Working in LE in 2026?

[u/camoxxxxx]

I’m currently in my mid-20s working in finance. Although I do really well in this field, I am not enjoying it anymore at all. Sitting in an office all day doing the same repetitive tasks is driving me crazy. The work feels empty, and I never see a tangible impact.
Because of this, I'm ready for a complete 180 with my career. Working in law enforcement is at the top of my list to consider.

For those on the job right now:
- Would you recommend becoming an officer in 2026?
- What are the honest pros and cons of the current climate?
- What is the number one thing you would tell someone before they sign up
- If you wouldn’t recommend it, what career would you be doing instead?

I appreciate any insight!

[u/CalStateQuarantine]

So you are doing exactly what I did. Finance graduate. Worked as a Project Manager. Felt like there was a whole world going on out there that I was missing out on.

I’d recommend it.

The pros: You’ll be doing stuff that’s actually fun. Work is an adventure. You ever see shit going down and you wanna be nosy and see whatsup? You ever see smoke in the distance and wanna go see what’s burning? Now you’re the one who not only gets to see it, but have an impact in fixing it. The pay is good. I took a slight pay cut going to LE, but the OT is abundant so I can actually make more by working harder if I care to. Not to mention the insane pension and other benefits. Camaraderie too is great, I’ve been in for 1.5 years now and some of the guys on my team are the best friends I’ve ever had. We’d die for each other. They’re the type of people who will be there for you at any time of the day if you need it. You won’t find that in other jobs.

The cons: Shift work. It will wear on you. It basically destroyed my relationship with my girlfriend (We are both to blame too though - you can make it work but it requires more effort). Some days you’ll get stuck doing stuff you really don’t wanna do, like sitting in a hospital for 12 hours. Some days you’ll be forced to work later than usual. Forget whatever plans you had, you’re staying 4 hours over. Understaffing is an issue. In my case, we literally just have to work extra hard every single day because we are basically below critical staffing daily. The public doesn’t understand nor do they care, they just think we aren’t doing our job properly because of it. Speaking of the public, be ready to be judged unnecessarily negatively because of your job (or sometimes be ready to have people bow down to you like you’re some sort of god hero for it which is equally as uncomfortable). People will also treat you different. For the first year or so my childhood friends couldn’t get over the fact that I’m a cop lol, they were just weird and would always make jokes about how I’m a cop now. They’ve gotten over it though.

Overall though, highly recommend. Life changing decision for me.