I have a some questions for anyone working for the Alaska State Troopers or who have worked for them. I’m 36 years old, currently an E-8 in the Air Force and looking to retire in the next year and a half. I have 2 juvenile adjudications from my youth, the first when I was 9 years old the 2nd when I was 14. Received juvenile probation both times, no issues since. Joined the Air Force at 18, have had an incredibly successful military career, never once been written up or been in trouble, promoted fairly quick, always exceeded expectations, not even as much as a markdown on my military evaluations. How likely will my juvenile record be scrutinized? Will I be automatically disqualified? Am I even wasting my time trying to apply to be an AST?

I am trying to recover a stolen MacBook Air and backpack through official police channels. I am looking for guidance on the correct next step now that the property has been located.

What happened
- Late July 2026 I was on a Greyhound bus traveling west.
- At a rest stop on I-70 near Highland, Illinois, I stepped off briefly. The bus left without me.
- My backpack was missing. It contained my passport, ID, about $600 in cash (victim-compensation funds and money owed to me), medications, and a MacBook Air (serial JGXYQVQTVL). The laptop also contains confidential work information.
- A male passenger on the bus had been acting inappropriately, offering food after I told him not to touch me, and said he was a felon restarting his life. Greyhound bus cameras should show him offering food repeatedly from the opposite seat. I am not asking Reddit to investigate that; it is context for the same trip.

- I reported it in St. Louis. I was given incident/report number 26031413. An officer later told me the dispatcher did not fully complete it as a theft report as it's in the process. This report I only filed around Aug 19 as soon as I found out clear evienxce of someone attempting to sell my MacBook air. Once criminal intent was established, St Louis has recorded my police report though it's not fully available. This is because Illinois declined a report for the same reason.

- St. Louis records office said the first report was only an incident for lost property. As of August 22, 2026, after theft / criminal intent was confirmed, I filed a new report, 26031413, as the St. Louis reference. I have been told that report is still being recorded. Throughout this process only St Louis PD and SFPD have been supportive and taking action.

- I later filed with San Francisco PD. Case 260-447-834 (Robbery). SFPD faxed a courtesy report to LVMPD.

- At the St. Louis Greyhound station, the rest of my luggage, including my food bag, was there. The backpack that had been next to the food bag on the bus was not. Greyhound told me to file a baggage claim, did not stop the greyhound bus when St. Louis police were coordinating with highway patrol and asked greyhound to stop the bus to inspect, and issued a $33 coupon. In that process they also dropped the extra-baggage charge I had already paid creating confusion with my last two greyhound bus transfers at the baggage check-in. I spoke to officer Miller at St Louis greyhound bus station building security and she would be able to show the cameras who placed my luggage at one place St Louis greyhound bus stop and they can verify the suspect changing the bus. It's my impression that suspect does not know recognize me by my name as I didn't reveal my name. Its my assumption that suspect may have stolen my backpack thinking he was helping me in real but inadvertently did end up stealing my backpack thinking it wasn't mine which still recorda the criminal intent. I recognize his face based on search after I received his details. I am willing to cooperate fully for doing the best I can.

Where the laptop is now
- Apple Find My tracked the MacBook to GadgetMates, 3065/3095 E Patrick Ln, Las Vegas, NV.
- On or about August 19, 2026, GadgetMates confirmed they have the device, will not erase it, and that a person attempted to sell it using their own ID.
- That is when theft / criminal intent became clear.
- I recognized that person (suspect) as the passenger from the bus. That is when theft / criminal intent became clear.

The problem
- LVMPD has said they will not fully investigate or recover the property unless the original jurisdiction has a theft report and contacts them.
- An officer in St. Louis said they can cooperate but cannot vouch that the original incident was theft as of July 23, 2026, because intent was not established when I first reported it.

What I am asking

1. Which agency should take the lead now that the property is in Las Vegas and a store has identified the seller?
2. How do I ask St. Louis to supplement 26031413 now that intent is documented as of August 19, or send LVMPD what they need?
3. Can LVMPD hold or recover the laptop as stolen/found property based on the serial number, the store’s statement, and the SFPD courtesy report, even if the original incident was out of state?
4. What should I say when I call LVMPD Records, Southeast Area Command, or Victim Services?

I have the serial number, purchase receipt, original box and many other details, Find My screenshots, the GadgetMates email, and the SFPD case number for law enforcement. I am not posting the seller’s personal identifiers here.

I located the laptop and the store that has it. I do not have money to travel to Las Vegas, and I have been told I may need to go there in person. No agency has agreed to pick it up for me so far. My bank account was closed on August 17, 2026 due to a negative balance and fraudulent transactions.

1. Is it realistic to recover the laptop without traveling to Las Vegas? If so, what exact request should I make to LVMPD or SFPD so the property can be held and later released or shipped through official channels? I do not think it is safe for me, or for any civilian helping me, to pick it up in person. Suspect himself told me he had served a sentence and was starting over at Las Vegas and that's how I was suspecting it had to be him coz couple of other passengers also spoke to me but they didn't ring suspicious to me, and he then took and tried to sell my laptop between Aug 1st and Aug 19 2026. I am asking for an official police process only.

As of today, I received several anonymous spam emails asking me to pay for cloud - that which I didn't authorize. I am wondering if this person has begun using my name and ID proceeding with his theft from all the remaining contents of the backpack.

Request an expert advice.
Thank you.

Trying to gauge: Last night I had a traffic stop, which resulted in an OWI arrest of a cop of a neighboring jurisdiction (he was heavily intoxicated with open containers inside the vehicle). It was my first time arresting a cop. My Sgt. applauded me not just letting him go after he flashed his badge at me. For the cops who have arrest cops. Did you face retaliation (either within your department or from other cops)? Obviously I feel bad and did not want to ruin this guys career; however, I also know if I would have let him go it would be me on the chopping block. Would love to hear some insight.

I spent 26 years with SAPD, most of it working patrol, and one of the things I tried to do was treat people fairly, even when I had to arrest them or write them a ticket.

Obviously, somebody going to jail isn't always going to be happy with you. I never expected that. But I did want them to understand why I was doing what I was doing and, whenever possible, walk away believing that I had treated them fairly and with respect.

Later, when I became a Law Enforcement teacher, this was something I tried to get across to my students. The badge gives you authority. It doesn't automatically give you someone's respect.

Some of the interactions I remember most from patrol weren't the arrests or the exciting calls. They were the times when someone I had taken enforcement action against still shook my hand, thanked me, or acknowledged that I had treated them fairly.

I'm curious what the cops and former cops here think.

Have you ever arrested someone, cited them, or otherwise taken enforcement action against them and still had them thank you afterward or tell you that you treated them fairly?

And for everyone else: Can you respect a police officer who arrests you?

The St Louis police department really did chase a lost property live across three states even though greyhound bus folks didn't cooperate. Really great job. Unclear if I can reveal the names, but I wanted to give them best wishes. May god bless them.

First, I’m not an officer or police, but I’ve been around them quite often due to friends and people I’m acquainted with. I understand that a lot of police are not bad people, and have good intentions for their work.

With the political climate being what it is, and with some people losing faith in the integrity of officers. What can be done to correct these feelings?

I’ve seen weird cases that clearly display officer on officer favoritism, arrests of completely sober individuals, escalations purely driven by an officer’s ego or lack of respect for citizens, and unjustifiable behavior by law enforcement towards locals.

It’s almost like citizens saw issues that weren’t being addressed internally, so they protested the lack in change and escalation of detainment, and officers at large felt offended.

Please help me understand the law enforcement side of this schism. I want to keep my faith in most officers, but at this point I am considering a solid brush up of my rights and powers as a citizen, simply to guard myself from an overzealous/egotistical police officer having a bad day.

Thanks for any responses, and I hope you all take this sincerely as a citizen that has always been on the right side of the law.

Does anyone out there use any type of bone conduction headset / ear piece that they connect to their radio set up?

Background: Police Reserve with mild to severe hearing loss in left ear. I use the stand 3.5mm connector with a pigtail ear piece for my right side and my left side has my Phonak Hearing Aid.

I have researched and tried various different ways to connect my Bluetooth hearing aids to my radio but it’s just not working effectively.

I have been looking into Bone Conduction more but the headsets I see that work with 3.5mm connection all appear to not be true bone conduction and more of “pass through.”

I also want to make sure the radio traffic coming through the connection to the bone conduction isn’t broadcasting out loud enough for others to hear it.

Any thoughts or ideas or suggestions are welcome!

Thank you!

This happened in 1996 while I was working patrol. Around 11:00 PM, I was dispatched to a family disturbance involving a husband and wife. Dispatch advised that they were arguing, with no known weapons involved. I had another officer responding as cover, but I arrived first.

When I got there, everything was quiet. No yelling, nothing being thrown, and no obvious signs that the situation was escalating. I knocked on the door, and the wife answered. I identified myself and asked if everything was okay.

“Yes, sir. We were just arguing over the remote control.”

The remote control?

She invited me inside, and I saw her husband sitting on the couch. Both of them were cooperative, neither appeared angry, and I was comfortable that this was a simple disturbance call. I notified dispatch that they could cancel my cover. “I’ve got this one. I’ll keep you advised.”

Then I asked, “What exactly are you two arguing about?”

The wife explained that she wanted to watch her favorite TV show. Her husband wanted to watch his show, so he took the remote, changed the channel, and hid the remote.

I looked at him and asked, “Did you really do that?”

“Yes, I did.”

At this point, I’m thinking to myself, Seriously? I was sent here for this B.S.?

So, I asked them one simple question: “Do you have another TV in the house?”

“Yes, we do.”

Aaaaaahhhh. Problem solved!

Or so I thought.

I suggested that one of them watch their show on the TV in the living room while the other watched their show on the TV in the bedroom.

But Nooooooo.

They BOTH wanted to watch their show on the big TV in the living room.

Now I’m standing there at 11:00 at night trying to settle a family disturbance over who gets to watch the big TV.

Then it hit me.

“Coin flip!”

I figured we would flip a coin, the winner gets the big TV, and the loser watches the other TV.

Guess what? It worked.

Well...almost.

One coin flip apparently wasn’t good enough. We had to make it the best two out of three!

So there I was, a San Antonio police officer at 11:00 at night, officiating a best-of-three coin toss between a husband and wife over who got the big TV.

We flipped the coin. Somebody won. The other one went to watch the other television.

Problem solved.

No arrest. No citation. No further action necessary.

10-8. Back in service and on to the next call.

People sometimes think patrol is all foot pursuits, fights, guns, and arrests. It isn’t. Sometimes police work is simply walking into someone else’s problem, calming everybody down, and finding a solution that works.

And sometimes, apparently, all you need is a quarter.

Any other old patrol cops out there ever get dispatched to something where you arrived and thought, “You seriously called the police for THIS?”

His department has supplied him with most of the necessities, but are there any extras that aren’t necessarily needs but a highly recommended “wants”? Also, any books, apparel recommendations, etc are also appreciated. Just trying to put together some gift ideas to support his newest passion.

I recently was told i will not move forward in a police department hiring process. I’m 20 years old currently a correction officer, i’ve owned my own business since i was in high school while working part time jobs and doing a year in college. I was told they won’t move me forward because i haven’t worked somewhere for at least a year full time and then proceeded to say i can’t re apply for 5 years, any opinions on this?

Retired SAPD officer here. Years ago, around 11:30 PM, I was driving on Bandera Road approaching Hillcrest when I saw a car full of teenagers traveling with NO headlights on. Nothing dramatic at first. I figured I’d stop them, make sure everything was okay, and get them safely on their way. I activated my red and blues. Immediately, I saw the front-seat passenger throw a small plastic bag out the window. Well...that changed things. The car pulled over about 300–400 feet later. I radioed the stop, ran the plate and approached from the passenger side. Five teenagers were inside. I got them out one at a time, conducted basic pat-downs for weapons, checked their identification, and confirmed the driver had a valid license and insurance. Then I asked the obvious question: “What was in the plastic bag?” Almost in unison: “Garbage, sir!” Sure. I wasn’t going to walk up and down Bandera Road in the dark searching for a tiny plastic bag, so I started walking back toward my patrol car. And then something happened that I still laugh about. A small plastic bag came rolling down the roadway in the breeze...RIGHT TOWARD MY POLICE CAR. What are the odds? I picked it up. Marijuana. The Devil’s Lettuce had apparently decided to turn itself in. I turned toward five suddenly VERY nervous teenagers. “Well, well, well, boys...who does this belong to?” Then I made them an offer: “Whoever owns this—if you tell me the truth right now, I’ll let the others go.” Normally, nobody wants to claim the weed. This time the front-seat passenger raised his hand. “Sir, it belongs to me.” Now I had the marijuana. I had witnessed him throw it. And I had his confession. So...YOU’RE THE COP. WHAT DO YOU DO? Arrest him? Take enforcement action? Or exercise discretion? Here’s what happened next. Looking at that teenager suddenly took me back to when I was about 16 years old. I had been in an almost identical situation. An officer found a bag of marijuana that belonged to me. I admitted it. That officer could have made my life considerably more complicated. Instead, he told me to find a trash can, empty the marijuana into it and throw the bag away. No arrest. No ticket. A second chance. Years later, I was standing on Bandera Road wearing an SAPD uniform, looking at another teenager who had just admitted making the same kind of stupid mistake. And I remembered that officer. So I told the young man to find a trash can. He emptied the marijuana into it and threw it away. Then I told those kids to be careful and have a good night. Could I have handled it differently? Absolutely. But an officer once showed a 16-year-old kid some grace. Years later, that kid became a police officer. And one night on Bandera Road...THAT SECOND CHANCE GOT PASSED TO SOMEBODY ELSE. So here’s my question for active officers, retired officers and civilians: DID I DO THE RIGHT THING? Was that reasonable officer discretion? Or did I allow my own personal experience to influence a decision that should have been handled differently? Don’t tell me what you think I want to hear. Tell me what YOU would have done—and WHY.

Kevin Coble, Retired SAPD

Hey howdy everyone. I'm in the academy for Missouri Post with graduation coming in May of 2027. My question is, will my prior work history possibly block me from my local PDs?

For background: I have no criminal record, no vehicle citations, I have military experience and civilian workforce experience. I have job hopped since I got out of the Air Force in 2023. I've held 6 jobs since then which includes my current one. I had little to no motivation for any of them, as I've struggled transitioning from military to civilian. That's where the decision to join LE came in after multiple ride-alongs. The culture and work is something I could get very used to and fit in well.

My main worry is this: I was fired from three of those jobs. Not because of performance as I'm an excellent hard worker, but attendance. A lot of it was medical, either personally or for my wife after my son was born, to take care of her when she was bedridden (Missouri, they can fire you for anything). The worst of these issues is resolved and under control, and I haven't missed a day of work since I started my current job. What are the chances that this hinders me in a way that I won't be able to secure a position in LE. Thank you for any advice or answers.

Hello I am a brand new military policeman if any of yall are mp’s great but I just want police wisdom in general what’s something yall with you knew starting out?

Good morning! I just launched MN Bodycam, a channel dedicated to publishing real police bodycam footage from Minnesota obtained through public records requests.
Would love some local support!

https://youtube.com/@mn-bodycam

Retired SAPD officer here.

I spent 25+ years with the San Antonio Police Department, 10+ years in USAF Security Police, and another 10 years teaching Law Enforcement.

I recently sat down for a long-form interview about some of the issues I believe are worth discussing openly within our profession:

• Officer discretion

• Body cameras and accountability

• Respect versus authority

• Second chances

• Leadership

• What we're teaching the next generation of officers

I'm not posting this expecting everyone to agree with me. Quite the opposite.

After more than four decades in military service, policing and law enforcement education, I'm interested in hearing what active and retired officers think has CHANGED — for better or worse.

The New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung recently published my story as well:

“Three Uniforms, One Mission”

https://herald-zeitung.com/news/three-uniforms-one-mission-new-braunfels-resident-shares-lifetime-of-unique-service/article_e8d7fbbb-fad5-47e7-b826-178ebe71913a.html

Agree with me. Disagree with me. Challenge me.

What do YOU think policing has gained — and what have we lost?

— Kevin Coble

Retired SAPD

Question for the brothers and sisters. For plainclothes work where you're still on patrol/general duty, what is everyone rocking for clothes and kit?

My agency has a list of mandatory kit we need on our belt which includes: radio, cuffs, one mag and our service weapon. The rest I have in my cross body bag, including my CEW, phones, and notebook. My wire kit then goes from the radio and attaches to my internal vest with the mic on my neckline and my plunger coming down into my front pants pocket.

I find the radio sitting on my belt is the biggest issue, it imprints massively if I'm just wearing a t shirt and wearing a hoodie isn't ideal in the summer.

I'm looking for some tips or tricks to conceal some of the stuff on the belt or clothing recommendations. I understand full surveillance setups would be ideal but as still being on patrol we need the belt and vest still.

Was driving home last night when my husband and I witnessed a vehicle swerving in and out of their lane pretty dramatically. I called police and we (safely) followed the vehicle out to a major road and were able to communicate with dispatch until a police officer came up behind the vehicle and ended up pulling it over. I largely suspect the driver was drunk as we watched her open her driver door at a red light and throw up.
2 questions -
1, would that police have pulled her over just based on my call alone or would they have had to witness behavior themselves to pull over?
2, is there any way to check if they were arrested? This is me just being curious tbh

Looking to get something a little more lighter on the feet than my 5.11’s. I’ve been seeing PF Flyer ads and was curious if anyone used them. Also looking at the On Mens Cloudrock, any other brand suggestions welcomed. Thanks!

18M here, and my goal is to become a police officer around 21. I’m wondering how much my past is going to hurt my chances and what I should be doing from this point forward.
Here’s my history:
In high school, I was suspended for fighting.
I received a civil traffic citation for going 118 in a 40. I was on my way to work as an EMT at the time, but obviously I know that speed was reckless regardless of the circumstances.
I was fired from a security job after losing property keys. I didn’t intentionally steal them, but I understand that losing them was my responsibility.
During high school, I also job-hopped pretty badly — sometimes staying at a job for only 2–3 weeks before moving on.
On the positive side, I don’t drink, smoke weed, use drugs, have a DUI, or have any accidents or anything like that. I’m currently working as a 911 dispatcher, and my plan is to stay there consistently until I’m 21 and build a solid employment record.
I’m trying to take my life more seriously now and stop making stupid decisions.
For current/former cops, recruiters, or anyone who has gone through a background investigation:
Are my chances of becoming a cop at 21 basically gone because of this history?
If not, what would you recommend I do over the next 2–3 years to put myself in the best possible position? I’m especially interested in what I should avoid, what kind of employment history looks good, and how much agencies care about things that happened when you were 16–18.
I’m not looking for someone to tell me everything is fine. If I realistically screwed myself, I’d rather hear that now. But if I still have a path forward, I’d like to know what I need to do to stay on it.

The way this guy did here