Best advice you ever got...

[Elmer Watson]

On my first shift at the county jail fresh out of the academy my duty Sgt. said "Never trust a prisoner trustee"

NRA Life Member
BOLD 864

[Trooper224]

From the military:

"Never stand when you can sit, nevers sit when you can lie down and never be awake when you can sleep."

From a now-retired officer early in my career:

"It's a good lif if you don't weaken."

From me to recruits when I was training:

"I'm not interested in excuses, suck it up and get it done."

[Elmer Watson]

If you always tell the truth you won't need a good memory snd if you play by the rules Internal Affairs won't break your chops according to my old  midnight watch commander.

[gharrod]

From my Grandpa B. : "Never put your fingers where you wouldn't put your face!"

From Dale S., an old-time convict who had been a high-dollar burglar in D.C. many years ago, on the subject of tattoos: "A tattoo ain't nothin' but another set of fingerprints that makes it easier for the cops to grab you up, or for your family to identify your corpse."

From "Tightshirt", a Lieutenant I worked with in corrections: "Retire as soon as you are eligible to. You should still be healthy enough and sane enough to pursue another career if you want to."

From myself as a shift Captain to new Correctional Officer trainees: "Working in corrections can be good experience for a young person, if you know when to quit!"

From Roger G., retired FBI agent and owner of the Private Investigator company where I worked for a couple of years, on the subject of long surveillances: "Never miss an opportunity to take a leak. Go when you can, not when you have to." 

[SFT]

Always remember that you're in charge; you just don't have to prove it every time you're out there.

[Top Kick Ken]

1.  Try to always outnumber the perps; but always have superior firepower!
2.  Remember that you must without fail go home safe at the end of your shift. 
3.  When in a fight:  Fight as if your life depends on it, cuz it most likely does! 

Funniest advice I got from a perp was... Deny, Deny, Deny and when confronted with the truth; Lie. 
(He ended up in Ft. Leavenworth) 

[aryfrosty]

From a long time Officer on my first day on the job. "You'll never know what's going on in that house until you go see. You'll never learn anything standing out here"...GBI Agent Paul Griffin in 1971. And he walked into the house with me.

"It's better to be tried by 12 than to be carried by 6"...

"Don't believe anything you hear that you can't prove...and don't believe half of what you see"...

"As soon as those street gals realize you ain't trying to get into their britches they'll give you the best information on the streets that you can get"...

My favorite: "You might find yourself in a gunfight. In nearly every gunfight somebody runs out of ammo...Don't let that someone be you."

[Texas Lawdog]

Good words to live by, especially the first one. My Dad told me that one in 1970 as a rookie deputy.

[Shotgun Franklin]

'Always eat and go to the restroom any chance you get, you never know when you'll be stuck somewhere where you can't do either.'  -Sgt Frank Walker 1977, RIP Frank

[Wiley Desperado]

Don't second guess and certainly don't mouth off about how an officer handled a situation when you weren't even there and aren't in a position to gather the facts your own self.  If you decide to violate this rule just go ahead and insert your foot in your mouth and be done with it. 

[BiGStick]

1. Treat everyone as you want to be treated.  2. Try to make everyone you make contact with, thank you. 
It was tough to do that many a time, but I think it saved me from a number of fights.

Same here. Has saved me several times as well.
It's also called "Verbal Judo". I live by the Golden Rule.
 

[Don Nix]

Ask a man twice,Tell him just once,
Then do what you came to do and dont back up.

[Eloy Santa Cruz]

From Sgt Nekelson teaching criminal law in the academy - "Never sell your badge"!

[DeaconKC]

My first shift Captain, Don Cross said "Always bet on stupidity." 22 years in Corrections and I still believe it.