Questions/Advise!!!!

[DippinCowboy]

right now I am at a place in my life were I want to do something that will result in a career. I am 28yrs old I have a wife and two children. I have come to the conclusion that I am not a 9-5 desk job type guy. I want to be active with my job. I want to wake up each morning knowing that each day is new and exciting and when the day is through I want to know that what I am doing with my life in my job is making some kind of positive impact not only in my life my famillys life but in the world around me. I want my life to count for something, I want something solid (a career) that will be able to bring stability. I know that I have a lot of potential whithin me to do great things. I have been thinking long and hard about a career and life change. I know that I want to go into Law Enforcment. I can go the Police Academy route, Border Patrol/Customs route, or I can go the Military route. I need to make a discicion as I feel like my life and time is flying by me. Any kind of info or advise you can give me regarding what The Guard has to offer in way of a career in Law Enforcment would be greatly appreciated. How long would I serve for? What Kind of schooling would they provide? Benefits/Cost? How would my family (Wife/Children) be taken care of? these are just some questions that I have. If there is anything you can think of please add it.

[California Major]

Which state? Lots of possibilities if you are in California that I can direct you to--

[CPT Burritt]

Remember, if you want to be CBP and you don't live in a border state, you will be moving.

Also, if you are interested in local law enforcement, don't worry about what MOS you choose in the military and no specific military specialty will help you more than another in the Police Force. One thing that has been a common theme from all the Chiefs and cops I know is that while the discipine of the military and weapons handling are pluses, too many MPs show up at a local PD thinking they know everything, and take significant retraining to bring up to the different standards of local PD work. Just keep that in mind.

Good luck to you.

[WO1 Quinones]

When I went to the Border Patrol and MP School; you hear about how prior law enforcement is frown upon when starting a different focus in law enforcement but nevertheless if you are a prior service MP that has that MOS designator on your dd214 and was an NCO; it does give you an advantage. I recommended looking into Federal Law Enforcement e.g. Border Patrol, US Marshal, Customs, Air Marshal because Federal Law Enforcement is exciting and you have a whole playing field in front of you and can transfer between the organizations. You are 28 so go for it. I went into the Border Patrol when I was 34 and that was kind of pushing it so act now if you can. If they still have expediated hiring then take advantage of that as well.

The pay is good but not in the beginning. You start from around 30k a year but in two years; you can make between 55-70k easily. You can't get that with the NYPD.

[QuantumRN]

Is the OP even still around???

[WO1 Quinones]

dont answer, its a setup lol I see him replying to thread lol

[GutshotStraight]

Well, here is what I did.

Civilian Law Enforcement is a competitive job market and every little bit helps. Back when I was looking to get into L.E. I realized that as a 29 yo with no prior military experience I was going to have to do something to stand out above the other candidates, so I did.

I found that a local Community College offered a POST certitifed police academy that I could attend on an extended basis, this was basically 2-3 nights per week from 5:30pm-about 11pm and then 12 hours every Saturday. Obviously I kept my full-time job while attending the course and although the course was 15 months long with over 1,300 hours of training, and cost about $4K, I was able to parlay that into a job as a Police Officer. Completion of this academy turned me into a "Police Officer- Lateral Entry" so instead of trying to get hired as a civvie and having that particular police department pay for my academy (again, very competitive) I paid my own way, and I received 60 units of college credit at the same time.

If you ever attend an Oral Board Interview they will suredly ask you "What have you done to prepare yourself for a career in law enforcement?" At the very least you should be able to list Criminal Justice courses you have taken or are taking, volunteer work, and ride-alongs. But that is just the minimum, you do not want to simply do the minimum do you?

This may sound like an extreme but for me as a white male with just an AA Degree, I simply was not competitive at that time so I took the bull by the horns and made it happen.

In fact, when I was going through Oral Board Interviews back then, I was at a disadvantage to military folks since they received veterans preference points that were added to their interview score. Maybe I would get a 90 which is good but someone who was military would get a 90 +5 veterans points and I would come up short.

As major Ritchie would say, "you have to want it like a fat kid wants cake".

As a side note I am not in the military (yet) but I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about the LE process from my perspective.

James