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Becoming a LEO 101

I am glad to hear other agencies are still hiring. Our dept is going thru a bad budget crisis. We will not be hiring for awhile.:thumbdown
 
SPeeDFAN said:
I am glad to hear other agencies are still hiring. Our dept is going thru a bad budget crisis. We will not be hiring for awhile.:thumbdown
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Which department is that, need to put on my "wait to apply" list.
 
SecondChildhood said:
Is there an age limit for becoming a LEO? Are all juristrictions the same?

TIA,
Dave
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Departments vary. There are always minimum age limits. Most are 21, but there are some agencies out there that have 18 as a minimum age. Some departments have maximum age limits while others don't. Maximum ages can sometimes be in the mid-late 30s. Other departments have no maximum age limits. There may be legal ground for challenging a max age limit based on age discrimination.

Law enforcement is largely a young person's profession with an early retirement age.
 
masameet said:
Ace of Hearts, this job description has your name written all over it. Don't know if the state is accepting applications tho.
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Thanks, however I'm not "qualified" to even sit for the exam.

NOTE: All applicants must meet the education and/or experience requirements for this examination by the written test date.

1) Education: Equivalent to graduation from college with a major in criminal justice,
OR
2) Experience: Two years of experience as a peace officer performing preliminary investigative work as part of the regular law enforcement activity; AND Education: Equivalent to two years of college with a major in criminal justice, police science, law enforcement, administration of justice, or criminology.
OR
3) Experience: One year of experience in the California state service performing duties equivalent to those of an Investigator Assistant.

Plus, the DMV sounds like such a great place to work for at $40K a year.

Alas...... I don't meet any of the qualifications to sit for the DMV exam. I will have to settle for being regulated to the FBI's Special Agent testing list, Santa Clara SO hiring list, or every other Agency list in CA.

Seriously though, who on here who is already a peace officer with the required experience would take a $40K DMV gig? Who on here is right out of college with the correct degree would take a $40K DMV gig?

The only people that are going to apply are those already working in the DMV, or desperate recent college grads. This job posting is only for those who are "investigator assistants".

I think the state is one of the worst employers to work for. I even got as far as interviewing with CALPERS/CALSTERS once (i.e. I wanted to manage state pension money). They are weird people. The funniest thing was I had to take a test to be put on an interview list. However, CALPERS, and CALSTERS are two different organizations. So, because of that I had to take a test for each one of them. HOWEVER, the test is EXACTLY THE SAME (word for word), and the job descriptions I was testing for are EXACTLY the same (WORD FOR WORD). But I had to take the exact same test twice since each organization doesn't share STATE information with other STATE organizations.

Think of it like taking two DMV tests so you can have a drivers license to drive in NorCAL, and take the same test so you can drive in SolCAL, but in the end they issue the exact same license number and card.

Has anyone seen the movie Brazil (British satire). That’s the State of CA for you.

So chipies, am I wrong? :teeth
 
Really? You want to pound a beat or catch stupid drivers doing stupid violations?

Look at some of the news releases regarding some recent investigations, Ace. They all involve some accounting work. Even some contact names, with numbers, for you.

DMV Investigators Arrest Accused Con Man in Fake Auto Sales Scheme

Key Figure in Suzuki of Sacramento Case Arrested in Roseville

DMV Investigators Foil Large Identity Theft Ring in Fresno County

DMV Investigators Bust Fraudulent Document Mill in Salinas
 
masameet said:
Really? You want to pound a beat or catch stupid drivers doing stupid violations?
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I’ve discovered in my job search process I can’t get from where I am right now to where I want to be without pounding a beat. It’s in the job requirements. Only the FBI circumvents all of this, but they are the FBI (I have to remain realistic).

I’ve also discovered in my interview process that having a goal outside of the immediate job I am interviewing for and making that goal known to employers is a very, very bad move. I can’t impress anyone with my financial investigations. I have to exert my aggressive macho side that revolves around racing motorcycles, and my gun hobby and reloading my own ammo.

So my goal now is only going to be advertised as wanting to “catch bad guys”.

As for the DMV gig, that’s an institutional gig. Meaning, they are protecting the system (one of the machines of our society). I group them in with the IRS, SEC, Secret Service and basically any regulator. They aren’t protecting you and me (only indirectly at best).

I want to be closer to the front lines. There is a difference between catching someone who breaks the rules (forgery, avoiding taxes, etc.) and someone who victimized another individual. I would like to catch the later.

As it stands I’ve come to full grips that I’m simply not going to be investigating any sort of economic crime anytime soon (quite likely never). Maybe, one day, in the distant future an investigative job will come up that’s perfect for my current skill set. Maybe in the distant future I might still be interested in that kind of investigation. If so then I’d likely be the most obvious candidate for the position.

I have one more (all be it remote) chance with the FBI. Once that officially falls through there isn’t a series of paths I can take to short cutting the work experience process toward financial investigations. So I will basically have to suppress my original motivation into law enforcement if I am going to land a LEO job.

I have to become a beat cop. That has to be my goal. I’ve given up on investigations. I’m not interviewing for investigative jobs.

The cruel reality (as advertised in the DMV and CALPERS job descriptions), is once in the system, under-qualified current employees trump overwhelmingly qualified external candidates.

This is a WHOLE new world I’m trying to enter into, and the Academy was the best thing I could have done for a crash course into the cold reality I need to yield too.
 
Wouldn't the fact that you've put yourself through a police academy and are in the process of graduating from it be considered in your favor, like a college minor (though far removed from your college days)?

You said you'd contact a lot of different depts. and agencies. How would chatting with a supervising investigator listed in the news releases be any different?

The pay may be initially small, but as with most jobs in a career, the first one may also turn out to be a spring board to another, more satisfying one.
 
Ace of Hearts said:
I’ve discovered in my job search process I can’t get from where I am right now to where I want to be without pounding a beat....

I have one more (all be it remote) chance with the FBI. Once that officially falls through there isn’t a series of paths I can take to short cutting the work experience process toward financial investigations. So I will basically have to suppress my original motivation into law enforcement if I am going to land a LEO job....

I have to become a beat cop. That has to be my goal. I’ve given up on investigations. I’m not interviewing for investigative jobs.
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So Ace, now that you got your priorities straight...:)

There is no better preparation to do investigative work than working the streets and pounding a beat. You have to learn how to be a cop first. A civilian jumping into investigations work will not have the street experience....first hand experience in getting lied to, picking up on those lies, taking control of chaotic scenes and people, seeing first hand how the other half lives, controlling interviews and interrogations, reading body launguage of a pending attack or flight, working through stress, multi-tasking, and countless other experiences, that will mold you into a police officer.

It's not about the destination, it's about the journey. The work experience leading up to a detective position prepares that officer for the position. Besides, what do people think a police officer working patrol (or a beat cop) does? Every call and every stop is an investigation of sorts. With limitations in some agencies, a beat cop does everything. And in a smaller department they do all the follow up too. So the main difference is resources, and time management to fit in your follow up between calls for service. A domestic violence call is an investigation. A car stop can lead to an investigation for dope sales. A DUI is an investigation. Through investigation of a hit and run collision, that might lead you to the intoxicated suspect for an arrest.

Along the way, especially with a smaller agency, you will investigate and follow up on plenty of forgery/fraud cases, don't worry. :laughing Often time, they are related to burglary cases, committed by drug users, etc. It is very likely that once you get into the career, your original motivation will fall by the wayside and no longer be a factor. And that's ok.

Good luck on the job search Ace! :thumbup

(And uhhh, no more jokes about killing yourself. :shame)
 
Well, Ace of Hearts, the FBI is looking for a few good men (and women): FBI plans large hiring blitz of agents, experts. Re-apply ...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Wanted by the FBI: agents, language specialists, computer experts, intelligence analysts and finance experts.

The FBI said on Monday it had launched one of the largest hiring blitzes in its 100-year history involving 2,100 professional staff vacancies and 850 special agents aimed at filling its most critical vacancies.
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