Need an answer to a question

[Mike47AT]

Is it possible for someone to be state certified as a peace officer and not be hired by a department? Can someone meet state requirements and still be denied by the agencies?

[mcsap]

YES, in PA you can pay your own way to go through the municipal police academy and graduate fully certified to be an officer without actually being an officer. The graduate is NOT a police officer until he/she is hired and is sworn in. I know of a guy who did this and was never hired. I don't think he tried too hard and he was not a good candidate.

[Darin]

YES, in PA you can pay your own way to go through the municipal police academy and graduate fully certified to be an officer without actually being an officer. The graduate is NOT a police officer until he/she is hired and is sworn in. I know of a guy who did this and was never hired. I don't think he tried too hard and he was not a good candidate.

mcsap, can you elaborate on why he wasn't a good candidate? The academy I'm going to has an application process and oral board interview to make sure you are a good candidate. I would hate to spend all that money and still not get hired...but nothing is guaranteed.

[mcsap]

When he got "in" , I don't think the application process was as good as it is now. I think they were a little more, " if you have th emoney to spend..." That was about 10 yrs ago and he since has gotten a job in Corrections but not a sworn position. Currently, the standards to get in as a "pre-service" cadet are about as tough as getting hired is. You have to take a written test and be recommended by a police chief.

To pay your own way here is about $3,400.00. The academy is 5 months long , has no overnight capabilities and does not include meals.

[Darin]

Currently, the standards to get in as a "pre-service" cadet are about as tough as getting hired is. You have to take a written test and be recommended by a police chief.

That's the way it is here. I had 2 Chiefs and a Sheriff that were in my oral board interview. They had to recommend me.

[rdp]

We have a local one at the community college. Sure, you have to apply, but the standards are not the same a dept. hiring you is going to look for.

The school is interested in filling all the open positions for non-sponsored applicants and not in acting as a hiring agent for the dept.

[canuckofapeach]

As far as I know, here one has to be sponsored (hired) be a police department to enter an academy - whether it be at the federal or provincial level (s)

[Jayce]

That is my understanding also here in Canada. The Canadain Police College and Depot or even the Ontario Police College will only accept you if you have been hired already. Then they make you pay! lol...not the Mounties, but all others as I understand it.

Jayce

[ngcsubutterbar]

Yes, here in GA you can put your own self through GAPOST. Apparantly, the HOPE scholarship now pays for this in some instances.

[Jynkxxie]

Well in Michigan I know that you can pay to get your certification on your own, but that doesn't guarantee you a job. Getting the job and getting certified are two different things. That is the same with any job.

[Smitty]

A small town department that pays chicken feed!

That's going to be me when I graduate...yeah they might only pay 29k or so a year, but the cost of living is low in the cow towns...plus I've been told that when you work with the smaller agencies, you get to do everything in terms of your cases....you turn into the patrol/investigations/traffic/and everything else guy.

To the guy who asked the original question:
The answer is yes. To obtain a POST certification in my state, you only need the basic qual's (21, no felonies, convictions of crimes of moral turpitude, GED etc..). There was no polygraph, and no extensive backround check (just NCIC, CCIC from what I understand). We'll all be certified come graduation time, but that doesn't mean any PD will pick us up. Hell, you could probably do tons of drugs, drink lots of beer, screw everything in sight, and be a liar and still get certified. Getting hired is another story.

[Charlie]

Here in Texas, one can pay their way through a police academy and obtain their state certification BUT it really doesn't do you any good until you're hired by a LE agency and they activate your license. What can also happen, as the state requires so many annual hours of training within (if I recall correctly) 2-year cycles, is your license can expire. If you fail to obtain this annual training as prescribed, your license lapses, and then you have to basically get re-certified. Which means paying TCLEOSE fees and taking all your required annual training courses for that particular cycle.

Just like some other states, Texas has several colleges that also have police academies. I don't know what the entrance requirements are these days but one can pay their own way through the academy. HOWEVER, just because you pay your way through an academy does NOT equate to any kind of guarentee you'll be hired by some LE agency somewhere. I think that particular issue, as previously noted, would apply just about anywhere else outside Texas too--i.e. no guarentee you'll get hired. Unfortunately, I suspect that a lot of people have a mistaken belief that they WILL get hired somewhere because they paid their own way through an academy. I think there are significant numbers of people out there who've gone through the time & expense of going through an academy and won't get hired for a variety of legitimate reasons. Course, the colleges don't care as it is all about getting the student's money.

Depending upon the agency, someone who comes to them previously trained and licensed, can sometimes be a very attractive applicant. Academy training expenses to, for example, a small agency is an expense many cannot afford. Hence, one possible way of getting one's LE career off the ground would be to start out at a small department and stone step your way to a larger department. For some people, this has been a successful method.
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Charlie