Waivers aka CHP 447

[redhead]

At what point do you decide to waive? Is it once you are given an offer to go to an academy class?As far as I understand, you can waive at anytime after you have turned in your PHS.


Which brings me to something about myself. I have actually decided to waive off this round of backgrounds, as life has given me lemons, and I am choosing what to do with them. Its been a tough decision, but something that I feel is right for me right now, and my BI agrees with me and supports my decision.

With all that, I want to wish all of you the best of luck in the process and I am still looking forward to joining the ranks, but this has been shown not to be the right time for me.

Good Luck to all, and THANK YOU to DW and KL (ym) and MA(c9g) for all your help along the way.

FWIW, this post has taken me nearly a month to make, but some choices had to be made, and after talking with a lot of friends/family/officers, I feel I am making the correct one. I will be back. :smile:

[bcjack]

REDHEAD:

I'm sure you know what is best for you and the others involved, but I am really sorry to hear that you are stepping out. I wish you the best of luck and hope you won't wait too long...:sad:

[cal911gal]

Hugs to you my friend, and don't be a stranger on here!

[retchp]

No one asked me for any advice, but I think I will give some anyway. Lately I have noticed a lot of postings with inquirys like, "Should I waive?", "How do I waive?", "I'm thinking of dropping out of the process", etc.
This forum is for people interested in getting through the process. I notice that this is all coming on as the May Academy rapidly approaches and other classes are coming up soon.
It makes me wonder, are we seeing cases of, 'be careful what you wish for because you just might get it'?
In other words, once the dream is about to become a reality does it frighten you? Is it easier to just step away and waive or drop out entirely? Is it because of the rash of recent deaths of CHP Officers? I don't know the answers to any of this, but it just seems strange to me that once the goal is nearly within the applicant's grasp that he/she suddenly begins to think about folding.
Maybe that is a good thing? Who knows for sure. My advice is to closely examine your motives and clearly understand what you are giving up and have already given up to get this close. If you really need to waive or drop out of the process then do so, otherwise get on with the process.
Being a CHP officer is not a job. It is a calling. Like some other special jobs are. If you really don't feel it deep inside, maybe it is best to waive or drop out. Your call, not mine.
This is written with the best intentions and not meant to hurt anyone's feelings. If you hear the call though, you will never be happy until you test yourself. I have had literally hundreds of people tell me that they "were going to become a CHP/Cop/etc" and now regret that they didn't when they had the chance. Some of them may be BS'ers, but some of them genuinely wish they would have grabbed the opportunity when it was there.
Only you will know what your true motives are. Examine them closely. Best wishes to all who proceed and to all who do not proceed further.

[redhead]

Thanks for the replies.

As with everything, there is more to the story, but that is all I am at liberty to post on a web forum.

[Mac]

Redhead - I'm sure there is more to it than you're willing to discuss in a public forum, and I don't know that retchp was pointing that post squarely at you....but he makes some good points nonetheless for all to read. I've wondered aloud myself at all the recent talk of deferrals as I scratched my head and tried to figure out the thought process. Everybody has their own reasons and I don't pretend to be able to grasp them - nor is it for me to judge whether they're legitimate or not.

I don't know that this is necessarily on topic for this thread, but one part of Retchp's post struck a chord in me. One of the points he makes is an "old school" point that may be getting lost nowadays, but it's still true, and always will be - being a CHP Officer (or ANY law enforcement officer, for that matter) is not a "job". It will demand much more of you than a "job", and it IS something you have to feel deep inside. It isn't employment to be accepted casually with the idea that maybe you'll stick around and do it for a few years until you find something better or get tired of it. It requires the dedication to realize that you're going to go out and risk your life every day for a largely unappreciative public, and maybe end up as nothing more than a brass plaque around a quiet fountain and a picture on a magazine cover. You're going to work nights, weekends and holidays and miss a lot of family/friend functions. You're literally going to put your life in the hands of your co-workers, and take their lives in yours. You hold the ability, sometimes even the responsibility, to take a life.....or to save one. You have the ability and the duty to sometimes deprive people of their freedom by taking them to jail, maybe even sending them to prison - earth-shaking, life-changing incidents for many...some for the better, some for the worse. You may (probably *will*) experience things on the job that will give you some really lovely nightmares somewhere down the line. These are things that most people have never experienced, and many never will. The public is quick to criticize you and demand your head on a platter when you make a mistake, but slow to commend you when you go "above and beyond the call" in some way. Those are some of what Retchp meant when he referred to this career as a "calling" rather than a "job". It's not about being superhuman - cops (like firefighters, soldiers and other 'high risk' occupations) are just ordinary people who've willingly chosen to shoulder an extraordinary burden.

[redhead]

... I don't know that retchp was pointing that post squarely at you.....Sorry, I posted in haste at work. I agree with everything he says, and in my situation, it is very different. Signing the waiver was not a task I took lightly and was only after a very long talk with my BI.

I agree 100% with your post and this has been a tough time as I have been in the process for 5 years. My lifestyle has changed, my friends have changed, and I have changed. I look at everything as, how would this look to the CHP down the road. I even turned down a great job offer, which I do not regret, but the reason was as simple as, that is one more employer my BI would have to contact, and a possible delay.

All that said, great post from both RETCHP and MAC.

[TheForceCHP]

redhead, i hope you stick around and decide to become an officer in the future!



In regards to the whole deferring thing, i know that at least for me the reason that i am deferring is because i will be graduating in june from school. there is also other reasons that make this an even better choice for me, but in the end if i was already done with school then i would be going in may.

[dw]

Well said, retchp and Mac.