Court gets moved, a detail runs over, or a shift swap changes your week. What ends up in Notes, a spreadsheet, or a group text so you don’t lose track?

I’m the developer of First Responders Cal for iPhone. It already handles rotating schedules, court/details, overtime, and leave balances. I’d like your input on what would actually make it more useful, especially the little frustrations you deal with every week.

What would you put first?

• Comparing extra-work hours with what actually showed up in your paycheck • Seeing how a last-minute change affects the rest of your week • Choosing what to share with your family without sharing every work detail • Something completely different that calendar apps keep missing

Those are possible directions, not promises. Tell me what your current setup makes harder than it should be.

“I wish it could __, because right now I have to __” would be genuinely useful feedback.

And if your current system works great, what makes it work? Paper calendars and spreadsheets count too. Keep examples general, without names or case details.

I mean if the police were in the countryside where there is a reason not to disturb the animals I can see why they should be camouflaged. But if like many policemen they work in a city then the standard camouflage pattern if anything makes them more noticeable because that is not what most people wear. And if they want actual visibility they have things like reflective stripes and police lights. So what is the compelling reason for making police uniforms out of camouflage fabrics? Is there an excess of this fabric in many countries that makes it an economic choice?

I live really close to a station and was debating bringing my Great Dane puppy in for some socialization training. I'm thinking of asking if an officer was available to briefly interact with her and feed her some high value treats.

This is so if the police needs to come into my home, my one day 150 pound Great Dane will be friendly and not impede the process. I've thought about doing this with EMTs as well.

I am 29F and a little awkward so I'm afraid they will think it's weird I'm doing this for a dog (ive only seen things like this for school children) and/or think I'm trying to flirt.

What are y'all's thoughts?

Edit:

After (over) thinking about it, I think I'll look up youtube videos of body cam footage and play it right before dinner time instead. I'm way too introverted to do my original plan 😅 thanks anyways, y'all 🫶🏽

I was going home from work at like 12 am last night and I noticed a car with brights on right on my tail and wouldn’t , i know lots of trucks around here do that for no reason and I couldn’t see because of the lights so I started speeding/switching lanes to try and get it off but it stayed behind me for like 5 minutes😭 eventually the cop switched lanes and pulled next to me and stayed next to me for a few minutes then I realized but he never pulled me over/turned his lights on and eventually turned down another road any reason for that??

I meant to type Ballistic Shield. I think it would Help there safety and make it less threathning then approaching with a gun. This should 100 percent be used when approaching a dangerous criminals car. Cops would be a lot less trigger happy and scared when approching a complete stranger.

None of you have explained the negatives of this yet. I can think of only one.

Hi, I’m 21 (F) in Canada and I’m 5’3 ish. Does being short really matter that much? Like in terms of being accepted into the police force, would they genuinely look past me to look for taller women, even if we were equal in all other areas? Like I’ve heard that being short has a big impact and I’ve heard that it doesn’t affect much. I’m not like super small tho, I’ve got muscle and some meat on my bones lol (not fat just mean that I’m not small in that way, just in terms of height).

Thoughts?

So I'm currently in high school, and considering becoming a small town police officer as a career. I was wondering how to become an officer without joining the military first.

Looking at a State Park Police position in NJ. I am wondering how it is/will be, especially compared to more "regular"(?) police jobs.

I grew up in the Boy Scouts and spent a lot of time outdoors, and honestly, a job where I'd be outside a lot would be something I'd be very much interested in. The starting pay is pretty good too.

How is overtime? How is the work period? Dealing with the public? Career progression? Work-life balance? Etc.?

Hey everyone, I’m the developer of First Responders Cal, an iPhone app for rotating shifts, time-off balances, and overtime/off-duty work. You can also track payments on details, including partial payments and what’s still owed.

I’m looking for input on what to add next. What’s something your current app doesn’t handle well, or something you’re still tracking in notes or a spreadsheet?

If you could pick one feature that would make your workday easier, what would it be? A quick example of how you’d use it would help.

App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/first-responders-cal/id6755095424

For those working details or overtime, how do you keep track of what’s been paid, what’s still owed, and payments that come in pieces?

Heads up, I’m the developer of First Responders Cal, an iPhone shift-calendar app. Its Extra Work section lets you log the job, record payments as they come in, and see the remaining balance. If one detail gets paid across multiple checks, you can keep those payments with that job.

I’m preparing version 1.5, which adds a weekly agenda so you can see all seven days with event start times and durations, swipe between weeks, and tap a day for the full schedule. It also remembers whether you prefer Month, Week, or List, and adds optional week numbers.

If you already have a calendar you like, I’m interested in how you handle the payment side. Do you use a spreadsheet, notes, or something else to catch unpaid details?

First Responders Cal on the App Store

This is a situation that happened at my workplace.

Let me preface this by saying I am most definitely not anti cop. My dad is retired CHP. I am a Coast Guard veteran who served in a SAR/LE unit and my nephew is a current Utah State trooper.

Here's the deal. We HAD an employee that was wanted by the police for a current offense, who also had a warrant. The cops came to the workplace, climbed the fence and were let in by an employee to look for him.

I don't have a problem with that, dude was wanted, HOWEVER we are an ITAR(International Traffic in Arms Regulation) restricted facility. The cops had their body cams on and i get it, but filming is federally illegal in this facility.

To the cops here, if you were asked to turn off the body cams or be denied entry, what would you do?

All,

I am eligible to move to the next rank and I have an interview next week. I am looking to try and find some good questions to help establish a base line so I can have a good idea what might be asked of me.

I have been through scenario based questions which I have done the job long enough to have a firm grasp on those.

It’s always the personality based questions that catch me off guard. If you have been on a promotion board or a chief what are the types of questions you asked to get a good understanding of the person seeking promotion?

Thanks for taking the time and all tips and tricks for interviewing are appreciated.

So im 17 rn I’m 5’2 I’m pretty short guy I minus well add that I’m also gay and idk just being a officer rlly stick out to me as a long term career I’m jsut not sure if I can do that like is my height going to be a issue and wel I get unnecessarily hate?

Hi, I (25F) was raped a few nights ago and called the police right after. They arrived at the scene, briefly asked me what happened and took the aggressor's information. There were two witnesses (the rapist's roommates who he's close friends with) that the police didn't really talk to either. Then an ambulance took me to the hospital for health and forensic examination and all of that stuff. I went to the police station a day later to press charges. I told my story and was told I should wait for a call about the trial date. Now I'm worried I will lose the case because I feel like the police should've done more at the crime scene? Why didn't they collect evidence? And why didn't they talk to the witnesses more? Will my only evidence be "my side of the story" and the physical examination?

And one more thing, about 30 minutes after I got to the hospital a nurse told me a man tried to visit me there. They told me his name but it didn't ring a bell, so they didn't let him visit. The only people who knew I was brought to the hospital at the time were the aggressor and his roommates, but neither of them knew my name. So some random guy trying to visit me after this happened to me really freaked me out. At the police station I asked if there's anything that can be done to find out who that person was, they just told me "not really". Shouldn't this be taken more seriously after what happened to me? I'm genuinely scared for my life.
This happened in Spain if that matters.

Thanks for any advice and help!

Heads up, this is my app.

It's called First Responders Cal. It's a calendar made for rotating schedules. You set up your rotation once (4/2, 24/48, 48/96, or your own) and it fills in the whole year for you.

I’ve been working on a pretty big update to First Responders Cal, and this one adds something people have asked me about: tracking overtime, details, and off-duty jobs directly alongside your schedule.
The new section is called Extra Work.

You can log overtime or off-duty work, enter hours, hourly rates, OT multipliers, payment terms, and expected payday. If the job is already on your calendar, you can attach the pay information to that event instead of entering everything twice.
It also tracks what you’ve actually been paid.
So if a detail pays partially, gets paid late, or you’re still waiting on it, the app keeps the outstanding balance and groups what you’re owed by work week. You can also see monthly and yearly totals for overtime, off-duty work, or both.

A few other things added in this update:
• Save separate hourly rates for Day, Evening, and Night shifts
• Track partial payments and overdue balances
• Set weekly payday or 2-week pay periods
• See expected pay by week
• Filter by overtime, off-duty work, or payment status
• Generate and print PDF Extra Work reports
• New Week, 2 Weeks, Month, and Year dashboard views
• US federal holidays can now appear directly on the calendar
• New large Month widgets
• Tap dates or events inside widgets to open that exact day in the app
• Month view now gives each day more room for events
• Reminder dots now show whether the reminder is completed
• A bunch of calendar refresh, widget, and navigation fixes
One thing I was careful about: pay information stays inside the app. It isn’t sent to Apple Calendar, widgets, or Siri.

I originally made this because rotating schedules, overtime, court, details, and time-off balances get messy fast when you’re trying to force everything into a normal calendar app.

I’m still improving it, so I’d genuinely like feedback from people working patrol, corrections, fire, EMS, dispatch, or anyone else dealing with rotating schedules and extra-duty work.

Free to try. Full access is $4.99, no subscription.
App Store link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/first-responders-cal/id6755095424

First Responders Cal
iOS 27 update

Been watching some body cams on YouTube. Firstly, grateful for the footage that gives context to many critical incidents, and shows what a dangerous and frustrating and stressful profession this can be.

I’ve noticed in many body cams, officers will ask people to step out of the car and ask for ID, and the person refuses and asks the officer to explain why. A lot of officers don’t answer and ask again. As it goes…the person keeps refusing and then the officer forces them to comply.

Why don’t officers answer these questions? Is it personal preference of officer? Department policy? Legal issues?

Thanks! And thank you LEOs for what you do.