Dr. O'Connor

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by decimon, Dec 22, 2005.

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  1. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    "years of practical experience as a uniformed officer, contractor, and/or civilian employee in various criminal justice, military, and government agencies"

    That seems very carefully worded....so was he a cop? If so...there goes my b!tchofthethread.....oh well, I'll bet he isn't married....:D

    Here I sit...green in envy.
     
  2. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

    Shouldn't that be blue with envy? :)
     
  3. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    You did your professor? Now, that's impressive. I hope she didn't die as a result of your, um, doing her. :D
     
  4. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    Of course not. Anyone with real police experience wouldn't be so vague.
     
  5. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    Well....um.....unless he works for the federal government in a quasi-police type role.....like the Federal Protective Service, the Park Service, the Postal Police, etc. They tend to be vague about their jobs.:D
     
  6. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    Re: Re: Dr. O'Connor

    I didn't get that impression. He is a professor so he criticises everything, but if you cut the whining, the info he gives is mostly positive (and informative).
     
  7. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    I said real police experience. ;)
     
  8. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member


    hahaha.....

    hang on let me put on my waders....it's about to get deep.:p

    BTW...I know some FPS guys....talk about a cake job...sheesh.

    As for the postal police, at least the FPS can always point at them and say "at least we do more than they do".....:D
     
  9. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    I can kid about them without guilt, since the best man at my wedding is FPS. He was in Boston, and is now in Portland, Maine. Yeah, FPS in Maine. Add some ice cream to that cake. :D

    I'm still not certain what the Postal Police do. Every time I've had to call them, ranging from arresting a letter carrier who just bought heroin, to MVA's where a mailbox was taken-out, the Postal Inspectors have always responded. I have yet to see a Postal Police vehicle outside the South Boston Postal Annex.
     
  10. Tireman4

    Tireman4 member

    Funny Steve,

    LOL. I took a political science course with her at North Carolina Wesleyan. It was in the Spring of 1992 during the presidental primaries.
     
  11. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    As far as I know the Postal Police are seperate than the Postal Inspectors...the Postal Police being a type of quasi-security operation and the Inspectors being investigations.
     
  12. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    The last I checked (probably 15 years ago), you had to do time as a letter carrier before you could apply to the Postal Police.

    When I was on the Drug Unit, we worked with the Postal Inspectors many times, and I can't say enough about them. They're a top-notch law enforcement agency, and have an incredible conviction rate.
     
  13. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    Yep...the smartest bunch of mailman cops in the world. ;)
     
  14. Of all the federal LE agencies I've come into contact with, the Postal Inspectors are probably the only agency where I can't rattle off the names of at least three utter, complete clowns from their ranks. No small accomplishment.

    Federal trivia: If the National Park Service had to report its crime statistics as if it were a city, it's Uniform Crime Reports stats would make the park system one of the most crime-ridden cities in America. And, if you knew half of what goes on in 'em, you'd be terrified to ever take your family to a "real" national park. Folks who think it isn't real "cop work" have never had the pleasure of dealing with Part I crimes in an environment where not only is your backup an hour or more away, but will need to be awakened at home by the dispatcher.
     
  15. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    Just to clarify...this is just good natured ribbing...I have nothing but respect for teh Postal Inspectors, Park Police, FPS, Secret Service Uniform Division, etc.......We're all one family.;)
     
  16. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    I'll have to take your word for it, since the only NPS Rangers I've ever dealt with are at the Charlestown Navy Yard, and they don't seem to do a whole lot, other than guard the USS Constitution and the museum ship Cassin Young.

    As friendorfoe mentioned, this is all good natured ribbing. The best man at my wedding is FPS, and we'd always get on each other. I'd tell him to not get hurt in the scrum for the most comfy couch at the Tip O'Neil Building, and he'd tell me to go clean the puke out of the back of my cruiser. :D
     
  17. ebbwvale

    ebbwvale Member

    It is interesting in my country that the Criminal Justice faculty seems to be largely constituted by people who have never got their feet wet. It is a most interesting profession. Seemingly, everybody is an expert on it except the practitioners.

    These experts were absent on Xmas Eve at about 2300hrs when I had a very large and fit, if mentally ill, professional kick boxer who I was inviting to ride with me to the hospital. He was apt to decline, but fortunately, the spirit of Xmas prevailed in the end.

    The point is that criminal justice is no different from most professions. If you do it, you are more likely to know it. Operational experience and formal education is an unbeatable combination. Distance learning is the only way I could cope with academic professional development and meet my shift requirements. I would think that most police with unpredictable shift patterns could only do DL.

    My agency has moved to CBTs for most inservice training. This is easier to meet training requirements for new procedures and legislation. I figure that the fact that agencies are moving to distance ed for core inservice training is a good indicator that DL will dominate education and training in this profession. DL degrees must have value, if internal training is structured on CBTs.

    How many other agencies are using CBT.'s in their training?
     
  18. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    I'm not 100% sure what you mean by "CBT" but as for CEU or (Continuing Education) my dept pretty much coordinates this towards the end of the year, resulting in 6 day work weeks, tired troops and grumpy supervisors....and the best part? It's mandated....and right around the holidays too.

    As for DL being the only way to get an education while in police work...this is true in my case. I am on call 24/7, and still hold down a 3pm to 11pm shift. I may be transferred to another shift with little or no warning and occasionally have to pick up day and deep night assignments......

    Though I have written a number of complaints about Ashworth College, had it not been for them I probably never would have gone back to school. I was up late one night, thinking about how I needed to get back into school but didn't see a way to do so when their advertisement came on the T.V......I half heartedly gave them a call and before I knew it, I was in school.

    A few months later I looked around a Barnes and Nobles and found Dr. Bear's Guide to Distance Learning. I bought it and read the thing cover to cover...with the exception of the huge index of schools, but I did quickly look to see if my school was on his naughty or nice list.....I was relieved to see that DETC was considered adequate if not the best accreditation.

    I then later enrolled in Kaplan University's College for Professional Studies, which a year later began a "teach out" phase and has since cut it's staff down to such a point that nobody bothers to answer their phone....and found that DETC wouldn't cut it within the state that I live as acceptable higher education by the licensing board since they only recognize RA....which though ignorant on their behalf caused me great panic and despair.

    Along come the knowledgeable and helpful people of www.degreeinfo.com who Dr. Conner refers to as "lost souls" and the member Gregg DesElms tells me of Southwestern College who initially refused my DETC credits about 2 or 3 times when speaking with an enrollment counselor, but upon them actually receiving an application, pulled out their magical book and behold...they had a change of heart. The rest is down hill. I will graduate with a RA BSCJ next year sometime and will enroll in a RA MBA program at my soon to be favorite school ....St. Josephs of Maine....and may get a second MS degree in CJ......

    So in a short time I went from "probably not going to get a degree" blue collar "only want to be a cop" to "which graduate school will give me the most flexibility?"

    So thanks www.degreeinfo.com and everyone on this board....you "lost souls" have changed MY life.

    Thanks Dr. Bear for your work in Distance Education, you have changed my life.

    Thanks Gregg DesElms....your suggestions and guidance have changed my life.

    Thanks Ashworth College....your cheesy ads and pushy sales tactics had me on my way to a higher education before I could complete the date on my check.....and I don't regret it.

    Dr. O'Conner can look down his pointy nose at distance learning and call cops with street cred and an MS "interlopers" but all this does highlight his lack of experience in the street (where real criminal justice begins). He may have been a cop at one time...but if so, he needs to remember the hours, the stress on oneself and their family and how hard it is to get back in school. Upon reading his background though....it's hard to say if he was ever a cop....(we tend to stick together).

    Mumble…mumble…mumble..ivory tower…mumble

    Rant complete.
     
  19. There's the Park Service, and then there's the PARK SERVICE. West of the Mississippi & in some of the "exclusive jurisdiction" areas it's a whole different world. At some of the smaller parks ( some of the comparatively miniscule National Military Parks, for example) a ranger might go months without writing a ticket, years between arrests. By comparison, Yosemite's activity merits its own jail and its own U.S. Magistrate, courtroom, and AUSA at the Valley Floor, and all are running above capacity.
    Understood and agreed. Every week I hear about how I need a wheelchair lift on my car to accomodate my arrestees (benefits fraud being the Flavor of the Day at my current agency.) My friends hear me describe their role as "55mph meter maid." Unfortunately, I can confirm that we all bleed the same color.
     
  20. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

    He's not looking down his nose at DL or cops. Ya gotta read what's there, guy.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 28, 2005

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