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One of the most popular
questions I get from people that don't know many people in law enforcement
is "How do I become a police officer?" Well, where do I start?
There's really so much to this position, and so many factors come into play
that its something you should really look at before you decide to pursue
this career.
So for this article, I've
decided to give some basic information as an "outline" for what it takes to
become a police officer, the requirements, and |
what main things you should consider for the position of
police officer.
So in the a nutshell, becoming a police officer comes down
to some basics: your past, your credit, your education, your
abilities and your attitude.
Let's start with your past. One of the things that
police departments and police recruiters will look at when
considering your application as a police officer is your
past criminal record, past traffic tickets, etc. and more
importantly, how you dealt with them. This is probably
the #1 question I get on how to become a police officer;
usually a hypothetical like "Can I become a police officer
with a drunk driving on my record," or "Can I get hired as a
police officer with an assault on my record." Well
here's the deal: Yes, technically in most states, you can be
legally hired with these on your record. The
requirement (by most states) is that you are not convicted
of a felony. Its ok if you were charged with a felony,
but you cannot be convicted of it (i.e. if you were charged
with a felony, but it was reduced to a misdemeanor, you can
legally be hired as an officer still). The kicker is
though, even though you're technically still hirable, you
will have problems getting past these obstacles especially
when there's a thousand other guys competing for your job
"without" these on their records. So the answer to
this general question is yes and no.
Second, your credit. Just one part of the puzzle, but
its something you need to take seriously. Having
conducted background checks on recruits, I've found that it
tells a lot about a person and how responsible they are.
If they're not responsible with their finances, how can we
expect them to be responsible as a police officer?
Your education comes down to this: How much college do you
have? Most department require a minimum of a 2-year
college degree now, and the elite departments require no
less then a bachelors degree. And if you have that,
then we'll take a look at your scores. Get the idea?
But again, can you technically become a police officer with
only a diploma or GED? Well, yes, technically.
Your abilities are tested when you take the pre-test for
police employment screening. Most consist of a
physical and reading and writing test, usually pretty basic,
but difficult. You must obviously be able to perform
physical tasks, not be handicapped, have correctable 20/20
vision, non-color blind, etc. These are the basics.
As far as reading and writing, you must pass with a set
score, usually 70% or higher.
Your attitude. Well, this is a biggie assuming you get
past all the other things I've mentioned. I've seen
perfectly qualified applicants blow it in their interviews
because of their attitude. Some attitudes are not
willing to relocate, not willing to take less money at
first, not willing to compromise, etc. To make it
simple, let's say you were the employer interviewing 2
people. You ask one person (even if you didn't plan on
doing it) the following questions: Would you be willing to
move across the state if we had an opening next month?
Would you be willing to work for free for one month to learn
the job? Would you be willing to work in the jail
until we could find you a road position? If one person
said yes to all of these questions, and one person said no,
or wasn't sure on them, which one would you give more
consideration to hiring? Which one seems like they
want it more? And that's my point; your attitude.
Anyway, I'll leave this article at that. The point of
it was to just touch base on some of the basic requirements
of becoming a police officer in the real world, not what's
on a piece of paper. I would also recommend you
reading the following articles that are also informative:
Police Oral Boards,
Criminal Justice Degree Information. You can also
post questions in our
Ask-A-Cop forum as well.
One last thing. The following ads below (although we
do make money from them, just to be honest, they are still the best of the
best) are also recommended by us. The first one is a
Police Exam training course which offers a 100% money back
guarantee. At some point of your studying, you should
really consider picking up something like this package,
because it can only further help you in getting hired.
The second one offers free information on Criminal Justice
Degrees, taking them online, costs, etc. should you decide
to pursue a degree. Anyway, good luck and we hope this
article helped you out!
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