Good evening, LEOs.
I would like to ask about the effects of your career on marriage and family life, and how you, your significant other, and/or family have learned to adapt.
I am currently finishing up school and am also in the application process with a LE agency. Meanwhile, things have become more serious with my SO and we've been talking about a future together. I realize it would be a big sacrifice of her to support me in this, so it is my responsibility to educate her and myself as much and as early on as possible to prevent us from getting into something we did not expect.
I've read the book “101 Reasons Why You Should Not Become a Cop” and it has helped give me a bit of insight. Not knowing any LEOs personally, I wanted to ask about your experiences so she and I can have a clearer view of the potential challenges, particularly those at home.
Here are some questions I had in mind:
1. How have you and your family learned to adapt? What works, and what are some mistakes you made along the way?
2. What are the challenges of shift work, particularly those of you with back-to-back 12-hour shifts? Are you essentially unavailable for half of the week?
3. Finally, what do you think are some relevant questions that I (or anybody else considering LE), should be asking myself at this time? What issues should be made clear between me and my SO early on?
Hopefully this gives a different dimension and some depth on the topic of “Becoming a LEO 101”. Thanks to those that serve, and to their families.
(Apologies to the Mods if this is off-topic)