Want to be a Police Officer?
Looking for a job? Thinking of being part of the Homeland Security complex? Good, because a police department near you is looking for you too, and police work is fundamental to protecting the homeland.
For many people, becoming a police officer is a life-long dream. For others, it is something they fall into because of a life event. And then there are those that seemlingly fall into law enforcement because it was the best job they could find at the time and ultimately find themselves turning it into a career.
Whatever your reason for wanting to become a law enforcement officer (LEO) in this day and age, I commend you and want to help you get hired. First, though, I must put a few disclaimers up front.
I am currently a police commander with a mid-sized police department on the West Coast, but I wasn’t always in this position. Some 18 years ago I was in your shoes, just out of college (although some of you are in the military or working somewhere else) and trying to find a career where I could put my hard-earned criminology degree to work.
What I am offering to you is based on my own experience with the process, as an officer, and now as a commander. Following my advice is certainly not a guarantee that you will get, and keep, a job.
That is entirely up to you.
I will start with this; you have to WANT to be a LEO. No one is forcing you to do this. If you are doing it for a significant other that simply thinks it would be cool if you wore a uniform, ballistic vest, body cam, and carried several weapons … tell them to go get hired. It’s hard work.
Second, if you know you want to work in law enforcement you need to figure out where you want to be. Do you want to work in a very diverse, large city like Los Angeles or Washington D.C.? Or would you prefer a mid-sized city like Fresno, CA? Or, are you looking for something small and homogenous, akin to the area you were raised? Either way, shop around before you apply, as starting in the wrong location can all but ensure that you find yourself with a bad taste in your mouth.
Third, get all your ducks in a row. Track down the contact information for every former roommate, employer, and individual who knows you well enough to be a reference, because you will need it.
Fourth, and this is where some folks will find themselves in a tough spot, is you need to make sure your background is clean. If you have several traffic tickets, previous arrests, bad credit due to poor choices, a history of prior drug use, etc., only time will be your savior. If you’re in one of these boats, you’ll have to let time pass and successfully demonstrate that you are no longer making poor life choices and that the community should trust that you will not be the next Rafael Perez or David Mack (look them up if you don’t know who they are).
Similarly, and this is what gets many people bounced out of the background process, it is better to own your past and be able to account for it than find yourself blindsided by it during a personal interview. Remember, you are going into a profession where perception is one of the key metrics that the public uses to measure your effectiveness. You are applying to represent a police department; a community’s civic leaders; and ultimately serve the citizens that place their trust in these entities.
Lastly, get yourself into some sort of physical shape. Now many of you will joke about the old, fat cop, but trust that they were not like that when they joined the force. It is the years of shift work, hyper-vigilance, and caring more about the people around them than themselves that have made them that way.
Now that you have followed this advice, APPLY.
Apply to the places you want to work and remember that the more places you apply to, the more places that will share you background information. Most law enforcement jobs have some sort of civil service aspect to them — meaning you will need to test and get ranked on a list. Get online, head to your local library, or find a Barnes and Nobles and look at police testing books. That said, if you have read one, you have read them all. You are applying for the opportunity to have a very rewarding career, so treat it as such.
Get plenty of rest the night before the exam. Dress comfortably for the test, but appropriate fit-in hwherever the test will be held. Remember, some of the people that ultimately make the decision whether or not to hire you (and, in doing so, put their own reputations on the line) will be there. Make sure to eat a solid breakfast, but nothing too heavy, the morning of the exam. No food and your mind will shut down; too much and all the blood will be in your digestive tract and you will find yourself getting sleepy.
Take all the time you need, within the allotted time-frame, to take the exam. Check your answers and make sure you have answered all questions to the best of your abilities. These tests are detail-oriented and, in all honesty, you should be too. To paraphrase one of my not-so-favorite narcotics officers, “it’s chess, not checkers.”
Make sure you are paying attention to your email and phone messages after taking the test because time is of the essence once you pass. When a background investigator calls you, you need be be on top of whatever they request from you. Remember, you are asking them to hire you, not the other way around. It’s a “buyers market” and there are likely hundreds, if not thousands, of other individuals that would love to be in your shoes at any given moment.
Once you are in the background investigation portion of the process, continue to keep your nose clean. This is not the time to catch a DUI, get into a bar fight, decide to stop paying your bills, or drive like a maniac and pick up several moving violations. Trust me when I say that all these are reasons for disqualifying a person from a background investigation.
If you have a history of some sort, remember that it is not your previous behavior that is killer, but the lack of common sense and good decision-making skills you do (or do not) show during this process. Being a police officer is very much about making common sense decisions based on laws and rules, and making split second decisions that some will have the luxury of mulling over for days, weeks, months, or even years afterwards to determine if you were right or wrong. It’s very important to let your current employer know that you are trying to become a police officer because you likely need to take time off for polygraph exams, interviews, and physicals. It’s better for them to know why you are missing time than you calling in “sick” and having your supervisor tell your background investigator what a flake you have become.
Then, one day after all the hoops, you realize that you are there and the day comes.
Standing there, gleaming with pride as the Chief hands you your badge and announces which academy you will be attending, it will all seem like a blur.
In that moment, no matter how big and bad you feel, shake it off and humble yourself. You have just earned the minimum: the opportunity to be a WHERE EVER USA Police Officer.
Remember, only a select few have worn that uniform. Many have been injured, lost their families, and even lost their life for this opportunity and career. It is now incumbent on you to respect it!
Go out there and earn the right every day to call yourself a police officer and never forget that you work for the people of WHERE EVER USA, and you are accountable to them, to your LEO family, and to the family that got you there.
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