Okay ladies and gentlemen, I have received numerous emails on how to become a police officer, federal agent, etc. Up until now I have tried to respond to each mail individually but truth be told it’s getting a bit time consuming, I’m repeating myself a lot and of course the longer I’m out of the game the less my advice is worth. I’ve been out of the game since February if that gives you any frame of reference to work from.
So if you want to become a cop there are a few things you absolutely need which can somewhat vary depending on your state and which agency you are applying for.
1.) You need a clean criminal background, that means absolutely no felonies, not even as a minor, no class A misdemeanors in most cases and usually no class B misdemeanors within 5 years or so of applying.
2.) In most cases any history of drug use excluding experimental use of marijuana is considered a disqualifier.
3.) In some cases bad credit can be a disqualifier to include unpaid child support, skipping out on student loans, defaulting on loans, etc.
4.) Domestic violence convictions, being committed to a mental health clinic against your will at any time, a history of any sort of psychosis (often medicated or not), poor driving record, DWI convictions, etc. can all become issues if not outright disqualifiers.
5.) An aversion to the use of firearms, yes there are people who apply who think that they can get away with not having to carry a gun or be able to carry an unloaded gun (really). Sorry, but in America all cops for the most part carry guns. This ain’t the Andy Griffith show. In fact it’s a good idea to at least get acclimated to firearms before entering any sort of police academy.
6.) You cannot have a history of convictions which may call into account issues of your character, such as stealing from previous employers, lying on other job applications to other police departments, misrepresenting your employment history (this is a biggie) getting caught lying in an interview or getting your facts confused from your application during an interview board, etc. They are looking to weed out potential liars and thieves right off the bat.
7.) Military experience can help, but don’t lean on it as a crutch. A lot of prior military people apply for police work thinking it the next logical step without really understanding why they want to become a police officer or what it is exactly to be a police officer. In other words only what they see on Cops (the television show) not all the boring report writing, training, court appearances, warrants, etc. It’s a detail oriented profession.
8.) Usually college helps. In most federal agencies a 4 year degree is a minimum qualifier and in some like the FBI you need even more, such as specialized IT skills, a law degree, etc.
9.) Don’t expect to jump into a police job and be SWAT or Detective within a year or two, it just doesn’t work like that. In larger police departments you may have a better shot at it than some smaller ones but not necessarily. If you are looking for Hollywood style cop stuff complete with shootouts and car chases police work isn’t going to be your cup of tea.
10.) You need to be in relatively good shape. For example be able to run about 1 and ½ miles in about 15 minutes depending upon your age. You should be able to do pushups, sit ups, chin ups and/or pull-ups. Be able to jump, sprint, run up stairs, etc. Even if this isn’t required in the job interview process (unlikely) it will still be part of your academy training.
11.) You have to be of good moral character. If you’re wondering what exactly that means, maybe you should consider another career.
12.) You should be able to work with all types of people in all types of situations. Ideally a problem solver with a heart to help others. If you want to be a cop because of the “power” that comes with the job, do everyone a favor and go work in a different career field.
Now for some general advice. Yes, a degree in criminal justice will absolutely help, no the major does not have to be criminal justice. I have found that police departments often will hire a business or management degree holder as fast as a criminal justice degree holder simply because a degree is only one facet of the overall makeup of the applicant. So no I do not recommend getting a criminal justice degree only to become a cop. I mean, what if it doesn’t work out? You could use that degree for other things but I like scalability and versatility in my educational background, and this is coming from a guy who got a criminal justice degree to be a cop. J
That being said a criminal justice degree does have more utility in law enforcement, security and corrections than other degrees. In fact in some police departments or jobs, such as probation or parole a criminal justice degree or degree in social work is required. So develop a plan A, B and C and see which degree makes the most sense to you then.
No I never had to shoot anyone, thank God and yes I have had to arrest people some who didn’t feel like they did anything wrong. No I didn’t leave law enforcement because of low pay but for a plethora of other reasons, mostly personal and family related. Yes law enforcement is a 24/7, 365 day a year job, expect to work nights, holidays, weekends, be on call, etc. I did it for 7 long years and missed Christmases, Thanksgivings, birthday parties (including my own) etc. Being a cop is a lifestyle, a demanding one and one that’s not for everyone, or even most people. It takes dedication to stick with both from you and your family. It is a life of sacrifice so get used to the idea of your needs being last priority if you go this route.
No you don’t need to be a “good shot” before being a cop, but again I do recommend familiarity with firearms prior to getting into an academy. Look, a gun is the least used tool a cop has but for some reason we pay an inordinate amount of attention to it, probably because of the stupid cop movies we’ve had out for decades. Remember, your #1 weapon and tool is your brain, so be prepared to use it a lot.
Yes putting yourself through academy will likely increase your chances of being hired on with a police department, it minimizes the investment risk they have to put into you to hire you but you need to be sure which departments will hire prior licensed peace officers, some police departments, especially bigger ones require you to go through their academy anyway, in which case going to academy would be a big waste of time. So exhaust those options first.
Yes there are age limits, they are varied so check with any agency you wish to apply for. Suffice to say if you’re 55 years old you may have fewer options than say a 21 year old.
No, forensics is nothing like what you see on T.V. In fact in most cases it isn’t cops doing the forensics anyway, there are teams of people who process crime scenes (in larger departments) basically documenting and tagging and bagging everything. From there the material gets processed in house in a crime lab or more often than not sent to an outside shop to be processed. For example, not every police agency has a ballistics laboratory, they share. To work as a crime scene processor often does not require you to be a cop, especially in larger departments these people are non-sworn staff with highly specialized training and guess what? They don’t interview suspects and the like such as seen on T.V. So don’t expect the gun toting, badge flashing drama, expect something more akin to a very organized chemistry class or something with lots of neato report writing.
I think that about gets it all, I’m sure I left out something but I’m spent.