Quote:
Originally Posted by TRD604
Sho_bc, zulutango, Five-Oh,
Do you guys like working solo? Or would you prefer a partner?
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To be completely honest, I don't know. In the RCMP the only time you really have a partner is when you are a recruit or have a recruit, which I wouldn't really consider a partner just due to the dynamics of it. When you are the recruit it sucks because you are constantly being bossed around and then when you have a recruit it sucks because everything is painfully slow (ie. some of our reports take a recruit 4-5 hours to write and you are just sitting in the passenger seat making sure it has everything they need for that whole time).
The few shifts I have had an actual partner I was working on a special detail with one of my best friends and we had a great time. It's basically hanging out with a buddy the whole day and we went around and arrested a ton of people for different stuff so that made it pretty fun to begin with. But, that was only a couple shifts together. If you are with a full time partner keep in mind you are going to be in a car with that person everyday for 12 hours a day. I don't care how much you like somebody, after a while they are going to get on your nerves in a confined space like that. Also, if you don't like somebody to begin with, it is going to be miserable going to work.
My experience on my own in the car has been great though. You can do what you want when you want, you can focus on doing the things you like, and you hang out with more of a variety of people you work with. You generally park together and talk when writing reports, so it isn't like you are bored/lonely. As for the safety concern, there is generally a cover-car available and they send multiple cars to higher risk calls so I feel comfortable with the safety aspect. That being said, one time I did have things turn sideways on a low risk call where I was alone and ended up in a fight for my life. Even though backup was only two or three minutes away, it felt like an eternity to be alone for that time. Even though that happened, I still feel like I have the training and the tools to handle myself if need be.
There are definitely pros and cons to both, but depending on if you join a muni or the RCMP you will only know one way so it won't really matter.