Prepper Forum / Survivalist Forum banner

Life Change - LEO's please take a peek.

4K views 34 replies 15 participants last post by  Doc Holliday 
#1 ·
Hi all,

I know this forum is for prepping. I prep! And I think about safety and well being quite a bit. But now I'm on this cusp. I don't want to live in a cubicle for the next 25 years. 25 to 30 years is a lot of years until retirement. So I have been mulling over quite a bit about a career path change.

I want to help people, my community, increase awareness and keep my neighbourhood safe. So I keep coming back to the same conclusion. I need to get into the police service. I want to become an officer. I want to serve my community.

But I have no idea how. I know it's different in different places. But I guess is what I really need to know, or want to know, is what experienced LEO's have had to do to get into their respective forces.

I have a clean record, a clean driving record, I can pass a background check with bonus points. I have a great credit rating. My credit card is sitting at 0. I think the biggest hurdle will be the physical fitness tests. So I need to start there. What do I need to be able to do, successfully and with authority.

I don't expect anyone to have right answer for me, but any information regarding this profession is a plus.

Cheers and thanks in advance to the responders!
 
See less See more
#3 ·
LE is a young mans game, so if not under the age of 30?35?, the boat sailed. Granted there are exceptions to every rule, but in general. If I could have figured out how to combine aviation with LE, I might have had what I thought was the ultimate career for myself. I have a BA in Criminal Justice and a Commercial MEI Pilot certs. I drive commercial bus. I took the State Police exam and was scored in the second tier group. Not good enough.
 
#4 ·
The pay cut would be large but I'm at a point where that isn't important. I'm not out of shape but would need to work on my cardio. I'm not overly aggressive but would never back down. I don't think they can discriminate based on age however I need to be able to compete with those younger than myself. I'm in good physical condition but would need to train hard for this. It's the type of training and where to put my focus I would need to know.
 
#7 ·
With the new age of retirement bumped to 70 I think you may be selling yourself short! But thanks for the kind words. I can see something like MMA being a younger man's sport. But I may be over the this hill.

What is the FD? Sorry not sure on that one!
 
#9 ·
30 years ago when I went through the academy the physical requirements to pass was as follows:
1. 1.75 miles in 12 minutes (distance, I believe, based on age) or 5 miles in 50 minutes
2. a minimum amount of pull ups and sit ups in a set time
3. bench press and leg press a certain weight, based on body weight.

I am not sure of what all is required now, but that gives you something to start with. Have you considered trying out for the police reserves if your local agencies has them? There you can get training and job experiences and then can better determine if police work is for you. Some departments will give more consideration to reserves when it comes to hiring full time. Good luck with your decision and welcome to the brotherhood if you take the leap. One final piece of advice, Remember the badge and gun gives power, but your actions which earns respect is the ultimate power.
 
#10 ·
I grew up and served in the Central Valley of California. Still own a home there and hang out there most of the time. Taught at a police academy until Dec 31 of this past year and retired a second time. Those who noted it's a young man's game are right, and it would be hard for a 35+ to break in at the ground level. Here is my advice.

1). Get in tip top shape, mile under six minutes, lift, and a little martial arts won't hurt,
2). Get some low cost college units at a JC and focus on writing skills, languages, and social sciences / CJ at least intro
3). Start looking at the closest LE jobs to you, min qualifications, test requirements, etc.

Look up San Francisco PD. Not because you want to go but because they have it easy so their standards are hi...they start at $82k annual and after 20 years you'll probably have $100k annual retirement If you grow while there. Just an FYI. Stockton, CA can't hire, has lowered its standards, and is going to pay mid 40's to start.

Here is the key! Find an agency that will hire you as a recruit and pay you to go thru an academy. Don't buy your way thru as too many do!
 
#13 ·
Constable level one makes about 90. There are only 4 levels. I see that as obtainable. But I may be living a dream right now. All I know is a cube is not what I want for the next 25 or 30 years. Even if I won the lottery I would still want to pursue this.
 
#15 ·
midtnfamilyguy and I have lived this for well over 25 years together. He has covered me and I him. He is completely right in what he says. I would add that you should consider things that some people don't think about. Can you take a life? Can you risk yours with no regard for personal safety? Can you bury your own biases, opinions and emotions to be a true servant? Can you tell a child that their mother just died from a drug overdose? Can you tell a mother that her child just died? Can you watch helplessly as another human breathes their last breath? Can you go home and tell your wife it was a quiet shift after you watched a friend kill himself? Can you duck as you are being called every vile name in the book while bottles and rocks are being thrown at you? Can you maintain your composure and handcuff a suspect who just raped an 8 year old and punched you in the face? and finally, can you do it for terrible benefits, lousy retirement and $15.00 an hour?

If so, press hard three copies, we need you.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Exactly what came out of my mouth too.

I've long considered it, but never pulled the trigger.
Most of CSI's post is why.
I like the idea of helping people, and stopping the wolves from tearing apart the sheep.
However, I cannot stand by and watch justice go unserved. I cannot temper my reaction to evil.
When officers become judge, jury, and executioner (ala Judge Dredd), then I'll sign up.
I'm a good soul, but evil is evil, and must be dealt with swiftly and righteously. There is no good excuse for prolonging its existence.
 
#17 ·
I have two family members who are LEO. Neither had military experience, but most of their academy classmates did.
I have seen videos of the 6 month Florida Wildlife Conservation training, and those guys and gals were physically worked as hard as US Army Basic Combat Infantry Training was in 1968. If you are not in very good shape, you will have big problems.
The other family member is what many smaller departments are going to now - cross trained responders. Besides police, he is a certified fireman and EMT.
It is a noble profession, but personally I would not have the mental detachment to behave in the manner that CSI described so well above.
 
#26 ·
They have tried that cross training stuff all over the Metro Mess in times past. What they figured out is no right minded cop is going to run into a burning building if everybody else is running out..and Firemen get nervous with folks with guns in dark places. They rather be out getting cats out of trees etc..lol. It just never did catch on for some reason. They all have now went back to putting folks in the proper pew..lol.
 
#19 ·
It is just very important that people know exactly what they might encounter in this career. As a field training Officer I told every new recruit that if, at any point, you decide that this job is not for you there is no shame in quitting. It's just better for you and the Department and by extension the citizens. I know it sucks but this stuff will probably happen to them at one or many points in a career. It is not the same job it once was and more often than not we are the bad guy today. God bless anyone who wants to do it, but make an informed decision. We don't need people that want to get even for being picked on in High school and we have plenty of high speed, "tacticool" cops. We need good, decent honest people who care. The problem is that people like that get jaded or thought that everyone else is fundamentally like them.
 
#21 ·
I simply want to make a positive difference in my community. I've been in a couple of predicaments in my days where the LEO could of strung me out but realized that what was happening was very circumstantial and let us go with minimal to no disruption to our lives. Disruption that could of caused me some real issues. That is the kind of cop I want to be. Citation before a ticket. A chance to do it right. I was given that. I'm not interested in swat, I'm interested in working with the people, community events, recruitment.
 
#22 ·
TC, have you looked at department or academy physical standards? That's where I would start. Here there are a series of timed physical challenges with minimum/maximum times/reps based on age and gender groups. Again, only speaking from how it is here, if you cannot complete the physical then you don't move on to the subsequent steps including, drug screen, psych eval, polygraph, background interviews, etc.
 
#23 ·
It depends what State you live in. Here in PA, MPOETC (Municipal Police Officers Education and Training Commission) has standards for physical fitness that Departments are supposed to follow. Every test I ever took had different requirements. 60 Sit ups a minute, 30 push ups in a minute, run 1 1/2 mile in under 12 minutes, etc.

It also depends on age or it's supposed too. By that I mean a 40 year old does not have to do as much as a 21 year old in fitness for obvious reasons.

Look to your specific State or a police department you are interested in and they should have all the required standards.

Here in PA we had to attend a Municipal Police Academy, mostly at your own expense and after completing that, the job search began. Civil Service tests, physical tests, etc.

If you are a veteran, you'll get 10 points added to a Civil Service test score and that can be a huge help.

Also remember, you have to pay your dues. I worked 3 jobs at once when I started out, One as a Security Officer and the other 2 were part-time police jobs until I became known by the local departments and they knew from my determination and work ethic that I wanted it more than anything!

I spent close to a year going on 4 hours of sleep or less a night. When a department called and needed me to fill a shift, I did it. I always strove to learn as much as possible and work as hard as I could.

My poor wife spent many, many lonely nights when I was working. In retrospect, I would never trade the time with my family that I did. I missed too many things.

Also remember, you will work a lot of nightshifts, holidays and weekends. So family life suffers.

I'm not trying to scare you off, but if you want to be a police officer many things will be sacrificed. I would give anything to have been there for my oldest son at night and at his sporting events. I can't change the past, but I have another son who is now 8 and I won't miss his growing up. So take heed of my warning.

Many marriages do not last in law enforcement because we dedicate ourselves to serving others and sometimes ignore our families who suffer greatly.

I want you to understand what you are getting into. I did a lot of very cool things in Law Enforcement, Firearms, Undercover Drug Ops, SWAT, Scuba and so on and I had a blast but my family and ultimately I paid a heavy price for that service. I retired and was diagnosed with PTSD after a year or so out of it.

You will see the very worst of human beings, even those you thought were good people or even your friends. You will see death, destruction and misery. This will and does affect everyone who serves as a cop. Some Cops begin drinking heavily, some start to take drugs they seize and some eat their pistol in some dark place all alone. I nearly did!

Law Enforcement is a very Honorable Profession (not a job) just understand the traps of it before taking the leap.
 
#24 ·
My local force has a pitiful website. Since that's what I currently do maybe I should start there :) I understand that it is a profession. It is a lifestyle. I know what the worst side of humanity is, I've been victimized by it, seen it, survived it and even managed to thrive after the fact. I want to be able to help people and offer them the opportunity that I never got when the chips were down. I'm lucky to be where I am. I want to pay it forward. Police services may or may not be the way. Fire Department is also honourable. In my area the competition is so overwhelming it would be a full time, unpaid job just to prepare to compete. I can't do that to my family. There are prep courses at the local college. I could run that course, accelerated, to get the full understanding. I have no idea where to start.
 
#25 ·
Another suggestion, as it's something I did and helped me reach my conclusion, is to network. Call every department in your area and ask to speak to the chief, sheriff or whatever they're called where you live. Tell them why you want to meet. They'll probably refer you to someone under their command for a meeting after enough phone calls. I got to know the FTO for my local PD and we hit it off. We became friends(ly) and he gave it to me straight.

Also, send a blast email to everyone in your contacts, you might be surprised by who knows a cop and can get you face time that way. You can read the internet to death but there is nothing like having a cup of coffee or lunch with somebody doing what it is you want to do. Also don't stop at one meeting - meet as many guys/gals as you can because each one is an individual with their own perspective. Approach it like you're interviewing the industry to really get a sense of fit. One last thing, PD's here offer ride alongs to the residents they serve. With a clean background check, you're good to go for a shift in a cruiser. That'll really give you a first-hand feel for the work. Not the job necessarily, but the shift work.
 
#30 · (Edited)
These were the requirements when I went in:

•220 Yard Run - must complete in 46 seconds or less
•Sit Ups - must complete 25 proper form in one minute
•Push Ups -must complete 20 proper form in one minute
•1.5 mile run - must complete in 15 minutes or less

This is PRIOR to being hired. Once at Academy, the rules change. If you ran a 14.5 minute mile, they ride your ass until in is in the low 12's, You do a 220 yard run in 45 seconds, they ride your ass until you are running 39's at the least. Situps and pushups? Keep pumping Trainee.

My favorite was Hell Day. We had three Trainees who had 1st degree burns on their hands from the sand. Gotta love it.

BP Academy is at Artesia, NM. CBP Academy is on the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center at Glynco, GA. Artesia is a shit hole, unless you want to go to Roswell and commune with the ALIENS. Glynco, well there it takes 13 women to get a full set of teeth. You go to FLEA TECH? FLETC - we called it flet c. The food, well Army mess halls served ambrosia compared to the stuff there. Definitely stay away from the FLETC stew - it was whatever road kill they could gather up on campus.

If you want to make a difference, you can do it being in Law Enforcement. I do my best everyday to be a professional. Some days it is harder than others.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bigwheel
#31 · (Edited)
Then the lazy bastids spends the next 30 years getting plumped up and flabby from not working out regular and eating too many doughnuts. Firemen have it good because they can go jogging when they aint busy watching Jerry Springer re runs on TV..cooking and eating..reloading ammo..copulating with local tennie boppers etc. Cops have to work for a living so to speak. lol
 
#32 ·
When I went through the Academey we had to benchpress our own body weight, complete a 3.5 mile run in 16 minutes, 25 situps, 25 pushups and other, easier things to include dragging a Tyrannosaur thigh bone and wrestling a pterosaurs. :p
 
#33 · (Edited)
They had pretty primitive standards when I got in the bidness..Hundred yard dash and a few pushups seems like. But when the academy started they liked to killed us. They started us out on the short jog which was about a mile them moved us to 1.5 which was affectionately called the long lap. Which come each AM aroun 5ish and again in the afternoon. I was in the best shape I have ever been in my life having just come off a couple of seasons of college foot ball. That is the only thing that saved me. I would never be confused with a jogger..lol. Went through it with quite a few ex Military types. The Jyrenes say it would make their boot camp look like a teen age military school. Texas DPS Academy..D School. 1971. There were also a lot of undertakers and prison guards in that school. Bunch of ex cops. One Fireman maybe.
 
#34 ·
That's what I was going to suggest, just call up your local LEO department HR office. They'll probably set you up with an appointment (maybe an orientation class) and you'll both be screening each other at the same time. They want you to succeed but don't want a lot of baggage, they'll answer all your questions truthfully. Not like a military recruiter.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top