OHTA.ca

Something that has tweaked my interest and puzzled me ever since registering on this website and with the bombardment of advertisements on the TV, Radio, Internet etc for companies willing to help you beat your Traffic tickets - a common thread I've noticed is most of these companies are run by, or staffed by former police officers.

1) What makes an active or retired (because of age) police officer to give up what they've trained for to peruse a completely different career path helping the every day civilian beat their traffic tickets? Is it the money? Is it the working schedule? Is it that they quit or were fired? What drives an active police officer to make the switch? Obviously each case is unique, but I am really curious why so many make the switch and what some of the reasons would be.

2) In the industry, do active police offers respect those that leave and become Paralegals / Former Police Officers helping civilians beat their tickets? This has been something thats long plagued my curious mind. What is the working atmosphere like? Is it one of mutual respect, or one of animosity where one side see's the others as "traders" or whatever....

Really interested to know about this - I am sure that there are a lot of good reasons given the abundance of companies willing to help you beat your traffic ticket.

1) Many are retired, some may have quit. I think very few were fired, since something warranting termination from police employment would probably make working in a legal field difficult. It's not a bad career if you already have a pension, good money for even better hours (especially for ex shift workers).

2) Depends on the person, much like any other paralegal/lawyer. Most are polite and professional and get the same back. Officers understand not to take what happens in Court personally. I've seen several approach officers after a trial and provide advice on how they could make their case stronger next time, which I think shows some class.

I think there are any number of reasons why people quit policing - stress, tired of shift work, naturally retired, fed up, got in trouble, etc. For these people, moving into something like being a paralegal is a logical move because it allows the (former) officer to capitalize on their years of experience in the justice system. This can be a tremendous asset for them and for their clients and if they've been in policing a long time they may feel they can't or don't want to start over in another field.

I think that some officers view this as "going over to the dark side", but most officers, in my experience, understand that people who practice defence, like the police themselves, are each a necessary component of our system and if people are honest and ethical, then the roles are somewhat interchangeable. As Stanton said, this generally leads to a pretty good relationship between police and defence lawyers/paralegals.

One thing I would point out is that there are actually not that many people who leave policing and become paralegals, and even fewer who leave to become lawyers. Although companies, like X-Copper, advertise that they employ ex police officers (and they do), that doesn't mean that everybody who works there is one.

Thats some great feedback thanks guys.