chances of becoming a city cop??

[Dan112216]

graduated from college with good grades
took a class in criminal justice
went to the academy(top 5 in class)
no military background
what are my chances of becoming a city cop?????

[imalazypup]

Your chances are as good as your interview performance.

I don't see how this could be answered any other way.

65%?
I dont know

[Dan]

depends on where you are applying. LEO positions in mass a very hard to get right now.

[marine19860222]

does military background help.

[gdowkpc]

Military background usually has no bearing on civilian law enforcement.

[camorgan]

I'd heard that they generally like people with a military background. Most every book I've seen on the subject says that.

[mcsap]

We like people with a military background AND since we are civil service, we are REQUIRED to give all veterans an extra 10 points on their final score. Over 1/2 of our dept are vets.

[camorgan]

I would think so. I would think that a LE agency would want people with the training and discipline the military gives.

I spent 7 years in the military assigned to do Intel work at a federal agency for counter-narcotics work. I'd be surprised to hear that means nothing to an agency.

[Lfpdlieu302]

graduated from college with good grades
took a class in criminal justice
went to the academy(top 5 in class)
no military background
what are my chances of becoming a city cop?????

there are almost too many variables for anyone to give you a good answer. do you have a criminal record? will you pass a psych test? will you pass a background? its hard to say. you're probably on the right path, just keep at it and start applying! ;)

[99TAC]

We like people with a military background AND since we are civil service, we are REQUIRED to give all veterans an extra 10 points on their final score. Over 1/2 of our dept are vets.

mcsap, I heard somewhere that recently some departments have stopped giving veterans preferance points. Is this true, or am I totally wrong?

[cecilVA]

Vets points vary per department but usually you get an extra five or ten points on the written test. Not sure if all depts do that or not.

Military experience will only help you in your application, as long as its an honorable discharge of course. But it will not be a guarantee by any means. Some people in the military get the opportunity to have more responsiblity in little time compared to civilian jobs and that can go over well with an interview panel.

[marine19860222]

I would think so. I would think that a LE agency would want people with the training and discipline the military gives.

I spent 7 years in the military assigned to do Intel work at a federal agency for counter-narcotics work. I'd be surprised to hear that means nothing to an agency.

Your just the one i want to talk to, Is it hard to do intel work because it seems really interesting and something i want to do.

[camorgan]

It really depends on how you think. I've always felt that being in Intel requires a lot of outside the box thinking. There are set patterns and indicators of things, of course, but to recognize them and where they are going requires one to step back away and basically let your mind mull it through without you forcing anything to come to mind.

I don't consider it hard work, but it's a lot of legwork. I used to have to pour through years of people's phone records MANUALLY to glean out the commonalities and patterns. (Fortunately the phone company finally got their system into an electronic format that could be exported into Excel).

But, work is relative. I loved doing it. It was simply the best job I've ever had and I miss it (but not enough to reenlist). I love the process of diggnig out information. The more layers to the onion, the more rewarding the outcome was.

If you're really interested, let me make a reading suggestion. Go online and read this book: http://www.cia.gov/csi/books/19104/ The Psychology of Intelligence Analysis.

The link I provided has all the text, but I personally hate reading online. On the same site is information about obtaining a printed copy. The book is basically thinking about how to think. It's an excellent read for Intel types and a worthwhile read even for those that aren't. Trust me, you'll find applications in day to day life.

Feel free to email me if you want to ask anything else. camorgan00@yahoo.com

[gijoeyl33]

NJSP doesnt give vet points.

mcsap, I heard somewhere that recently some departments have stopped giving veterans preferance points. Is this true, or am I totally wrong?

[gdowkpc]

We like people with a military background AND since we are civil service, we are REQUIRED to give all veterans an extra 10 points on their final score. Over 1/2 of our dept are vets.

I don't think they give any points here.

I know that having been a military police officer gives you no advantage over any other military job. There are no lateral points.

I just looked over our employment page and there is no mention of military experience. Just college education.


Now....I have heard a training Sgt say he preferred recruits with military backgrounds. Those with none tend to have difficulty for respect for the chain of command...in his opinion (I am not defending or supporting it).