Fuck It, I'll Become an Officer

Join the military if you can instead, GI bill will be good for you once you figure out you want to do something else. Don't think being a cop has similar benefits.

Yeah military >>>>> cop

Just read the news headlines for the last several years for a treatise on why being a cop is a bad idea. Not trashing the concept of being a cop, just that the policing paradigm in the US is fundamentally unsound for a number of reasons and that has made the institutions of local law enforcement (including state in local) not something that people capable of getting other, similar work (eg: military, other civil servants, etc) would benefit from in the long-run. 

Honestly, while doing the military is a good idea, I've got a different question that's hyper-local for you: How much more difficult is it to be a (paid) firefighter than a cop?  I know in NYC it's like a 10 year waitlist, but other places it's less.  Firefighters don't get shot at, or hated by basically anybody except the one weird guy who wants to see his grandma roast in her house.  Plus, in 99% of places cops and firefighters get the same sweet sweet benefits package. 

my dad was a cop in the suburban new england town I grew up in. Never made that much money. we were on food stamps when I was really young, then when I got to middle school, my mom started working again at a Holiday Inn. My dad started as a cop right out of college and stayed a cop until he retired three years ago. Never made more than 75k. I did not get to see him much. He worked long and inconvenient hours. We never went on real vacations. My older brother did not go to college because he couldn't afford to. He works in construction now. My older sister when to college but is 100k+ in student loan debt. I was lucky enough to practically get a full ride for college. We did not have any safety net since my parents did not have much savings themselves. This being said, although my dad worked a ton, couldn't spend that much time with us, and struggled to provide for us financially, he provided for us in the ways that mattered. I looked up to him like a hero. He is the most respectable man I will ever know. He showed me what a good husband looks like through the way he treated my mom and was just a great role model.

I have a ton of respect for cops but just know that you might struggle to afford the lifestyle you want. 

You retire when you're like 40 and have a pension worth millions of dollars. If that's not enough, you can double dip and make bank. Just do it in some sleepy town where nothing happens and all you do is bust teenagers and tell people "there's nothing we can do" when someone breaks into their car.

If you’re looking into law enforcement definitely be a federal agent. All they want is a degree in anything with a clean record and it’s prestigious with good benefits. Would avoid being a city cop where they hire anyone. 

The experience seems to be a lot different depending on the municipality you're in. It's interesting that the per capita crime rate varies much more dramatically between municipalities than the number of police per capita. Some places have much more real crime per police officer than other places have. 

Whenever I rewatch The Wire I always fantasize about being a detective and cracking huge cases. Unfortunately from what I hear/research good police are a dime a dozen and the upper ranks in big metro areas are solely composed of slimy fuckers (Valcek, Burrell, Rawls for reference)