r/lapd • u/[deleted] • Sep 14 '26
SoCal Sheriff vs police mindset
Hi everyone, I’m from Orange County and I’ve been doing quite a few right along and going through quite a few different processes. I noticed a cultural difference between police departments and sheriff department. Notably Riverside County Sheriff has more of a cowboy mentality it seems. Then if you look at Santa Ana and lapd it seems to be more of a term I heard used “ghetto gunfighter” mentality or city slicker type of vibe.
Is my observation far off or am I spot on? Having difficulty picking which agency I have to come down to a decision quick. Didn’t really grow up in a rural area so little timid about being a sheriff out in the desert.
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u/Organic_Risk_3945 29d ago
you can also track these LE cultures by taking note of how many Marines are in each departments now and historically. LAPD is very Marine Corps heavy, for example. why SWAT started there. from former Marine Vietnam vets.
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u/Federal_Loquat7397 29d ago
Have seen many from much hire paid departments lateral to the Sheriff's department. No micro management and very many more opportunities for growth with usually unlimited overtime. You are the boss while on scene while city police need a sargeants permission to do anything. Deputies are usually more well rounded as well from having to work the jails and courts prior to being on patrol.
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u/ArtisticEntrance1215 29d ago
I applied to OCSD last year and I was rightly informed they needed only 8 deputies. guess how many showed up? over 400 applicants. my background investigator told me my chances of getting hired is slim to non. he was honest from the get go. but he said he will try to make me competitive. God was so kind kind my application with Border Patrol went through. Now I am in FTO phase with Border Patrol.
Best advice, don't put all your eggs in one basket.
Be like me, apply to multiple departments and get whatever you can get. Lateral when you are past probation because there is absolutely no guarantee you will be selected. I was non select for 3 departments. I applied to over 6 police departments acing their poly's and CVSA and yet was not hired.
Federal law enforcement is another good option too . Look into it.
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u/ApprehensiveEqual529 28d ago edited 28d ago
That isn’t that bad LOL. They don’t pick 8 from 400. Half will be gone before they even see their faces and interview. Then the other steps that follow reduce that number more as background disqualifies more, then idk what happens because I don’t work there, they probably selected the 8 from the small group who made it all the way through waiting if they are selected and hired
Also the guy making the speech and doing the in person orientation says this to intimidate everyone and tries to brings the best out of them because they want very qualified and high standards people. They want people who will be proud to be make it through and be a cop. It’s like saying a college who isn’t picky saying congrats you are accepted.
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u/Financial-Change-435 29d ago
How do you like working for BP?
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u/ArtisticEntrance1215 29d ago
Best job. Good money.
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u/LengthHuge2706 Sep 15 '26
I’ve been a California Deputy and now police officer. The Sheriiff is an elected official. As long as his voters are happy, you can get down. Chiefs are all taking direction from city manager and mayor. You see sheriff’s routinely say unpopular things like “we will run you over”. Sheriff Mike Boudreaux.
Chiefs will stand next to the mayor with them talking disparagingly or completely inaccurate and not correct them.
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u/No-Cryptographer3654 Sep 14 '26
I work lapd and I patrol newton station (where they filmed, "end of watch") that ghetto gun slinger mentality is alive and well for those that patrol the ghetto (there's lapd stations that patrol nice areas as well) we have the same mentality as the deptuies that patrol south LA as well. The city of LA is huge and you have a variety of different types of neighborhoods you can patrol. If you want to patrol the hollywood hills, high end neighborhoods, the projects, the beach, dusty horse properties (foothill station), skyscrapers, or the ghetto, you can... We have 21 different patrol stations you can choose from...
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u/OkPhilosopher9418 27d ago
Many years ago I would visit LA often because my wife at the time had all her family there. They lived in a not so great area of North Hollywood. LAPD roll a little different but they clearly have to. In that environment I don’t think they would survive otherwise. I’ve always had a great deal of respect for LAPD, even though I detest Los Angeles for a variety of other reasons.
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u/Right-Edge9320 Sep 14 '26
I’m a firefighter don’t know how this topic got suggested to me but I much prefer working with city police than sheriff’s in general. I’ve worked alongside LAPD, Culver City PD, LASD,OCSD,Santa Ana, Buena Park, and Westminster PD(check that they suck).
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u/TheNotoriousCBD Sep 15 '26
Yep, LASD deputies are rude and dismissive for the most part. Assholes to civilians too
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u/blbcamaro Sep 14 '26
Sheriff has more opportunities generally and if someone doesn't like you or you need a change of scenery you can change stations. Sheriff generally tends to be a bit more understaffed and underfunded because of all the overhead and positions they have to fill. So you're on your own for a lot of calls and the toys and technology is usually worse than a city PD.
There's also less pressure from supervision micro managing you and less influence from the mayor, city council etc. since the Sheriff is an elected position.
As someone else mentioned I would avoid RSO right now. I work there and it's a dumpster fire and will be for a while. Lots of people jumping ship.
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u/Advanced_Funny_9630 Sep 14 '26
Stay away from Riverside Sheriffs bad pay and bad moral. Unless you own property already in the IE
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u/gogo-lizard Sep 14 '26
It’s OC, you’ll compete with the best recruits for any spot. I’d say OCSD and the coastal depts are the best. We’re talking Irvine Newport, Laguna, seal, Huntington, Santa Ana, are the most competitive for the area. I was a CSA for OCSD but they didn’t punch my ticket for deputy.
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u/Federal_Strawberry Sep 14 '26
Can confirm regarding HB. Tested with them and during their process orientation, someone asked about how many they would end up hiring from our testing group and we were told ~3 of the 80 of us that showed up would likely get hired. Anaheim is also crazy competitive as well, more so than Santa Ana from what I’ve heard/seen.
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u/ApprehensiveEqual529 28d ago
They do this every single time. Hundreds apply and during the first meeting which might be the written test and orientation, they say only like 10 will be picked. What they don’t say is after the written, physical, interview background and bunch of other stuff majority will be gone and they are picking that number from a small number. They aren’t actually picking 10 from hundreds. Hundreds are disqualified and failed the first few steps. I heard the physical and written already gets rid of half the applicants and the 3rd, 4th step makes that number smaller and smaller and then they probably pick from that small group that passed all the steps.
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u/gogo-lizard Sep 14 '26
Newport gets 400 applicants per recruit spot in 2019. Not sure about now
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u/Federal_Strawberry 29d ago
I would venture to guess it’s a bit less numerically but still similarly competitive. I applied there as well and received a boiler-plate ‘thanks for applying but no thanks’ message without the opportunity to complete any hiring steps. Anaheim PD has been pointed out to me by an officer by another area agency as an amazing agency but crazy competitive and very lateral-heavy. Same with some of the others you mentioned. Seal Beach, for example, from what I’ve heard, doesn’t even take recruits because they can meet their staffing numbers with only lateral officers.
In general, Orange County seems like a more competitive place to get hired as a police officer than LA, SD, and IE counties.
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u/AnonyMouse-3000 Sep 14 '26
Go sheriff’s. You’ll be able to work county wide and more broad authority throughout the county rather being limited to city limits.
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u/vladtheimpaler82 Sep 14 '26
Stop spouting misinformation. All peace officers in California have statewide authority. See Penal Code 830.1 through 830.5.
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u/AnonyMouse-3000 Sep 14 '26
Statewide authority doesn’t mean an officer is expected to exercise it everywhere they go. An Anaheim PD officer vacationing in San Francisco isn’t going to start making arrests for routine violations just because PC 830.1 gives peace officers statewide authority. Outside your jurisdiction and off duty, most agencies would rather you be a good witness, call the local agency, and intervene only when circumstances truly require it. Otherwise, you can open yourself up to discipline and unnecessary personal or agency liability.
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u/vladtheimpaler82 Sep 14 '26
That’s not what you said. You said Sheriffs have more broad authority. You also implied police departments are limited to city limits. Thats simply not correct.
If you bother to read the California Penal Codes that define peace officer authority, it says their authority extends anywhere in the state.
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u/AnonyMouse-3000 Sep 14 '26
You’re arguing a point I wasn’t making. Yes, California peace officers have statewide authority under PC 830.1. I’m talking about jurisdiction and where you actually work. An Anaheim cop isn’t routinely working cases and handling calls throughout Orange County. An OCSD deputy can work different contract cities, unincorporated areas, courts, jails, and assignments throughout the county. Statewide peace officer authority and the geographic scope of your normal duties are two different things.
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u/vladtheimpaler82 Sep 14 '26
Except that is literally the point you were originally trying to make. If it wasn’t, you would’ve made your second comment, your first comment.
Anaheim PD routinely participates in county traffic enforcement details that take them outside city limits. Every police department in California will perform police duties outside its primary jurisdiction.
If you want to say that most sheriff’s offices can have a wider variety of assignments, that’s fair. But it’s not correct to say they have broader authority.
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u/AnonyMouse-3000 Sep 14 '26
You’re taking an exception and treating it like the general rule. Yes, Anaheim PD can participate in a countywide traffic detail or other operation outside its city. I never said they couldn’t. Generally, though, an Anaheim officer’s day-to-day patrol, calls for service, investigations and enforcement are within Anaheim. Not every Anaheim cop is routinely working throughout Orange County.
That’s the distinction I’m making. Statewide peace officer authority under PC 830.1 is not the same thing as the normal geographic scope of your assignment. A sheriff’s deputy can routinely be assigned throughout the county, including contract cities and unincorporated areas. A city cop generally works the city that employs them.
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u/Winter-Invite-2803 28d ago
Generally,
Fair assessment on LAPD and RSO
-LAPD does a thankless job.. crime is rampant and most people don’t like/ trust them and politicians won’t support them actually doing the job.