New Age

COPJOBS TM

NEW AGE

By Ron Morse

Reprinted from the April 1998 issue of Copjobs magazine

President Clinton gave his speech in Kansas City and addressed Social Security and the challenges and opportunities for the Twenty-first century. I do not worry about Social Security, as by the time I am old enough to be on Social Security, it will be gone. A thing they used to talk about a long time ago. I suppose I am one of the baby boomers and President Clinton advised that not until the year 2029 will I be eligible for Social Security. It seems like the distance between Earth and Mars. You know it's there, you can see it on a clear night, but you really don't plan to get there. By the time I reach the age I was supposed to draw Social Security, the age will probably have gone another ten years higher. What I think needs to be looked at right now is higher maximum age requirements.

If medical technology has advanced so much as to keep us alive longer, what are we supposed to be doing all that time? I am forty-six years old now and can't get a Federal job because the cut-off age is thirty-five. I can't work for a municipality with Civil Service because the cut-off age is thirty-five (forty-five with experience, education or a combination of both). So how many forty-six year old veterans of law enforcement are in the same predicament? Does this mean I am washed up as a cop? The opportunities are reduced dramatically, yet I still feel ready to hit the streets and take on the bad guys.

Then there is the old argument about age discrimination. How can our government dictate not to discriminate when they don't practice what they preach? Seems to me there are grounds for law suits in the future and a battle royal ahead. Maybe instead of my criminal justice degree, I should be going for a law degree just to fight my own case. I don't think I would be alone.

This is a New Age. Let's get things through at the beginning and not the end. Let's at least consider this problem and see where we can fit in today's law enforcement. After all, it is a terrible waste of talent and I , for one, do not desire to learn a new profession.