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  • TheOriginalMexicanBob

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2017
    32,168
    Sun City West, AZ
    The agencies police academy and field training is what matters. Not a CJ degree.

    That I will agree with. I have a four year degree in Criminal Justice and other than helping me get the job and helps with promotions, the degree did nothing to help me. The academy and on-the-job is what made me who I was as a law enforcement officer. It's not just the academic part of the academy that gives you a background but the hands-on training and actual role-playing scenarios where you make mistakes and learn from them that stick with you. The entire idea was for you to make your mistakes in training than on the street.

    College was beer and poker and women...the criminal justice curriculum was of no consequence for the career.
     

    kazan182

    Active Member
    Aug 3, 2011
    510
    I do police backgrounds and things are very tough for police candidates everywhere. The county police recently ran an academy with less than 12 people. Very sad. Many agencies are stopping the poly and other things in an attempt to find candidates.

    MSP was running ads in movie theaters.
     

    joppaj

    Sheepdog
    Staff member
    Moderator
    Apr 11, 2008
    46,452
    MD
    One other point to anyone who is applying... The State Agencies, County Police and City Police are all different. A Sheriff's Dept can be a whole different animal from any of those and corrections is again a very different thing.
     

    TheOriginalMexicanBob

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2017
    32,168
    Sun City West, AZ
    MontCo police used to be called "corn-hoppers". Back in the '60s there was little but corn fields past Gaithersburg. It was a name given the motorcycle officers who were assigned that area but the name pretty much was pinned on all.

    There was also a joke about MontCo officers and PG officers. The story went each agency sent a half-dozen officers to the other to exercise how each agency did things. The PG officers who went to MontCo were all brought up on brutality charges. The Montco officers sent to PG...they all had nice funerals.
     

    TheOriginalMexicanBob

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2017
    32,168
    Sun City West, AZ
    One other point to anyone who is applying... The State Agencies, County Police and City Police are all different. A Sheriff's Dept can be a whole different animal from any of those and corrections is again a very different thing.

    Very true. I've heard it said that if you want to experience the whole spectrum of police work get a job with a city police department. State Police generally do highway patrol...Sheriffs serve papers, secure the courthouse and supervise evictions...county police do a bit of each. If there's no county police the Sheriffs do their work as well.

    Many federal agencies are little more than gate guards and sit fixed posts...some do it all like US Capitol Police and US Park Police. At many agencies you can have a good career but it won't be an exciting career.

    There's lots out there depending on your desires and abilities.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,731
    Socialist State of Maryland
    I helped out with interviews for laterals twice this year. In both cases we had mostly BAL city and county folks wanting out of the rat race even though they would be taking a cut in pay.

    I also worked with some of our female sergeants who were detailed as recruiters to attempt to get more women at NRP. They worked their butts off but we were lucky if we got one name at each venue we did.
    I think it really has a lot to do with the area. I have friends in other States that only have academy classes every couple of years because officers don't leave. Maryland isn't exactly Police friendly anymore.
     

    traveller

    The one with two L
    Nov 26, 2010
    18,259
    variable
    I think it really has a lot to do with the area. I have friends in other States that only have academy classes every couple of years because officers don't leave. Maryland isn't exactly Police friendly anymore.

    Part of it could also be that for a young person interested in police work, there are just so many different options that the agencies that don't offer anything special have a smaller pool to pick from.
    If you are in Bumblefork, AR , your options are to hire on with the sheriff or to move to Little Rock to work in 'the city'. If you live in Frederick, MD, you have 10 different federal agencies that allow you to be a cop without having to deal with many of the 'joys' that a regular street position brings with it.
     

    miles71

    Ultimate Member
    Industry Partner
    Jul 19, 2009
    2,522
    Belcamp, Md.
    I'd seriously consider the career jump if it weren't for the pay cut of going back to step 1, and if out of shape, and old, and...............

    TD
     

    K31

    "Part of that Ultra MAGA Crowd"
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 15, 2006
    35,632
    AA county
    I would think that they need to do it because of 1.) the salary some departments are paying and b.) finding people who can pass the background check.

    It used to be that a college degree would at least distingish you from other competitors but actual OJT whether as a LEO or MP was preferred. That is why a lot of people took summer jobs in OC.
     

    lawdog89

    Active Member
    Mar 23, 2012
    296
    Germantown
    Having 30 years with Montgomery County I can say that I am happy to be retiring. I think that law enforcement in general is heading down a terrible path that we may never recover from.
     

    kazan182

    Active Member
    Aug 3, 2011
    510
    Having 30 years with Montgomery County I can say that I am happy to be retiring. I think that law enforcement in general is heading down a terrible path that we may never recover from.

    Yeah, I retired in 16 after 30. And I know what you mean. I am happy to be retired. Funny how things work though, same agency hired me back as a civilian to do backgrounds. So I am still slightly involved in seeing how things are going performing backgrounds though candidates, academy's, etc. Things were much different years back. It's hard to find folks who can make it to a background.
     

    Sundazes

    My brain hurts
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 13, 2006
    21,296
    Arkham
    Would this be good for a HS senior to go to? He has shown a slight interest... But who knows.
     

    Name Taken

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 23, 2010
    11,891
    Central
    Would this be good for a HS senior to go to? He has shown a slight interest... But who knows.

    Many of the departments have a Cadet program. Many will hire candidates at 17 1/2-19, allow them to work admin positions, and then transition into the academy at 20 1/2 or there about.

    There are some pluses. Typically you start earning your retirement time, you get paid decent, start vacation earnings, get health insurance, plus you get the chance to make a name for yourself (good or bad I suppose).

    If he's interesting in that it wouldn't be a terrible waste of time.
     

    cms1528

    Active Member
    Feb 26, 2013
    802
    I recommend young people, when they ask me, to seek law enforcement jobs at the federal level.
     

    kazan182

    Active Member
    Aug 3, 2011
    510
    Many of the departments have a Cadet program. Many will hire candidates at 17 1/2-19, allow them to work admin positions, and then transition into the academy at 20 1/2 or there about.

    There are some pluses. Typically you start earning your retirement time, you get paid decent, start vacation earnings, get health insurance, plus you get the chance to make a name for yourself (good or bad I suppose).

    If he's interesting in that it wouldn't be a terrible waste of time.

    :lol: This is a superb thing to do. Start your career at 18 and get to retire that much faster. We had a good number of cadets back in the day and they all turned out to be great officers. For the agency, a great way to evaluate. For the cadet, they have time to decide if there is where they want to be. The experience working for a PD is invaluable. Same as being a dispatcher. In fact, dispatchers make better money than a cadet. Either way both would need a new background once in hiring to be an officer but an easy one.
     

    TheOriginalMexicanBob

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2017
    32,168
    Sun City West, AZ
    :lol: This is a superb thing to do. Start your career at 18 and get to retire that much faster.

    Maybe...it depends on the agency and its retirement plans. I'm familiar with the federal system since I worked there. In federal law enforcement there's more than one system...there's civil service law enforcement jobs and excepted service law enforcement. Civil Service is standard federal retirement rules...you have to be at least fifty-five years old and your age and your years of service added together have to equal at least eighty-five. You also have civil service protections for your job.

    Excepted Service is much different...you have a twenty-year retirement plan as long as you're at least fifty-five years old with those twenty years of service...it often has a better pay scale but you have no civil service job protections...direct hire and direct fire. So it's a trade-off regarding benefits, more and protections.
     

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