If the worries of AI leading to Universal Basic Income(UBI) prove to be realistic it stands to reason that the need for higher police department staffing will be universal and exponential.

The COVID crisis provided a real world glimpse of what the country will look like when the population stops going to work, receives checks from the government, and has too much time on their hands.

The homicide rate went up 30%.

Car theft went up.

Covid didn’t see an increase in robberies and aggravated assault because of restrictions about being in public. That won’t be the case with UBI.

Drunk driving? Drugged driving? When you don’t have anywhere to be tomorrow morning you might as well enjoy yourself.

Traffic control will become a full time job.

Anonymous wrote:Why not just take a fast food / retail job. Same money, less stress, faster and higher growth potential.

Did you see that Amazon expects to replace more than 500,000 distribution center employees with robots? They also announced this week that they are cutting 14,000 corporate jobs.

Amazon is just the beginning, there were more announcements this week.

October 30, 2025: General Motors is laying off thousands of workers across multiple electric vehicle and battery plants in the U.S. -around 1,200 employees at its EV factory in Detroit.

October 29, 2025: Paramount will lay off roughly 2,000 workers across the media company.

October 28, 2025: UPS announced layoffs of 48,000 employees—14,000 in management positions and 34,000 in operations roles.

October 27, 2025: General Motors has let go of over 200 salaried employees, mainly CAD engineers, at its Michigan tech campus.

October 25, 2025: Target will lay off around 1,000 employees.

Here’s an Axios article about AI:

Behind the Curtain: How an AI job apocalypse unfolds

“All of this amplifies publicly what we keep hearing from CEOs privately. Almost every company is planning to slow hiring in the short term, and operate with much smaller human workforces in the future.”

https://www.axios.com/2025/10/29/ai-jobs-apocalypse-navigate?utm

Care to guess which careers haven’t announced RIFs, furloughs, layoffs and AI replacement strategies? That would be state, county and local law enforcement and other local first responder positions.

Entry level positions for many white collar jobs are drying up for the 21+ year old college graduates. The classes of 2024 and 2025 graduated into a tough, deteriorating economy. They face competition from out of work, older applicants with years of applicable job experience on their resumes. Worst of all, as noted above, companies are working towards replacing entry level positions with AI. These market conditions won’t improve for the class of 2026 and they’ll only get worse for each of the classes to follow.

Almost every law enforcement job opening is entry level. AI can’t replace patrol officers. Students need to come to grips with the fact that AI will be an enormous disrupter for many (most?) professions. A 15-year-old student in 2025-26 could face a massive U.S. unemployment rate by the time they’re old enough to buy their first “legal” adult beverage. Unfortunately, these young people need to start preparing for these future disruptions now.

These are informative videos for those interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement.



This is a longer video but it shows a day in the life of a police officer. It’s just a standard day with no crazy calls, like most days in law enforcement.



This video does a good job presenting the good and the bad of police work.



This video is about the best and worst jobs in law enforcement.

Anonymous wrote:This is what you would make working for the Montgomery County PD if you can pass the polygraph, background check and physical requirements. The benefits are also listed below.

HIRING BONUS: $20,000

The starting salary for police officer candidates is $70,056 a year. Starting salaries based on police or military police experience:

$72,511* – 1 year experience
$75,047*– 2 years experience
$77,674*– 3 years experience
$80,393*– 4 years experience
$83,211*– 5 years experience

Montgomery County Government offers a competitive salary and benefits package.

4-day work week for patrol officers

Permanent shift schedules

Differential pay for bilingual skills upon certification (average $4,160-$8,320 per year, based on fluency and hours worked)

Pay differential for evening and night shifts (average $4,160-$8,840 per year, based on shift hours worked)

Paid Holidays, Accrued Sick, Annual, and Compensatory Leave

Take-home car program

Property Tax Credit: $2,500 for Montgomery County Residents

All uniforms supplied, including cleaning and alteration

All leather goods supplied, including boots and shoes

Liberal 25-year retirement plan/deferred compensation plan

Paid leave to attend military training (25 days per year*)

Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and prescription drug plans

Medical catastrophe benefits

Employee assistance programs

Professional improvement leave

Workers’ compensation insurance

College tuition assistance for continuing education

Promotional opportunities

Extensive in-service training and specialized career opportunities

Credit union membership

What would the overtime credit calculation be for the first year at MoCo PD? Here’s an update to the OP.

Salary: $70,000

Bonus: $20,000

Late shift pay differential: $6,000

10 overtime hours a week: $25,240

Total compensation: $ 121,240

Tax credit for overtime: $2,019

I’d say that’s a decent first year fresh out of high school. It would be higher if a new officer came in after time in the military, or with a college degree.

Departments are always hiring. Working outside of D.C. isn’t exactly dangerous. It’s not the South Side of Chicago.

Many companies offer discounts to first responders.

https://www.police1.com/off-duty/30-discounts-for-law-enforcement-officers

In another section of DCUM there is a debate about who gets overtime tax benefits and how large the average benefit is. It appears law enforcement disproportionately benefits from the new tax program for overtime pay.

If a law enforcement officer has a salary of $80,000 and works 50 hours a week they earn $109,000. When they file their income taxes they would receive a $2,308 income tax benefit.

https://ottcalculator.com/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are 10 things a young person should consider if they’re thinking about a career in law enforcement.

https://www.police1.com/police-jobs-and-careers/articles/10-things-teens-who-want-to-be-cops-can-do-to-start-on-the-right-path-y5SMHaOkHW2tqjko/

Did you know that the government is reducing pay increases for federal workers, EXCEPT law enforcement?

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/2026-special-rates-for-certain-law-enforcement-personnel/

I’m forwarding the links to my son; in the first link’s article, he has most of those steps under his belt. Thank you.

I’m glad you think something might be helpful for your son. You might want to send him this video as well.

Anonymous wrote:Here are 10 things a young person should consider if they’re thinking about a career in law enforcement.

https://www.police1.com/police-jobs-and-careers/articles/10-things-teens-who-want-to-be-cops-can-do-to-start-on-the-right-path-y5SMHaOkHW2tqjko/

Did you know that the government is reducing pay increases for federal workers, EXCEPT law enforcement?

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/2026-special-rates-for-certain-law-enforcement-personnel/

I’m forwarding the links to my son; in the first link’s article, he has most of those steps under his belt. Thank you.

Here are 10 things a young person should consider if they’re thinking about a career in law enforcement.

https://www.police1.com/police-jobs-and-careers/articles/10-things-teens-who-want-to-be-cops-can-do-to-start-on-the-right-path-y5SMHaOkHW2tqjko/

Did you know that the government is reducing pay increases for federal workers, EXCEPT law enforcement?

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/2026-special-rates-for-certain-law-enforcement-personnel/

Have any federal law enforcement officers been laid off this year?

Anonymous wrote:Just 3 minutes in on the Video and i want to go through training just to get in shape and learn self defense skills!!

Wait until Taser training!

Anonymous wrote:Just 3 minutes in on the Video and i want to go through training just to get in shape and learn self defense skills!!

And then you got to the point where everyone gets maced. Do you still want to go through the training? HAHAHA!

Just 3 minutes in on the Video and i want to go through training just to get in shape and learn self defense skills!!

Anonymous wrote:So what jobs would someone get after retiring from MPD in their 40’s? I see this often with military as well where the skills they learned in don’t count for much out.

Here’s a local former law enforcement officer that helps other law enforcement transition to private sector life.

One of the main law enforcement academies a new recruit would attend is the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy in Ashburn. They service Alexandria PD, Arlington PD, Fairfax PD, Falls Church PD, George Mason University PD, Leesburg PD, Loudoun County SO, Manassas PD, Manassas Park PD, Metropolitan Transit PD, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority PD, Northern Virginia Community College PD and Purcellville PD.

Here is a recent graduating class video from their page. It gives people a glimpse into what a law enforcement academy looks like. I believe it’s five days a week for six months before officers are released to their departments for additional organization specific training. Then they transition to field training for a few months with their Field Training Officer(FTO) until they are released to patrol independently.