Question

So. TLDR - I think I want to quit law enforcement after only about 2 months in the street because I dosent feel it aligns with my career goals.

To get deeper. I got sworn into my local academy in July of last year, graduated in early December.

I got hired with a city PD who is known for not necessarily being the best agency due to low pay, and high workload.

I knew going in that eventually I would be leaving, for another department or a totally different career path (Fire Department/EMS, or MD) To add to this, I have been a paid paramedic prior to LE, and LOVED my job, not a second felt like work, and got paid more.

Now that I have been on the street, finished FTO. I found that it just didnt get better. Thoughts about quitting in the academy just to do the nature of LE, and then during FTO I felt like PD was more of a how can we get away with this so we dont get stuck here all night, rather than actually helping anyone. Not necessarily bad things, just trying to dodge stuff that we would have to do hours on hours of paperwork for… which I never found enjoyable either. I decided to finish FTO and see what it was like by myself, and I honestly didnt like it much more. I found that I was enjoying the status, the uniform, the ability to do my own investigations and work, but still wasnt enjoying the purpose.

Most people I ask around me say, stick it out, it will get better. Just wait the year of probation and you can transfer to another department. Which all are valid arguments.

My fear is if I do wait to transfer, I feel like I would be wasting a year, that I could be working on myself, wanting to get better as a paramedic, or starting up my college again to secure a Bachelors. My other fear is if I transfer, if I find it hard to find the “purpose” of LE work, how am I supposed to enjoy a slower/less busy police job with the same schedule?

So… with that being said, my plan if I were to quit tomorrow would be to apply back to college, continue my high paying EMS jobs per diem, and take a breather (ive done all this and im only 21) to figure myself out. The end goal is to wait for a career fire department to hire me as im on multiple civil service lists for them.

Any and all input would be great. I feel like the people close to me dont necessarily worry about what I like to do more about them. Id love to hear others experiences.