What Police Agency Should YOU Join? 

Easy, the one that hires you.

Or join the Alaska state police where your backup is... well... sometimes there just is none.

My dad was a state trooper and he ran into that where back up was an hour way. He pulled over a car. The car was occupied by 4 males the passenger had a news paper on his lap with his hands under it. Because backup was an hour away he told them to just slow it down and backed away.

> *the vest was expired* Ugh come one chief, this vest is soOoOoO last season...the bad guys will laugh :c

just got into the NYPD academy and im so excited!

I went from being a city cop to becoming a state trooper and one of the biggest things I'm happy about is I'm no longer a slave to the radio. I can go out and be as proactive as I want. I used to knock on highway patrol like any other cop about "not being real cops," but I quickly saw that I was finding more dope and guns then I ever found in the city. It really surprised me and I'm very happy with my decision. And it is true that back-up is almost always more then 30 minutes away.

Gotta love it. In the city, where you're most likely to need updated equipment and resources, you end up working on a cut throat budget. In the county, where things are calmer, you have access to everything you could possibly need.

One thing about state patrol and maybe county is that you will see a lot of gory high speed accidents and fatalities on the highway.

I worked for a federal agency for close to 9 years. Now I'm on SWAT in a city PD and I like it way more. As he mentioned, the camaraderie is higher and it's like a family. The city is where the action is. Basically, if you want to be what you really consider a "cop", work for a city PD. The budget issues he mentioned are true, but you need to pick a city that takes training and equipment seriously. In my city, we are always the first in the county to get the newest equipment, and we all have our own patrol cars that we take home. One drawback to most average size cities is that the SWAT team is an extra assignment, so I still have to work for patrol. In the county, depending on the size, you're more likely to be a full time SWAT "operator" if you go that route. Just train, workout, and execute missions every day. Lastly, if you are excited to be a "cop", dont go with Highway Patrol or a similar agency. I know guys that do that and they will tell you they are basically roadside assistance with a badge. Not trying to knock them, and they pay well, but its nothing like being a "cop". Sure its law enforcement, but you could work there 20 years and have no experience responding to a stabbing, robbery, shooting, large gang fight, domestic violence, and on and on. Its traffic accidents and tickets and you wont really feel like a cop.

You should do a video on police reserves! As in the roles they play, general usefulness etc,

Ive been waiting for this even tho i never thought a video would actually be made! Thanks alot

As a police officer at a liberal arts college I feel discriminated against!!! REEEEEEEEEEE ;-) Love ya man!

Being a Trooper worked for me after working for a City, SO & now state. But you're absolutely right. In my Troop there is 5-7 Troopers and 1 sergeant out on graveyard for 8 counties. In this area the smaller counties tend to call us repeatedly because there simply aren't enough deputies in some of the counties. I'm assigned to a county of 300,000 people and some nights I'm by myself and we don't have radios with the local PDs or SO. The dispatcher has to call them landline if we need backup and our closest Trooper is too far out.

DonutOperator+Officer401=Collab of the century

Would be interested to see something about your opinion on University police. Great video as always

I am a state trooper and where I am currently assigned is pretty urban. We have city county and state all working close together. I have also worked in areas where my back up is 25 minutes out.

Been enjoying your videos. Just applied for the Utah Highway Patrol and finally heard back from them. The good news is I passed all the tests lol. Many of your videos helped go into that much

I want to be a game warden but I hear it is very competitive to become one. My best bets are to get a bachelors degree related to wildlife or join the military and be an MP (for experience),but I’ve been looking at Maritime Law Enforcement in the coast guard and it seems pretty neat too.

This really helped me a lot . Im planning joining the Orlando Police Department 👍🏻

Yeah your perception of City Police and County Deputy when it comes to equipment and the garage and budget is actually reversed for me. All of our cities here have fantastic cars with amazing equipment and meanwhile I’m having to hard restart my computer in my vehicle 3 times at the beginning of my shift just to log on, and I still hand write my tickets..😒

That sweatpants quip had me laughing so hard, I farted. 😆

My dad, my older brother and grandfather were all city cops, im just joining the academy now, but im chosing New York State Police, lets just say they arent very happy with me lmfao.

Your videos are so helpful officer 401 thank you for consistently amazing content

Hey, 401 I live in Flint, MI and I'm about half way done with my police administration and operation degree. I plan to work the city for a while. I'd like to work my way up to LT and them move outside the city. Flint town was filmed during a bad time. The chief was changing hands, the mayor and city council weren't giving a damn about the amount of violence and crime. I think the budget has gotten an overhaul, as they have been trying to hire more officers, I see newer squad cars. I still say we need 20 more city officers though. Love your content, keep up the good work and stay safe out there.

So I’m more interested in serving the community and making people feel safe whenever they see me instead of writing tickets all day. I was hooked on stage police but listening to you I feel like county would be the best for me or maybe even city I just need to look more into my nearby city pd’s to really make a final decision on what I should do.

In some places in Ohio, if you are a state trooper or sheriff, you may cover a small area. Some cover several small townships about 10min drive apart between cities because they simply don't have a police office.

Hi Officer401, I like this week you put some video almost every day. I watch from Romania and it is interesting to learn more about cops in US.

It also depends on what city you’re working for. There’s very nice and calm cities that aren’t dangerous and would love to patrol stop sign to stop sign with no worries at all. So it just depends I guess

I love your informational videos about police work. I'm about to take the Academy Test for a specific department, and your tips did help me a lot to decide where to work.

Good video. Quite a few this week. With most Sheriffs Department you have to cover so much area and back-up can be far away. My sister needed back-up once and closest unit was 40 minutes away

I was a city cop for 30 years in two major cities. Great career, interesting and action packed from time to time.

Just started the process with my local sheriffs office hopefully starting the academy before the end of this year

Where I work our city is over 50% of the county's population so we while the county has a bigger budget we(city) get better stuff. The county has to fund all its other departments, not just patrol. Also, their is no separation between county and Sheriff. The Sheriff's office has a patrol division which is the enforcement branch.

I'm planning on joining the Indiana State Police. Your video is very accurate.

Can you make a video about police salary? Nice video btw👌

I like watching your videos as it is so different from where I live in nsw Australia. Here each state runs it own police force. When you join you do 3 years general duties then you can apply to join the area which you prefer including air wing, marine ,detectives, drug squad. Dog squad and many others. We also have the federal Police who cover airports, federal buildings, personal protection etc. Keep safe.

Personally, my plan is to do 4 years as a USAF SF specialist (military police), come back home and serve a few years as a local sheriff’s deputy, and then go for Tennessee Highway Patrol

Officer401 is the only RU-vidr I don’t skip through advertisements. He puts in hours of work for these free videos. Thank you!

Theres also game wardens & university police

You not only helped people decide a career you also at the same time saved peoples lives, good on you Sir!

BONER IN SWEAT PANTS THAT'S GREAT. 😂😂😂 can I use this some time 😂😂😂 that killed me

That's right 401. I live Flint Michigan. I NEVER have a cop behind me. It's crazy here.

I have 2 brothers that are police officers here in Baltimore, 1 works for the city and other works for the county. I feel bad for my brother that works for the city, there is at least 2 shooting in Baltimore every day and a lot of times I listen to the scanner just to make sure hes not involved, I have an idea what district hes works in the city.

I really needed this video. Thank you @officer401! 💙🖤

What’s the difference between a county police department and county sheriff’s department? Just the name?

Love your videos man. You're genuine, transparent and you care about the fans. I'm in Georgia so I hope I get to meet up with you before I move back north

You forgot the leafy suburbs like where I grew up. Practically the only "crime" the cops had to confront was busting up teenage beer parties in the woods....and then stealing the beer!

Reminds me of a good friend who had been in law enforcement for over 10 years. In that time he was a firearms instructor, MET, motorcycle instructor and some other things I forget. He was also a private pilot with his own aircraft that I now own. He decided to apply for a State Police aircraft pilot. He was probably over qualified for the position, but before he could even apply for the pilot position, he had to go thru training as if he had never had any LEO experience, and then do 5 years as a patrol officer before even being considered for a pilot position. Needless to say, he passed and ended up as a pilot for a private corporation.

I want the big fancy trooper hat

As a former deputy, number 1 rule that is not enforced....don’t forget the constitution!!

I’m from a county In MD looking to get into law enforcement.. I’d honestly look to do city.... if the city wasn’t BALTIMORE

Just wanted to say, I'm currently going through basic training for the Army at Ft. Benning and we're on family day and the first thing that I did was check out all the video's that I've missed! Been here since August 7!

I have seen the size of some of them GA troopers,yea when they call for back-up it's for the suspects protection. Few years ago saw a peterbuilt hit a GA trooper on a vehicle stop on I95,lucky enough the trooper was not to pissed off about it,he was nice enough to call a tow truck for the pete.

I started out in the inner city. 50 plus calls a shift. Vehicle pursuits, foot pursuits, shootings, fights, homicides, you name it. That’s great for awhile. But you get worn out, tired, and over it pretty quick. City is fun. But like he said, pay and equipment sucks and the city was 3 sq miles. I too work for the county now. Better pay and equipment, but not as much action. But, with more time to handle things, the better you can do your job. The county I work is over 600 sq miles. I love the challenge of the distance. Now I might have half the call volume but, it may take me an hour to get to just one call. Like he said, in city you’re a lot closer with your co workers than in the county. I also miss that about the city. My experience with the state is they have the best funding obviously. But they have a ton of rules and you’re going to spend the majority of your time doing crash reports for everyone else. County is the happy medium.

Officer 401, I really want to be a cop. Ive wanted to go into law enforcement for a while and even went through security to get some notable, though not necessarily relatable, experience. That being said, you sir provide SO MUCH valuable info on the force. I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for that and whether I make it in or not, dude you are a hell of a cop! Thanks again!

Never been intrested in being a cop ...but your videos give me alot of knowledge on how it really is and enjoy watching your videos... plus I like the jokes here and there...its entertaining... you do a awesome job.

of course state troopers. If I get to have a magical hat that gives me special trooper powers u can bet I'm in on it.

Thank you for making this video. I always thought that I would prefer State police over city police for the larger jurisdiction. However after hearing you say that your closest backup could be 45 minutes away that kind of makes me nervous. What if I pull over an suv full of people and it’s me vs 4 grown men. I think city police would be better for me. More action, more camaraderie, and more backup.

What about parole and probations can you do a video on them?

Awesome video. I've made it to background at my local sheriffs department. Few more steps and it's off the the academy.

You said that troopers backup is sometimes an hour away. I’ve heard that a lot and I was wondering would a county or city officer who was closer than a state unit respond to a backup request?

I hoping I can land a job with the Michigan State police, however I do have opportunities in the county where they are hiring at the moment. Amazing video as always.

I am considering working for the Ohio State Highway Patrol

Just put my 30 years in with Cook County Sheriff's 2nd largest County in the U.S. Chicago and burbs 8.5 million none of it country. Stay Safe, I saw a F.N. five seven empty it's 20 mag. into a brand new vest, in the front and out the back. God Bless you.

Best.vid ever I will go state patrol

My father retired as a State Trooper and I work city. Our work stories we share are vastly different, but the hour away back up is a real thing. We make fun of them because all they do is traffic enforcement, but you have to have major stones to be a trooper.

Im currently in the academy for a campus police department for a state school. Not where I originally wanted to end up but after meeting my chief and some of the people within the department, I am beyond grateful and very excited to start my L.E. career! Any advice for when. I finish up with the academy in December? How similar or different is it for a campus compared to city? (Call-wise, obviously a smaller area)

Thank you or sharing the wealth Officer401! Be safe/stay frosty! Best wishes to you/family for continued success.

Hey all I got a quick question might sound weird but why does the LAPD fleet contain cars with hardly any push bar? From the chases I see on TV I barley or I don’t think I’ve seen one LAPD vehicle with a push bar. It’s usually CHP or the sheriff department who have those. Can anyone shed some light into why this is the case seeing LA is a very vast and big city and you’d think the city would be able to afford push bars.

Glad you mentioned the Flint documentary -- I found it pretty good.

you forgot one other agency the Fish and Game

Great Video!!! This summarizes the basic differences between city, county, and state law enforcement jurisdictions very well!!! Thank you very much!!! Very Informative!!!✨

401 do a video how you do drug testing in ga and Being color blind how does that work with you???

That’s crazy! Our county department is the biggest in US and is the opposite of what you had described except for it being cliquish!

I'm planing on joing the OPP My provical police force (State police in canada)

I live in a town where no cops work at night in rural northern Illinois. Im not sure but i think the slightly larger town 5 miles down the road has a single on duty night cop. Sometimes a Sherrifs deputy will sit in the police station/village hall/musems parking lot all night.

Speaking as a "county mounty" another major difference is that a lot of parts of the county are going to be more 'old school' than the city.....and will respond to old school policing while ignoring the newest and greatest forms of police work. And because the Sheriff handles civil process and court orders, you'll wind up playing diplomat a lot. But he's dead right on the backup situation. My current section is effectively 250 square miles. In the city, backup is 90 seconds away. In the county....you can stretch that charger out to her absolute top speed of about 157 (don't ask how I know) and still be 10 minutes out. I've done car chases solo, backup never got there before it was over, had plenty of solo fights, and foot chases solo in the dark.....and country dark is real dark.

Like how you explained everything very informative ,I have been to Georgia as a visitor ,gwenett county, and Fulton county love Georgia

Anyone know any good Canadian Police youtubers? This American stuff doesn’t apply to me

Here in upstate NY our state troopers handle services the counties arent equipped to do-high tech underwater rescue (body retrieval), specialized drug services, violent felony warrants, SWAT, DOT inspections, and a lot of the forensic labwork. There is typical road patrol, but that's not all they do. We have the DEC as well but they're few and far between. County handles the vast majority of the workload, whereas village fishes for drunks, wellness/door checks, UPMs, and clerical police work for the village residents. We have maybe 3 full time village cops, and a few county guys that pick up extra shifts when they can.

Where I live it’s a very small town with 400 people. It’s just 1 car in a 1 car garage behind the post office. The “station” is one room in the fire station. Both fire station and police depart is all volunteers

Where I’m at the budget issues you mention for the City is more common for the sheriffs office, locally the SO doesn’t provide gear, you have to self sponsor the part time academy (and after you work part time they might hire you full time) and they’re short staffed. The smaller city PD’s have decent cars and issue pretty good gear, and the largest city Pd local to me issues everything and will sponsor you through the full time academy, as well as having a pretty good budget for training (something very few departments within 60 miles have).

Flint is avery good series, they talk about everything from there 13 year old cars to salary, I highly recommend the series.

Future LA County Deputy Sheriff here

Some Sheriff's Offices in Georgia are full service such as Bibb County. Macon-Bibb Sheriff's Office or Bibb County is a full service from patrol, court and corrections, SWAT, etc... due to the consolidation from Macon Police and Bibb County being separate. County Police such as Chatham County, Dekalb, Gwinnett, etc. have SO but limited to Court, Corrections and specialized units. They Also Have SWAT and K9 to assist when needed.

Great video for those of you wondering the documentary was called flint town

I'd join state police due to the fact their jurisdiction is very large. Plus, I'd get bored just sticking to one small area.

Just took my PAT today and passed, next up is the poly, wish me luck officer401 ! Been wanting to do this for a long time now!

I have little more questions. I hope you will definitely answer those.. (1) how long does it takes to become Sergent? (2) how long does it takes to become a Lieutenant? (3) how long does it takes to become Captain? How long does it takes to become Chief ??

Just thought of this a collab with the “after prison show” a cop and a former prisoner doing a video an question eachother

No, I refuse to take a polygraph exam. I want a lawyer.

I would think city because you would have alot more backup in case it's needed....I live in the Charlotte - Mecklenburg Police Jurisdiction in N.C. and those guys are very professional and they have always worked with me even when I had a suspended liscense because of medical suspension where I didn't get my doctors papers into the DMV in time for being a type 1 Diabetic but they have cut me a break a couple of times. Of course I immediately got it done but it's hard to remember to get done every 2 years. Hopefully it doesn't happen again. As long as you obey the law you won't have any problems. My really good friend Sgt. Jess works with the H.I.T.S. unit (Highway Interdiction Traffic Safety) Team as well as the DUI Task force so if he is on duty I'll ask them if they can radio him and usually he will tell them he has grown up with me and my word is good and I'm sure not going to break my word for Jess just because he has been a great friend to me since elementary school. So I will be on getting those medical papers filled out A.S.A.P. and overnighted to get my liscense renewed as soon as possible. Thank goodness for growing up here and knowing alot of the police force. Now if it was a felony I of course know it would be a much very different outcome. Thank goodness for the Thin Blue Line. P.S. I am a paramedic and flight nurse for Medcenter Air in Charlotte so we of course have each others back 100%

Ive been looking at different agencies lately, trying to compare. Thanks for the insight 🇺🇸

Love how you went back to the old intro song!! : )

I'm so torn. I'm currently a Police Explorer for my city and a Explorer Sergeant for the State Police. I don't know which one I like more.

We really dont have these problems over here in NZ. Just one police service and other divisions highway etc. when you join the job you get based in what ever area needs officers

Working for state is a mix of all them in really. You can work in the out in the open road and be on your own, close to the city skirts, and or in the city. Depending in the area you are at the outskirts of the city is a bit more urbanized.

Great video. Looking to get out of the army here shortly had some questions and this video answered some of them! Thanks

ive noticed in my town, its pretty rural, next town over is about 16 miles away, there used to be cops who lived in town but they have moved to other areas to retire in, so now there is no cop in town after like 8pm, but if there is any road incidents after that time, CHP (california highway patrol) will come to the call, because a chp officer lives in the town, and if an officer in town needs help the will call for chp or for a forestry officer to come assist them

Hey officer 401. I might have a interresting idea for a video: cop asks/interviews firefighter. To give more information about the teamwork between fire and pd, the jokes between them and stuff like that.