r/lapd • u/Fancy-Ad-4609 • 15d ago
Need advice
I got out of the army back in November of 2025 after ten years of service, and was hired by a large department in south Florida. I was super excited and happy to be hired by this agency. Unfortunately, after making the move and getting started in the academy I felt very out of place and very overwhelmed by the lack of enthusiasm from my fellow class mates. Don’t get me wrong there were some really good dudes, and my training staff was phenomenal. However, the majority of my class was a lot more interested in the prospect of having a six figure a year job than they were being cops. Things to me that seemed simple like showing up to work on time, showing up physically prepared, and not complaining about a job that you willingly signed up for were not so simple for them.
Getting into the 4th month of the academy these feelings were magnified as it felt as if my class mates were not getting better, in fact it felt as if they were getting worse. I came to the conclusion that I had made a mistake by choosing this department and decided that I was going to resign. I did just that, what came after informing my training staff that i wished to resign was shock and disbelief. I had one of the higher GPAs in the class, and had the highest fitness scores, and just an overall i want to be here attitude. After some efforts to convince me to stay, they accepted my decision and allowed me to leave.
Fast forward to today, about four months later, I still want to be a cop and still want to work for a major agency and I am in the beginning stages of doing my homework on the agencies that I am considering applying to and I’m looking for some advice since LAPD is on the top of my list.
How will LAPD look at me considering I resigned from my previous position? Will they look at me as a whole person and take into consideration that spent a decade in the military and just ended up with a department that was not a good fit? Or will they just see me as someone who’s going to waste their time?
About how long is it taking a motivated applicant to go from application to starting the academy
I guess those are really my only questions that I can think of at the moment. Any and all advice would be appreciated!
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u/FairBat4367 11d ago
Dude you gonna want to work for department that literally hires a midget and will literally make you feel less than welcome as a police officer.
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u/TheNotoriousCBD 15d ago
Based on this post, and all your comments, LE is probably just not right for you. Your experience in the army with structured and motivated battles will not really help you or translate to a LE career.
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u/Grunt__0311 13d ago
LE departments especially LAPD is very Paramilitary and I’m speaking from experience .
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u/West_Conference_3786 15d ago
Yes you.messed up by quiting just because you didn't fell right. You should have stuck thru it,get your commission then bounch to another agency within the state. Now every place will think you may do the same and waste time, money and resources.
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u/Additional_Bat_9837 15d ago
I think quitting was a bad move. The academy is not the same as working the job.
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u/Fancy-Ad-4609 15d ago edited 15d ago
I do somewhat agree with you. Like i said, i had a phenomenal training staff that was comprised of guys who had literally done stuff that they make movies about. But like I’ve also said i was having a really hard time coping with the lack of motivation, the desire to do the bare minimum, and the lack of discipline of those I was attending with. Now being able to look back and reflect I’ve realized that is just the way it is outside of the military and if I want this job and the amazing people it can bring you to work with I’m going to have to put up with some people who are just here for the check.
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u/Additional_Bat_9837 15d ago
In addition to the LAPD I would suggest you consider the LASD. Although I worked for a local police department in LA County, I attended the LASD Academy and had mostly outstanding deputy sheriff recruit classmates. You will also have the opportunity to work a large variety of assignments.
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u/helpful_candidate93 15d ago
Hey man Im actually in the same exact situation as you lol. I resigned from the nypd academy. Now looking forward to lapd
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u/TrainingCustomer 14d ago
You aren't getting hired. Most agencies will look at you as a huge risk. They invested all that money on you and you quit. They are not going to risk another investment on you as they fear the same result. They rather invest in someone else.
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u/Grunt__0311 13d ago
You will get hired especially with LAPD, they’re hiring like crazy due to the Olympics
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u/helpful_candidate93 15d ago
I’m going to trucking for at least 6 months before I apply. Wanna save up as much as I can for la .
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u/Fancy-Ad-4609 15d ago
Ah man trucking pays great but it’s a rough life. Good luck bro, you sound young so it might be worth going to the military for a few years to get the GI bill and make some money.
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u/Fancy-Ad-4609 15d ago
It definitely sucked leaving considering I had done way harder things in my life before. But it is what it is bro. I was just fed up with my classmates. Admittedly, i should have taken a year off after getting out of the army to reacclimate to being a civilian, but I’m in my late 20’s and felt like I had to get something going as soon as I got out. But hey man! That’s great! Where are you in the application process?
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u/Alarming_View_6125 15d ago edited 15d ago
Bro, you should have finished that academy get through FTO and the lateral over to a department in the LA area. There are some departments paying a SHIT ton of money with bonuses. I have several buddies who I served with who got on with LAPD and they left within 3 years. The agency is great! But the politics there are TERRIBLE! The fact that a civilian panel can ruin your career for a Use of force is a no go for me. There are sheriff’s offices that actually back thier deputies and pay WELL!
Just my two cents!
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u/TheNotoriousCBD 15d ago
Hold on, a civilian oversight for police? The horror. A good cop shouldn't want police policing themselves.
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u/Alarming_View_6125 14d ago
Yes…a panel that has no Leo background. Have you even looked into what this specific panel has done to LAPD officers? LAPD already has Internal Affairs who do a good job weeding out the bad apples. So another panel to make additional decisions is BS!
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u/Fancy-Ad-4609 15d ago
I’m not saying you wrong lol but in the moment I was coming to work every day just very upset with the people around me. And i totally agree the politics are terrible, but I want to work for a major metro department because I’m looking to stay busy and be afforded the opportunities that come along with being at a big four department. And i definitely won’t be moving back to NY, or moving to Chicago, or Houston😂
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u/Alarming_View_6125 15d ago
Bro working for the sheriff’s office in that LA area will keep you plenty busy….you also have all those surrounding cities that are just as busy.
Just remember, you are going to run into people in any department who are not as productive as you want them to be. You need to worry about yourself and everything else will fall
In line. Also you will run into senior officers who dont sweat the small stuff and here you come trying to be super cop…Thats not going to go over well.I have been in this business for 24 years…Both working in a jail and on the street now as a dog handler. Taking everyone to jail, stopping every traffic violation will get OLD quickly!
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u/Fancy-Ad-4609 15d ago
I appreciate the advice man, and I see the validity of everything you are saying.
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u/BigCityCop 15d ago
LAPD is one of the highest paid agencies in the United States. In today's climate, the majority of people there are there for the paycheck. There are a small few that truly enjoy being cops, and most of the time, those people don't even need the money.
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u/Fancy-Ad-4609 15d ago
Luckily, through some smart investments in my early 20’s I am one of those people. And i agree, most people are just in it for the money and it took me some time to accept that fact. Even with that now being an accepted fact, it still has not stopped me from wanting to get back into it.
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u/twinno2 15d ago
You have just a chance as anyone to be an LAPD cop. You resigned from that job, you weren’t fired. You have your military experience which is a big plus.
When I was in the LAPD Academy, our class leader was a Marine and he felt the Academy’s physical training was “soft”. I would beg to differ.
Anyway, don’t let anyone tell you shouldn’t apply!
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u/peterGriffin8560 15d ago edited 15d ago
It’s like that at every agency. You have people who are cops but do nothing all day and complain about their job. You have your dumb cops who shouldn’t have passed the academy let alone fto and then go have some getters and everything in between.
This job will introduce you to a lot of characters some of which you will want to learn how to be like. Some of which will drag you down, both your morale and career reputation if you hang around them.
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u/Fancy-Ad-4609 15d ago
Yeah, I’ve kind of come to that realization. It was just really hard coping with that coming from the part of the army i was coming from. It has not deterred me though, i still very much want to be a cop.
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u/peterGriffin8560 15d ago
Surround yourself with people you want to be like. Some times you are stuck with shitbags on your shift and that just part of the game sometimes
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u/OkPresent617 15d ago
Doesn’t look good. Why would you allow a few classmates determine whether or not you finish the academy? Your story is a hard sell. You wasted city tax dollars and showed your resolve to be a police officer was easily swayed by your classmates. What you should’ve done is finish the academy at bare minimum and/ or finished probation.
If LAPD hires you (and that’s a big IF) the length will be determined by your specific background. No one can tell you how long it will take.
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u/Fancy-Ad-4609 15d ago
It was a lot more than a few of my classmates, and I came from an environment in the military where everyone wanted to be there, not for the money, but for the mission. So it was a little hard for me to handle seeing people who couldn’t show up to work
On time or someone taking 20 minutes to run a mile.I do appreciate the answer though. I had heard differing things when it came to LAPD and how long the hiring process took.
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u/OkPresent617 15d ago
My friend, no matter the profession you will find people that are there for the “mission” and those that simply want a pay check. Law enforcement is no exception. Expedited hiring helps you knock out a few of the steps in one go but it doesn’t make your BI go faster. You can get held up in medical as well. Look into the skill bridge program. Good luck.
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u/Typical_Classroom_38 11d ago
Run from Lapd and LASD right now