maine I think they just do the corrections academy (which is all class room, not sleep over, minimal physical requirements) and a 100 hour gun course.

There are tons of jobs in CJ and it is a great major. Don't drop out! But broaden your horizons and consider a job that you will be comfortable doing.

By the way, there is a police officer that posts on the UC board. You may wish to poke your head in over there.

Navy - You were a police officer? I didn't know that. Thought you were *just* a Navy girl :)

I had some more advice as well -

Every state is different. Some have crazy boot camp academies. Others are more laid back. Usually on this board we advise people not to disclose their disease until after they are hired. I think this is different. First of all there is an extensive background investigation and medical evaluation that police officers go through before they are hired. Even I was interviewed extensively to see if my husband had an honest crime free wife. Our bank records were checked to make sure we weren't corrupt, etc. It goes with the profession. So trying to withold something this big with that kind of a background check may look deceitful. They want to know what they are getting into and so do you. You and your doctor can say he/she has this disease but he/she has a mild case and it will not affect her/his employment. (If that is the case).

Generally you get hired by a department before you go to the academy. This could be helpful for you. You can call your local academy and ask to set up a meeting to speak with someone. Tell them you are thinking of applying to departments but you don't know if your medical condition can be accomodated at the academy. Find out before you even apply what the day to day physical requirements are. At my husbands academy they had very little personal time to shower/use the bathroom. They were also woke up in the middle of the night to do drills. It is a military mindset - break you down to build you up. It has since changed A LOT (after some recruits got hurt and lots of litigation). So, if you have an old school academy where no one is going to care about your disease, despite the fact that it is illegal for them to do that, it might just not be worth the hassle for you. But you might find it is a very progressive academy and that despite the physical requirements you will be given adaquate food and rest and that you will be able to use the restroom whenever you need to if there is one available. Talk about pressure -at my husbands academy if one person was late/out of line/ etc they ALL got punished w/ push ups and laps. If he was on the toilet and it was time to line up he was in big trouble. But, like I said, all that has changed now.

But I understand where the academy/police departments are coming from. It is a job like no other. He was on the fast track to getting on SWAT and realized what the heck am I doing? I can't be expected to lay silent on some roof top for hours with other people's lives at stake if I get distracted? He knew if he had D and was in pain he wouldn't be able to perform well enough. He opted not to try out even though he was almost guaranteed a spot. He eventually left because of the stress from being away from a bathroom (as well as other inter-department issues).

So - I am not saying it is impossible but REALLY do your homework before you apply. Find out what a day in the life of a recruit will be like let alone a day in the life of an officer.

I just have to pipe in and say I admire everyone of you for choosing criminal justice as your career.  Had I not chosen nursing, I would have loved to go into Crimnial Justice.

Navy, I will keep my hands in plain site and step away from the car...........LOL.
Are there not many job opportunities in the Criminal Justice System besides police officer?

Also, to the best of my knowledge, Crohn's Disease is not considered a exclusion from being a police officer.  My husband worked nealy every day for the last 36  years without his Crohn's interfering with his job.  He is not a police officer but worked in Chemical factory and the rest rooms were accross the way in another building.

Good Luck to you and keep posting.

Kitt

Wow, thanks for all of your responses. Sorry I couldn't respond earlier than now. My CD was extremely bad in the beginning but after 2 surgeries; I am now in remission. So far so good but you really never know what could happen down the road. From what I learned from this post, it's possible to do but really depends on the condition you are in at the time of employment. So besides being a PO, which seems like a good idea, what other choices are there in Criminal Justice? Someone else asked this question but it would be interesting to hear other's opinions on the best career choice for someone with CD. Again, thanks for all the responses. I start my class tomorrow, very excited.

NHL - There are tons of jobs in law enforcement though some do require time away from a bathroom. I know people who have worked as Secret Service, CIA, FBI, Postal Inspectors, Customs, Border Patrol, game wardens, TSA Agents etc. I worked as a tracker which is a community program designed for kids who are on the fast track for jail and have DSS involved in the family. Child protections, though social work, has a law enforcement aspect to it as well. Corrections is also a good option because you are generally inside, work with multiple staff, and have bathroom access. There are also private security agencies that will hire people w/ CJ degrees. You should visit your career counseling center for more ideas and guidance. I am now in law school but I did use my CJ degree for about 4 years. 1 w/ a probation internship, 1 as a tracker, 2 in corrections. Oh, ATF is another agency. While I understand the field agence would have the same problem as a police officer, many of those agencies have lots of desk jobs. Usually you don't get hired as an agent anyway and have to start in a cube and work your way up. If you start in a cube you could probably choose to stay there but I have no idea.

I would suggest contacting the agencies you want to work with now. Just to make sure that you are able to work for them. Not to be a downer, but some of the above agencies have very strict criteria.

I would like to know how this turned out. I have Ulcerative colitis and am about to complete the police academy and join the police force. I hope nhlhawk is doing well!

When I applied for a large city police dept. the Dr. preforming my physical turned me down due to having Crohn's. I had a bowel resection five yrs prior to this time and I had no signs of recurrent disease. So I went to my surgeon and he sent me for testing, SBFT which showed no signs of disease. I took his report straight to the head of the Civil Service Board and was hired. I worked as a Patrolman for seven yrs. before the Crohn's flared bad. Surgery got me back on track. The thing about Crohn's is some foods can really aggrevate Crohn's and some folks like me...Stress really screws me up over time. I know all jobs have some degree of stress, but as a Police Officer the stress is up there. Daily routines go from being bored one minute to extreme Adrenaline Rush and back and forth. But if it's in your heart to do this then go for it and Good Luck pal.

Post Edited (asc58) : 5/25/2013 12:03:04 PM (GMT-6)