Like you wrote, pay is probably different. Although many small police departments pay more than larger police departments. Promotion potential is a big difference. There will naturally always be more promotion potential in larger police departments. Other issues such as better or newer equipment, training opportunities, etc. also depend on the department. Some smaller departments have better or newer equipment than some larger departments. Some smaller departments pay their officers to go to more training than some larger departments and vice-versa. Depending, your duties could be more vaired in a smaller department. For example, in a larger department, the first responding officer might just take a preliminary report on an incident, and if the incident is somewhat serious, detectives might handle any follow-up investigation. In a smaller department, the first responding officer might also be responsible for follow-up investigations, etc. The same might hold true for collecting and processing evidence, etc. Whether it is better to work for a smaller police department or a larger police department depends on the individual department, but also on your personal preferences.
