Travel Ninja – Police Officer Spotlight!

I’m pleased to introduce you to a friend of mine, Carlos Jackson. I’ve known him for almost 20 years and it’s always wonderful to see your friends become successful in their lives. As a police officer in Los Angeles he constantly puts his life on the line to protect people he doesn’t know, and I think you’ll find how travel fits into his job interesting.

 Not many people probably think police officers have to travel for work yet you do. Can you explain what your job entails?

 My job entails tracking, locating and apprehending fugitives. I also do backgrounds for the department personnel so this requires to me travel as well. Many traditional officers (patrol) do not travel and most Detectives do not travel. I work like the U.S. Marshals, which means I travel to apprehend my fugitives.

 

2. How did you get into this type of police work?

This type of work has always been my passion since I was a child. My father was a corrections officer in NY. I am not even sure that was what totally inspired me but it played a major roll. I like to help those who can not help themselves, it always seemed to be a calling for me. It wasn’t about the money or actually even the power, it’s the sense of being part of one of the good guys and making a difference.

 

3. How often does your job take you away from your family? 

My job pulls me away from the family often on a daily basis mainly due to long hours. We work any where from 8 to 18 hours a day sometimes. I travel about once a month for 2 to 3 days at a time and most of my time away is due to the day to day grind.

4. How far have you had to travel for your job?

I have traveled all over the country for the job. I have not left the country as of yet, but we have teams that do. I have located fugitives out of the country, but the “Travel Teams” normally handle those cases due to my heavy case load and time.

 

5. Do you have down time after you catch your fugitives? What do you like to do to unwind? 

I like to smoke cigars so I usually look for new cigar lounges in whatever city we end up in.

 

5. How do you think your job and the travel involved impacts your family?

The travel due to my job can hinder  the family life, but I don’t let it. I make sure when I am home I am home. I do miss spending time with my son the way I used to but he does understand and we make up for it. If I miss his practices during the week I make the game days. The wife understands the grind and we try to make date nights when we can.

6. Has any of the recent attacks on police made you hesitant to do your job?

The attacks on police have always been an issue.  I stay safe all of the time and make sure my eyes are open. Most people support police despite what the media promotes.

 

 

7. As an officer are you able to travel with your gun when you are not working?

 Yes I can travel with my firearm in all 50 states. I can not carry on the plane however without special permission. HR 218 (Federal law passed by Bush Jr.) affords us this right/privilege.

 

 

8. Lastly, what are some misconceptions about police officers you wish would go away?

The misconceptions about police is that we are all bad.  Do people think that we want to hurt people, be caught on tape, be federally prosecuted and lose our families and freedoms? Cops are human too and are fallible like anyone else in any other profession. We feel pain, we have emotions, we bleed, we suffer behind closed doors.

We love our jobs, we love protecting others and we don’t wake up wanting to be on YouTube for hurting someone. Most mistakes are in the split second moment in a very bad situation.  When a tragedy happens our society turns into “Monday Morning Quarterbacks”. It is very easy to say how cops should have handled something or how you would have handled something from the comfort of the couch.

The media never follows the cop who hurt someone by mistake to see the impact that has on them. Most cops sign up to leave their own families everyday to protect yours. How many people in this world have a job like that which is so selfless? Cops sign up to make a difference, are there bad apples of course, but most of the apples and shinny and ripe ready to make a difference for the body of society. I really can go on for days about this, but I think this sums it up for now.

Did you know there were cops that traveled for their jobs?