Job Responsibilities
I protect and serve the City of Cambridge by patrolling the area
where I am assigned and dealing with the citizens of the city. My
job also involves direct contact with prisoners as well as
extensive report writing.
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Job Requirements
In order to qualify for this position you must have at least a
high school diploma and score above a 70% on the Municipal Exam.
You must also pass a series of medical, physical, and
psychological examinations before entering a 26-week training
course. There are higher education incentives as well.
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Uppers
You get to deal with a variety of people in a given shift. Most of my fellow
patrol officers are very easy to work with and depend on. There is a great
oppotunity for advancement in different areas of the station whether it be
through promotional exams( Sgt., Lt. etc..) or through different
departments(community relations- deals with the community most, attends community
meetings and does alot of activities with the local schools. The biggest upper is
that people actually need me. There is never a day that goes by when I don't get
a call for service.
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Downers
It's very hard n ot to take the job home with you. I think about
how you just never know just what will become of your shift. It's
great that things never are the same on a daily basis but it's
also scary that you can't rely on the normalcy of a job. You do
see alot of gruesome things in this line of work and what I hear
is universal is that you have alot of people in upper management
who dictate how one should perfrom their duties when not once
have they ever had a gun belt attached to them and all of the
responsibility that comes along with carrying that belt.
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Lifestyle
There are threee different shifts that you are able to work: Day 7am-3pm, First
Half 3pm-11pm, and Last Half 11pm-7am. There really aren't that many company
social events that I attend however they do offer a Christmas Party for our
children every year. There is a specific short-sleeved uniform for summer wear
and a long-sleeved button-down shirt for winter wear all which have to be
approved by the Commissioner of the City. The City is making strides to diversify
the union. In the last three years, I have seen a number of minorities and women
joining the police force.
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Compensation
I believe tha the base salary for new officers is somewhere
around $45,000/year. Every third week in each month we receive
$250 towards hazardous pay. Every January and June we receive
$400 for weapons pay and $400 for clothing allowance. We also get
a 3.5% raise each year until we get to Master Patrol Officer
which is after 5 years of service. After that you will get
increased pay with the education incentive or if you get promoted
to a ranking officer. In terms of our benefits, we get medical,
dental, and vision as well as a pension.
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Advice to Jobseekers
I feel that this is a stable job that is what you make it. If you
are the type of person who loves their community and just wants
to help maintain it or a person who genuinely wants to help
people then this is the job for you. This job will always be
around. In fifty years, there will still be police stations all
over the place. We need to make sure that we keep filling them
with people who want to be there for reasons other than job
security or money. Those people make the best police officers.
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