Help out a College student with a few Questions?

[wiggsgrad86]

Hello,
I am a college student up at CSU-Sacramento. I just have a few questions to help me with a project, I appreciate some thought-out serious answers. I was at www.chp.net, and some people were ridiculed for the questions asked there. I do not know if the people answer the questions were within the CHP themselves, or just Joe Schmoe being a bunch of punks. Here are the questions:

1: what are the pros and cons of becoming a CHP officer?

2: what are the dangers of being a CHP and how does it differ from Sheriff.

3. What do you, as an individual officer, feel is the main difference between you and a sheriff officer?

4. Does Jurisdiction ever overlap? If so, how does it affect the relationship and is it settled?

5. How do you feel about the Sheriffs in town?

6, How would you compare the relationship between CHP and Sheriff in Sacramento versus other cities?

For those who respond, thank you very much!

Matthew

[retchp]

1: what are the pros and cons of becoming a CHP officer?
Excellent pay and benefits. Excellent retirement. Ability to sort of be your own boss within limits. Ability to advance. Ability to work throughout the state. Those are the pros. Cons might include shift work, holiday work, inclement weather, dumb ass supervisors and some element of danger.
2: what are the dangers of being a CHP and how does it differ from Sheriff.
Getting run over, getting shot, getting injured, becoming stressed out or burned out. No difference.
3. What do you, as an individual officer, feel is the main difference between you and a sheriff officer?
CHP has a lot more latitude about what to do during a typical shift...write tickets, not write tickets, patrol here patrol there. Plus we don't generally deal with typical SO calls like domestic violence on a routime basis. Very stresssful.
4. Does Jurisdiction ever overlap? If so, how does it affect the relationship and is it settled?
We both work in unincorporated areas of counties. We compliment each other and back each other up. They handle general law enforcement. We handle traffic.
5. How do you feel about the Sheriffs in town?
I have worked in nine counties and the SAC SO is the best I've ever seen.
6, How would you compare the relationship between CHP and Sheriff in Sacramento versus other cities?
CHP and Sheriff deputies get along famously well because we work closer together than many other law enforcement agencies on a daily basis. In Sacramento it is even more prounounced than other areas I worked because the deputies are very well trained and proactive.
For those who respond, thank you very much!
You are welcome. I just hope you aren't one of those people who are trying to tear the SAC SO down. Even though I don't live there anymore I still read the BEE, sad little rag that it is and see the false stories and whining that goes on there daily about the SO and police in general.

Matthew

[dw]

Matthew,

If you haven't already, you may want to look around the site -- I think many of your questions have been discussed. You'll also see that the members here are a mix of CHP Officers, members of other law enforcement and public safety agencies, and the general public.

Regarding the Sheriff's, our jobs are similar -- only different. ;) Deputies tend to deal with more crimes against property and people, whereas we, as retchp said, deal with traffic for the most part. We handle things like DUI, reckless driving, stolen vehicles, hit and run, etc... on a daily basis. Occasionally -- and depending on where you work, sometimes often -- we deal with Penal Code crimes. We assist the Sheriff with back-up and they assist us. As retchp said, the geographical jurisdiction is similar, in that we both handle unincorporated areas.

Chippies tend to be killed by traffic, but we have to be aware of all dangers. I would imagine most Deputies are killed by means other than traffic, but I don't have any stats.

All in all, we're more similar than different. As discussed in another thread, being a cop can become a way of life of sorts. It takes a certain type of individual, and in that sense, we're all the same. I'd rather deal with a nasty traffic collision than a domestic dispute, so I joined the CHP. For others who don't like such investigations (which can be emotionally stressful in a different way), maybe another agency is a better fit.

[wiggsgrad86]

You are welcome. I just hope you aren't one of those people who are trying to tear the SAC SO down. Even though I don't live there anymore I still read the BEE, sad little rag that it is and see the false stories and whining that goes on there daily about the SO and police in general.


No, not at all. This was actually a career objective project I have been working on, and I wanted to get a broad range of views. I appreciate your thought out response, it is very encouraging to get such feedback. Thank you very much!
Matthew

[Mac]

1: what are the pros and cons of becoming a CHP officer?
The only thing I could add to retchp's excellent reply is job security.
2: what are the dangers of being a CHP and how does it differ from Sheriff.
The only difference is that as a CHP Officer, we're exposed to traffic significantly more. Otherwise, the risks are the same.
3. What do you, as an individual officer, feel is the main difference between you and a sheriff officer?
In a nutshell, we work mainly traffic whereas they work mainly general law enforcement. However, as dw and retchp said, there are varying degrees of overlap in those duties depending on where you work.
4. Does Jurisdiction ever overlap? If so, how does it affect the relationship and is it settled?
Jurisdiction always overlaps, due to the fact that we work county areas as well as freeways. It affects the relationship in that we often work closer with the Sheriffs than we do with local Police Departments.
5. How do you feel about the Sheriffs in town?
I've worked in three different counties, and have always gotten along well with them as a whole. In San Diego county, we were VERY close with them....got to know them well, we covered each other on calls very often, and did a lot of things together off-duty.
6. How would you compare the relationship between CHP and Sheriff in Sacramento versus other cities?
No response, as I've never worked in Sac county.

[wiggsgrad86]

I would like to extend my appreciation to those who contributed and answered my questions. Thank you.