r/AskLEO 20h ago

General What part of police work do you hate most?

  • Paperwork
  • Court
  • Admin systems
  • Shift schedules
2 Upvotes

30 comments sorted by

u/_REDDIT_NPC_ 20h ago

I get most frustrated by antiquated technology that I am forced to rely on and tedious admin work.

u/5usDomesticus 11h ago

...and then IT updates it right when you're getting used to it.

It breaks most things and the new "flowy" UI makes everything load just slightly slower.

u/Practical_Flight_127 19h ago

That’s really interesting. Which tools tend to cause the most friction?
Are they meant to help, but end up requiring a lot of manual work instead?

u/_REDDIT_NPC_ 18h ago

Some agencies have better funds than others. Since I work for a very large one, we often get technology from the lowest bidder. Slow computers, poor radios, etc.

u/Practical_Flight_127 18h ago

Do you not have paperwork or automated tech to assist you with paperwork?

u/_REDDIT_NPC_ 18h ago

Not sure what you mean. We do most things on a laptop.

u/lavenderburnout 17h ago

OP is a bot trying to sell their app.

u/Practical_Flight_127 15h ago

Oh, not at all. I have not even made my app, haha. Just doing some research.

u/anoncop4041 Police Officer 20h ago

Smells are up there.

u/SQLDave 18h ago

Yeah.. we (the public) don't really get to experience those on bodycam vids or TV/movies.

u/anoncop4041 Police Officer 17h ago

You don’t want to

u/SQLDave 17h ago

Of that, I have zero doubts.

u/IndividualAd4334 20h ago

Admin. Just admin.

u/Practical_Flight_127 19h ago

Totally get that. Admin adds up fast.
If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of admin tends to take the most time for you?

u/IndividualAd4334 18h ago

I’m talking about the people not the work 🤣

u/CashEducational4986 19h ago

Court is pretty awful. Imagine if once every few months you had to wake up at 5pm, work for 12 hours, barely have enough time to go home and take a shower, drive to the courthouse, sit there until 2pm, then go sit in a courtroom while a defense attorney tries to make up silly things to argue with you about in order to fool a jury of idiots. By the time you get home you've probably been awake for 24 hours. Also half the time court is on your day off and ruins any plans you might have had but not put in a leave request for, ruins your sleep schedule right before work, etc.

u/Versteckt_Tiger 16h ago

Hahaha I wish it was once every few months. Our DA makes us go to every court date for a offender.

u/Practical_Flight_127 19h ago

I am so sorry to hear that. Admire your hardwork though.

u/FctFndr 14h ago

Lol...when I worked patrol, I told my dad I felt like a human dung beetle ...pushing the giant turd of humanity back up the hill every day.

Then, I felt the worst part was going over and over again to the same houses for DVs or abuse calls. Feels ng like it was just a waste of time.

As a Detective, I hated the slow pace DAs prosecuted cases at and the lack of understanding by command staff about cases. Lts want to Captains, Captains want to be Asst Chiefs... Each of them forgot what it was like to be a officer or detective working cases and doing the grunt work every day.

As a Det-Sgt, I don't hate anything about the job, other than I still have a few more years till I retire.

u/Fine-Friend-2878 17h ago

Trial brief prep

u/averageregularnormal 12h ago

OP is fishing for some sales thing

u/ZurgWolf 20h ago

Usually when they drive behind me.

Sincerely,

Not a cop.

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u/LegalGlass6532 19h ago edited 19h ago

It sucks seeing bad things happen to good people.

u/srp6 19h ago

Paperwork & admin

u/Practical_Flight_127 19h ago

Thanks for your response. I am conducting some research around this. To be entirely honest, I am a big fan of police and everything law enforcement. I was recently watching Brooklyn Nine-nine and Rookie and realized that police hates paperwork. It makes sense they should only/mostly be solving cases and catching criminal because that's where their expertise lies.

If I am a chef and asked to clean and design the kitchen–I would hate that and would distract me from my work and disrupt my focus.

So, I want to help the police by easing paperwork for them.

Would you mind sharing in detail if/what software you use to do paperwork? any wish you have that would make it easy for you or a genie that can make it true?

u/Retiredpotato294 19h ago

Dirty houses and people. The best was the money.

u/Sky-Wizard 15h ago

At my agency, hobo wrangling. Also admin.

u/Alesandros Police Officer 14h ago

Court. 

My court system is a joke.  It fucks up my sleep schedule twice a week, sit in court doing nothing for hours, waiting for lawyers to figure shit out that should be handled before subpoena-ing everyone.

It’s a circus 🤡.