LEOs: Suggest good agencies hiring?

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  • -Z/28-

    I wanna go fast
    Dec 6, 2011
    10,649
    Harford Co
    Ok, so I am fresh out of college and now the job hunt begins. I'm looking to be a police officer. I know I good deal about the major depts in Central MD, but there seems to be a lot of competition to get into them. I see there are a lot of other county and local agencies around the rest of the state, but know little about them. Same goes for NoVa and PA.

    Do any of the LEOs on here have any knowledge or recommendation for other depts in the region? I'm not anchored to the Baltimore area or MD, and am willing to look around.

    I am planning to go to one of the upcoming open testing dates for HoCo.

    Any other advice would also be much appreciated!
     

    Name Taken

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 23, 2010
    11,891
    Central
    Baltimore City is always hiring. But be aware...it's Baltimore City.

    Baltimore County should be hiring soon....good pay...okay agency. Has a good deal of respect both in and out of the state for their work.

    MSP has classes every year....take home car is a perk. Pay scales have been frozen for years....can be stationed fairly far from home making for a long drive to work.

    MdTA good agency...pay frozen with MSP. No take home car. Enforcement isnt typical police work and is more focused on security at airport and traffic enforcement.

    MTA dont bother.

    Carroll Co. SD was hiring recently. Low pay for the area...not a great retirement but they get a take home car. Growing agency so promotions and assignments might be easy to get some assignments as a growing agency.

    Howard County Good reputation. Moral seems high. Good pay. Take home car. Relatively small agency. Best paint scheme in the Baltimore area for their cars.


    In all honesty the best bet is to apply for several you are interested in. Do some ride alongs with depts. you are serious with. This will give you a feel for what they do, their mission, and their equipment.

    Also depending on how much money you need dont rule out some of the small depts. like colleges to get your foot in the door.
     

    K31

    "Part of that Ultra MAGA Crowd"
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 15, 2006
    35,632
    AA county
    Well you missed the boat for this year but you should try getting hired on to OC for the summer next year if you don't find something sooner. I believe they start the process mid-winter.
     

    fivepointstar

    Thank you MD-Goodbye
    Apr 28, 2008
    30,714
    3rd Rock from the Sun
    PG hires alot

    you need a degree to MoCo so your GTG

    Don't forget AACo

    +1 for Balt Co

    we just started our academy 2 weeks ago but you can always put an app in

    I wouldn't work for the City....morale is always low there
     

    Copper

    Shock Trooper In Stooper
    Jan 26, 2012
    401
    Our agency(FCSO) is looking to send some more to the academy soon. Apply online asap as the process takes almost a year to complete.

    One of my interns is currently in DC's academy and says they are hiring like crazy right now too.


    And as mentioned earlier don't count out small departments for getting your foot in the door. They don't pay much but usually hire you before you have to leave for the academy and then spend 18 to 24 months on before you lateral to bigger agencies.

    Good luck.
     

    Neot

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 11, 2009
    2,394
    South County
    Looking at Federal agencies could help too. I know CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) is hiring out west...actually heard it on the radio when I was in San Diego. Also see if US Capitol Police, Secret Service UD or US Park Police are hiring.
    As far as local or state police agencies, look into NJ State Police. I don't think they are hiring right now but they have a ridiculous salary. Starting at like $62,000 and after your second year you're at just about $70,000 and you top out at $108,000. North Jersey is a hole but South Jersey isn't bad.
     

    august1410

    Marcas Registradas
    Apr 10, 2009
    22,561
    New Bern, NC
    The NYPD was down here in NC actively recruiting a month or two ago. They were trying to focus on the Marines who are here at Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune, but the process was open to the public.
     

    -Z/28-

    I wanna go fast
    Dec 6, 2011
    10,649
    Harford Co
    Wow, thanks for the quick responses. I'm definitely content to just get my foot in the door for now. I noticed a lot of the small depts (colleges and the like) want people who already have police commissions.

    One that has my interest is Frederick City PD, anyone work there? The city website just says they take apps continuously, no hiring dates.
     

    systemmaster

    Active Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 31, 2009
    204
    Lost
    Howard Co., Mont. Co., and Balto. Co. are the way to go for larger departments. They all have decent starting pay and decent moral. HoCo and Mont. Co have a take home car program for in county residents. PG is good pay wise if your looking to work the wild west. Take home for in county, but you still get assigned a car if your out of county, just can't take it out of county.

    Avoid Balto. City, AA Co, and State agencies. Balto. City is just that Balto City. AA Co is seriously short staffed and under paid compared to surrounding agencies. If you need more take a look at their local issues in politics. Most state agencies are not full service in central MD. MSP is good if you go work on the shore or out west where they are full service. MDta, your a glorified traffic nazi, but if that's your thing then go ahead.

    Smaller agencies are good because they get their officers a lot of training. I have a friend who works for a small sheriff dept. on the shore. They sent him to SWAT school and bomb school in his first year while on patrol. Pay can be good or bad based on the individual agencies. Most don't have take home cars, but some do. Frederick City is decent and you can get into a lot of good stuff in that area if your proactive.

    If you can get into a federal position outside of uniformed service, do it. They make bank and get lots of cool toys. Uniformed service ie. Secret Service, Captiol, and NSA are a good starting point if local PDs are not available. Capitol and NSA are mostly security unless you get into a specialized unit. Secret Service is good all around and has a lot of opportunities in specialized units (and you get to go into all the cool places in DC).
     

    Gino z32

    that car guy
    May 17, 2011
    234
    Bennsville, MD
    I'm currently in the process for Carroll (have polygraph this week), and after being in three same stage as you hopefully I can provide some insight and help for you...

    Apply, apply, apply. I live in Carroll county and have all my life, so Carroll was an obvious choice for me- but at the time I started looking they weren't hiring....so I applied to Frederick country, city, Howard county,nsa, and capital. Any of those departments I would have been happy to work for. Just learn about each department that you're thinking about and choose from there. Try hard enough and show that you're serious and eventually you will get picked up. Don't be discouraged if you don't get selected on your first or second (or even third) try, police departments like to see someone who really wants this as a career (ie get shot down by x, y, z department but still trying)- and in all honesty I would much rather have someone next to me that wants to do this as opposed to just wants a paycheck and benefits.

    As for other states, you can try but pretty much any department within a commonwealth state will require you to be a resident of that state. I applied to Fairfax police department and got turned down right off the bat because of that reason. On top of that, those departments are usually harder to get into as the hiring is a lot of buddy/family.

    That being said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with starting at a smaller department with lower pay- you get your experience then decide whether to lateral or stay there. As said before, smaller departments (like small city/county or colleges) are great for getting your foot in the door. These jobs are very competitive, so make sure you are dedicated, and don't get discouraged! Good luck!
     

    556ready

    Active Member
    Mar 5, 2012
    582
    AAco
    I'm not LEO but working at it, I know AA, Annapolis city are hiring along with PG. I'm in the process for AA just have the phyc and medical left. Your right about there being lots of comp. I was told (by hiring personnel) when I went for the written months ago they were taking about 32 people in the class and they had 1,100 apply.
     

    blackthorne

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Aug 31, 2010
    1,499
    Naptown
    Howard County is in the process of hiring. Arguably one of the best PDs in Maryland. I would get my ass in gear if interested.
     

    2SAM22

    Moderator Emeritus
    Apr 4, 2007
    7,178
    If I were to apply nowadays I would apply with MoCo or HoCo, or maybe even Charles or Calvert SO's depending where I wanted to live.
     

    -Z/28-

    I wanna go fast
    Dec 6, 2011
    10,649
    Harford Co
    Howard County is in the process of hiring. Arguably one of the best PDs in Maryland. I would get my ass in gear if interested.

    My ass is well in gear. Running sucks, but I'm trying.

    I assume it is better to start trying now and possibly fail the fitness test, than wait around til I know I can pass it?
     

    fivepointstar

    Thank you MD-Goodbye
    Apr 28, 2008
    30,714
    3rd Rock from the Sun
    If I were to apply nowadays I would apply with MoCo or HoCo, or maybe even Charles or Calvert SO's depending where I wanted to live.

    If i had a choice and could do it all again....I would apply for a Sheriff's Office in SW Florida (B/n Tampa and Naples). I had an application for Broward SO and a small PD outside Ft Lauderdale but we stayed in MD.
     

    zoostation

    , ,
    Moderator
    Jan 28, 2007
    22,857
    Abingdon
    My own opinions based on 25 years working for a county agency in this state.

    I would stick with Baltimore County or Howard County, in that order. With MoCo running a close third.

    BalCo has great pay and benefits and probably the best pension. More importantly, it's a well managed department with good morale where most people who work there seem happy to be there. That's been consistent for as long as I have been in law enforcement.

    PG is a good department with some of the best pay and benefits in the state. Down side is it will inevitably involve working in some really dangerous and nasty shitholes, a lot of the population you serve will despise you, and because of past history they seem to have the DOJ and every other civil rights organization in the state or country constantly trying to micromanage the department and Monday morning quarterback every single use of force no matter how justified.

    AA County has a great pension, decent benefits, and mediocre pay. The one great thing about AA County are the citizens, about 90% of whom are still your friends if you're in blue. The down side is all the problems they will need to work through in the coming years thanks to the election of Grandpa Superfreak to County Executive and his escapades. Right now the department is horribly short-staffed, mainly as a result of years of being a "last resort" county department for qualified applicants thanks to the pay scale. And when I say horribly short staffed I'm not even including the new demands on manpower from the Almighty Casino. Approximately 650 sworn members (total, all ranks, all jobs) is not much for 520,000 citizens. Morale is also the worst it's been in decades there. People are just miserable and losing hope. They've been dicked over since 1990 by one county executive after another, with the possible exception of Janet Owens, and things are just not going well any more.

    There are some good sheriff's departments in this state too, the only problem with that idea is that a sheriff is only as good as the next election. You can have a great sheriff for a boss for four years and then get Jack Shit the Rag Man for the next four. True this happens with county executives too (see AA County above) but the effect is more muted by the appointment of professional chiefs.
     

    BradMacc82

    Ultimate Member
    Industry Partner
    Aug 17, 2011
    26,177
    Hmm, you guys are giving me second thoughts about AACo - I test on the 28th.
     

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