Originally posted by EagleEyes
Ok, well, ill make this short and to the point!
Ill be moving to Orlando, Florida at the end of this month. I have been thinking about becoming a Police officer since i graduated high school. I turned 20 a couple months ago, and i was wondering what is the first step i need to take. I know a lot of AHers are policemen. So any and all info would be greatly appreciated!!
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First off not everyone is cut out to be a cop, and competition is very tough. On average only 3% of those who apply get hired, keep in mind you'll need to be better than 97 other applicants, you gotta work / prepare harder then they do, and be better than they are. Its tough, but can be done.
If your credit is bad, or you've been fired from a job n the past 2 years or have any civil cases pending... you can apply, but don't expect to get hired. Also be sure you're in excellent physical condition at the time you apply.
Basically ask yourself if your life reflects "responsibility"; living within your means, good job history, only minor contacts with Johnny Law, your neighbors don't hate you, you haven't eaten yourself into a blob.
A 2 year CJ degree is a waste of time, the academy will give you almost all those credits anyway, that time would be better spent in the military reserve. Degrees come in handy when it comes time to promote beyond Sgt.
Tests you'll need to ace:
Written - not too hard.
Oral interview - military service usually gets you extra points here.
Physical agility test - (sometimes called 1st phase medical).. running an obstacle course for time with fences, dummy drag, arrest simulator etc
Physical evaluation - (2nd phase) finger in sphincter, heart rate, lung capacity, general stress tests... they're looking for any medical reason to DQ you from hire.
Psychological written - usually this is the MMPI, "flags" which test logic, an IQ evaluation.
Psychological interview - this is where the head Dr goes over your written results, asks you what color your crap is.. this is very subjective, if the Dr doesn't like you or sees a bump in your personality they can DQ you for just about any reason.
If you pass these, then comes a background check; this is where they find out if your neighbors hate you, you mislead them about about anything, what your x-gfs have to say about you. These take months.
Once all these are behind you, by law Depts must rank applicants by number.. some Fed ADA thing... depending on where you place on the list, how many they're hiring, room in the academy.. they might offer you a job.
Once hired, there's an academy to pass (usually 18-20 weeks), field training (eh 5-6 months) and completion of "probation" which can be a year to 18 months. During probation you can be fired at any time without cause, after probation you have rights, like in Ca where officers have AB301 rights.
If I were you: I'd see a military recruiter and see what they offer you in the RESERVES. I was stupid in turning down chopper flight training (should have taken them up on that grrrr) but if you can get a kick arse job like that jump on it, a police applicant with flight training is worth gold. After boot camp / school you can apply to police depts who will take a military guy before a 4 year degree college guy. Besides that military training will go a long way towards getting you ready for the academy / field training, and it helps the Dept during the background since the military has already looked into who you are.
I did it the reserve military way and got hired at just under 21, which at the time made me the youngest sworn on the dept..
If you get hired, you will be rewarded with the funnest job on the planet; you get paid good $$ to drive like a maniac, carry a gun, hunt criminals, fight bad guys... all that fun stuff. The best perk by far are the chicks, that uniform will get you laid 5 days a week... but don't mention this when they ask you "So why do you want to work here"..heh
