No, that’s not correct. The most dangerous jobs in the US are Logger and Commercial Fisherman. They trade places for number one and two.
Their deaths are just considered part of the job, nothing heroic and no parades. Remember them when you sit down for crab dinner or buy a 2X4 next time.
Police officer isn’t even in the top 10 dangerous vocations. But it is way up on the list of jobs where you can retire early.
If you run into a burning building to save people, you’re a hero. I don’t care if you find it thrilling or not.
It’s easier to have the public worship them than to pay them a decent wage with decent conditions, same goes for armed services.
^^ Not true at all. Add up the pay, the benefits, the ability to retire at 50 (or even younger) and collect a pension for longer than the number of years worked. Some small town cops might be under paid, bit not state or city cops.
That’s the most common cause of death for just about every occupation, except maybe drug dealer, prostitute, or Mafia boss, I guess. Are you talking about on-duty, or all the time?
As for the idea that my dad might die on the job, that never occurred to me until I was in junior high and someone asked me about it. You don’t think about it; really, you don’t.
This is on duty heart attacks - sorry, should have clarified!
I have and still do work daily with both police officers and firefighters. The reasons they got into their jobs vary dramatically. Some did it for the thrill, some for the benefits, some saw it as a stable career. In all fields where people have some measure of authority you can find those who like the power, and first responders are no exception.
I think what elevates their status to hero level, generally speaking, is that they are the ones going into dangerous situations while the rest of us are trying to get as far away as possible. Most of us don’t have jobs where people hate us or want to do us harm. I guess I cut them a bit of slack in the area of cynicism given the fact that they see just how horrible people can be to each other.
I’ve always suspected the vice principal at my high school was a part time cop because he liked pushing people around but didn’t like that whole having to deal with dangerous people thing. I also thought he liked the fact no student could touch him because you think hitting a school official is bad, imagine if you hit a cop? Admittedly I didn’t like him because he made up an excuse to give me detention(I was one of the good kids but I figure he found some excuse to be mad at me.) but then again he would repeatedly make passes at least one girl. (Which was so bad that her family left town. Yes, I knew the family.) I know another one of the parents of another good kid was pissed over a made up detention(don’t know the details.) Come to think of it I think my school fired him when he thought he should pick a fight and push his authority. Unfortunately he did that with the state dept. of education.
Come to think of it there was another part time cop at my school that mostly worked as a teacher. If my brother was to be believed he would occasionally assault students.(Admittedly trouble makers but my school was a small one so a trouble maker here would be nothing at a bigger, nasty school.) Anyway cops like that give other cops a bad name.
Thanks everyone, for you responses. I wasn’t so much looking for examples of other just as dangerous jobs. I agree that cops and firefighters put themselves in perilous situations all the time and I’m glad we have people who can do that. However, I think their reasons are self serving - they get to hunt down, capture and bully people they don’t like (including law abiding citizens along the way) and insert themselves into high drama situations which for many is just the adrenalin rush they crave. We certainly need these people in their jobs because most of us don’t want to do it. I don’t believe that they sacrifice nearly as much as popular culture would like us to believe. I do think that many of them deserve a pay raise in some areas of the country (Boston is an example).
I always think these kind of generalisations say rather more about the person making them than the group they’re targeted towards.
I agree that the word is used too much and rarely correctly. I spent 11 years on active duty in the Navy, and I did absolutely NOTHING that was remotely heroic, yet there are those who would grant me the title because I wore a uniform. Some people are too quick and loose with the honor.
I’ve always seen a hero as someone who took action above and beyond what the average person would do, without regard for self but only for the good of another. If you jump into a freezing river and rescue someone who fell thru the ice, you’re a hero. If you toss a swim ring to a flailing kid in a pool, not so much… To be a hero, ya gotta commit!
Well, this average person would not join the Navy because I am not willing to take even the slight chance of being sent into a warzone for the good of another.
I have no idea where you are but in most places I know hitting an on duty school official is a hell of a lot worse legally than hitting an off duty part time officer. And a hell of a lot easier to get a conviction.
I don’t know nearly as many cops, but I have met quite a few assholes in that vocation. Any job in security seems to attract bullies and assholes, plus the job seems to make people more insular and even worse in those traits.
Also the domestic violence rates among police is 2-4x higher (or possibly more) than among non-police. A guy who gives out traffic tickets or arrests people for underage drinking all day then goes home and beats his wife and kids is not a hero.
http://www.purpleberets.org/violence_police_families.html
Granted a lot of cops aren’t assholes, and I’m glad for that. However denying this isn’t helping.
The mindless worship of the military after 9/11 is more bothersome than the worship of police and firefighters. It may be hyperbole, but mindless worship of the military and nationalism are early signs of fascism. Plus it makes it harder to have democratic input about government policy when everyone is told to shut their mouths and wave their flags.
I guess ‘hero’ is a label for anyone who puts themselves in a career where they are in danger of being hurt by other people, or being hurt to protect other people is a hero. Under that guise a lot of vocations occasionally involve heroic acts. Teachers can be heroic if a school shooter comes in.
I would have never guessed this. (Since I was always under the impression you always get in trouble if you touch a cop regardless of the circumstances.) Anyway looking it up for here in Mass turns out both are covered by laws for “Assault and battery on a public employee”. You’re right though, it turns out the law is the same for knowingly assaulting an on duty school official as hitting an on duty cop. (And since he wasn’t acting as a cop at the time I guess you’d get in trouble for touching the VP.) Anyway learned something new. (Of course I don’t want people to get the impression all cops are scumbags like that guy. I mean a couple of the neighbors are cops and they’re ok. However it’s also true that not all of them are heroes and there are some I wouldn’t trust at all.)
I agree. Well, maybe not more bothersome but at least as bothersome.
I have a cousin in California who is a firefighter. He’s very professional, and I would not classify him as a “thrill-seeker.”
That said, there are a lot of bad cops out there – and maybe some oddball firemen, but I’ve not heard too much about those. There was one cop where I grew up in West Texas who was an infamous bully. Everyone seemed to have a story about an encounter with this guy, particularly high-school students, whom he seemed really to hate. I never encountered him myself, because shortly before I started driving, he committed suicide by running head-on into a brick wall at maximum speed.
I’d say that as many people have a negative view of both groups as there are hero-worshippers and groupies. There’s 9/11 but that one event doesn’t really take away from the numerous media scandals about bad cops, most centered around cowardice. As far as firefighters, it seems every time I hear about the CFD on the news it’s a new racism scandal, and outside the news it’s rumors of rampant nepotism.