How often, in a small town, would a cop generally be put in a position that calls for deadly force? What kind?

of toll does this take on the individual? Would you liken it to a doctor/ nurse that couldnt save a patient, effect wise? I ask this because im currently considering a law enforcement career (small town?) but I'm worried about the mental strain put on cops, especially in situations involving deadly force... my other choice, career wise, would be medical...but, if i cant handle the thought of a patient dying on me, do i have ANY business in a career where i may have to take anothers life? I'm second guessing myself here... I would like to use law enfocement as a stepping stone to becoming a game warden, ideally, but if that falls through, with an Associates in Park Management/ Law Enfocement, i could pretty much be confined to police work. Sorry for the length of this, im just rather confused.

Any help is greatly appreciated. And, I'm not weak, dont think that...just wondering what strain this would put on personal time/ life.

LMN, thanks for the opinion...thanks to all of you, but lmn especially...i found the information very useful...the problem is, game warden jobs are very hard to come by, and experience as an officer puts you higher up the ladder when testing/ interviews come around.

Being a police officer, anywhere, is not a career field to enter if you have ANY doubts about your abilities to perform any aspect of your duties. This especially applies to the use of force, and deadly force.

A deadly force encounter means you need to take immediate action to save your own life (usually), the life of another officer, or the life of a civillian. You cannot hesitate when the time comes, or the wrong person dies.

I would not recommend you take this avenue. It's nothing to be ashamed of, most people do not have the psychological capacity to kill another human being. Wouldn't it be nice to go to your grave saying that you never took another's life?

If you want to be a Game Warden, you can go directly into a parks service position, no need to be a street cop first.
Persue what you really want to do, don't waste precious time trying to do something you aren't comfortable doing.

Not being able to save a patient who is dying or dies from reasons out of your control is very different from pulling the trigger on another human, often in a split second decision, and taking that persons life. While they both may feel sorrow after, the cop is definitely in a different situation. He took a persons life and will forever second guess if what he did was right. A highly trained nurse or doctor will know they did their best and it was out of their control and while they may feel sorrow, they would not suffer the same mental strain.

A cop in a small town would naturally not face the same number of situations where deadly force would be neccessary, but most cops killed come from smaller departments. Maybe due to rural areas with limited back up, poor training, criminals more apt to know he is alone and far from help etc etc.

Fortunately, the vast majority of a cops never come close to what you fear. Yes, the risk is there that you may have to take a life, but the odds of it are very small. However, if there is any doubt that you could not do it, you should not take the job. You will only end up hurt or dead. You have to know, without a doubt, that you can do as you are trained to defend yourself or others. That is your ultimate job.

Forget about the life and death call. As a police officer you will be dealing with people on the worst day of their lives. Either you are taking their freedom or something else away or they are a victim of a crime. Day in and day out you will be dealing with the dregs of western society. The strain of that day after day is what wears cops down. A shoot/don't shoot situation may arise once in a lifetime.

To be honest, in most small towns a cop will most likely go through his entire life without EVER firing his gun at anyone. Even in big cities you won't find more than a handfull of cops who've ever killed anyone.

Richard

Having to use deadly force is rough on you. The only things that are rougher in my opinion is to stand by and watch someone else get hurt by a criminal when you have the means to stop it or allowing yourself to be hurt or killed because you lack the fortitude to defend yourself.
Whether you work in a big town or small, the odds of you being put in a deadly force situation are pretty much the same. The only real difference is that the smaller the town you work in the more likely it is that the person you might have to shoot will be someone you know.

You need to try to settle these things in your heart before you pin on a badge.