I have been thinking about what I want to do with my life for a while now. I know for certain I would like to be a police officer. I am still in high school. The only question is how would I get there without the military or a college degree? I can easily become state certified  at age 19...then I can apply to any department in my state when I turn 21. Is there anything that police departments love to see in an applicant if they haven't been in the military or college? I was considering sheriff explorers?

Something you can always consider is going into the military reserves. One weekend out of the month, two weekends out of the year I believe. You get a monthly check coming in for your service, plus it looks great on a resumé. You're more likely to get hired for any job with military service than the average person.

Every little bit helps. I was an explorer for a 1.5 years. I'm not a cop yet but I know departments like to hire their explorers/cadets. If you area has reserve officers it might be something to look into until you can get picked up for a full time paid position. If you're open to this suggestion though you could always try a reserve or national guard component of the military which generally offers a great advantage over other applicants.

Volunteer experience is probably the biggest thing that most police agencies in Canada look for, and can imagine that most in the U.S. do aswell. 

 

By getting out there and showing a genuine interest in helping your community and helping others is what they're looking for. Multiple places are always looking for volunteers, food banks, libraries, fire departments (if they're volly), etc.

 

Some sort of post-secondary also helps. My recruiter told me that you don't have to take a policing degree to get a job as a law enforcement officer. Trades, such as computer science, etc, that can give you some sort of an advantage as an officer are also good.

 

But overall, giving some of your time to give back to your community is what they like to see. So I'd recommend volunteering.

Alright, thank you for all the ideas you guys! I'm going to look into the reserves for after high school. Until then, I'm going to join the local Sheriff Explorer post and volunteer in the community more.

Edited January 19, 201511 yr by Mendy

You technically don't need college or military to be a cop for some departments.  Although some are requiring an Associates Degree. You really should think about community college at least. You don't have to go to some private university. But if you really don't want to, then try and find a department that requires only a GED.

 

I don't think any department would love to see an applicant with no college credits or military experience. They're just gonna hire the next guy with college credits over you.

 

EDIT: If you do get into explorers, try and ask about National LE academies. Those help with resumes and college applications

Edited January 19, 201511 yr by BlackJesus1

Here in Wisconsin, or at least my local sheriff's dept. you need to have a minimum of 60 college credits to even be considered. You don't technically have to have a degree, just 60 college credits. Although 60 credits is almost enough for a associates anyway. Doesn't mean that you'll get hired if all you have is the 60 credits and nothing else but thats all thats needed to apply. 

Edited January 20, 201511 yr by NickieB

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you really trying to take an easy route there?

You haven't proven anything to them that you can be a cop. You're not disciplined to them, and you have no advanced education. They'll easily look over you.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you really trying to take an easy route there?

You haven't proven anything to them that you can be a cop. You're not disciplined to them, and you have no advanced education. They'll easily look over you.

 

Alright, thank you for all the ideas you guys! I'm going to look into the reserves for after high school. Until then, I'm going to join the local Sheriff Explorer post and volunteer in the community more.

 

Branching off of what Pavelow said, he is absolutely correct. Taking the easiest route towards a job won't get you far. You need to stand out, which is why I said military reserves would help you big time. Having military service prier to becoming a Police officer greatly increases your chances. If you are serious about becoming an officer, I recommend you seriously look into doing military reserves or going to college. If you've got nothing to present on the table, they will skip over you.

Sheriff's Explorers helps but don't bank on it. I was a sheriff's explorer for 3 years and spent a lot of time doing ride alongs with patrol deputies (over 2700 hours) so I knew a lot of people but I still got turned down for a job with them after I graduated the police academy. I had gone to a university for a year and a half and had some college before I went to the academy but without a degree and with no meaningful job experience only a handful of agencies even considered hiring me. Right now I am in the military and I am working on finishing my degree so that when I get out I can be more marketable.

 

I know that the last thing you want to do after finishing 12 years of school is to enroll for more school but trust me that is the quickest way to become a police officer. More and more applicants are coming in with associates and even bachelors degrees so it is really hard to make yourself competitive if you don't have anything expect a high school diploma and some volunteer hours. You said yourself that you can go to the academy at 19 but you won't be able to get hired until you are 21. If you aren't going to be able to be a police officer until 3 years after you graduate high school why waste all that time and not work on a degree? One of the biggest mistakes I made was not finishing school, trust me it gets so much harder to go back to school once you have a full time job. I am not saying it isn't possible, but it is difficult and later down the line if you want to go to specialty units or get promoted you are going to need a degree at some point.

 

Take advice from someone who has been there!

Edited January 19, 201511 yr by l3ubba

Three Things:

 

1. My background is in LE. I was an Police Explorer for 5 years, intern and am now a community service officer with a department and on the short list to be hired there. Education: 4 year Bachelors Degree and other LE related cert.

2. As someone who is on a wait list to be an MP for the United States Army I can tell you that if you wish to join you will likely be deployed in your time. You need to enlist for a 6 year contract which will almost guarantee a deployment. You should be prepared to fight for your country. Essentially, this point i'm trying to make is that be careful with people down playing the time commitment. But also Military is not a requirement obviously most people get hired without.

3. You need to go to college. In my area you cannot put yourself through an academy, only sworn officers are put in the academy. LE is SO I'm hoping your plan is what you can do it ADDITION to college, right?

 

Three Things:

 

1. My background is in LE. I was an Police Explorer for 5 years, intern and am now a community service officer with a department and on the short list to be hired there. Education: 4 year Bachelors Degree and other LE related cert.

2. As someone who is on a wait list to be an MP for the United States Army I can tell you that if you wish to join you will likely be deployed in your time. You need to enlist for a 6 year contract which will almost guarantee a deployment. You should be prepared to fight for your country. Essentially, this point i'm trying to make is that be careful with people down playing the time commitment. But also Military is not a requirement obviously most people get hired without.

3. You need to go to college. In my area you cannot put yourself through an academy, only sworn officers are put in the academy. LE is SO I'm hoping your plan is what you can do it ADDITION to college, right?

 

As someone who is in the military and part of a unit that deploys teams frequently I can tell you that deployments are not likely for most regular Army units. We are out of Iraq and Afghanistan, most deployments are in the Special Operations fields now. MPs are definitely not deploying to very many places, there may be a few doing some small rotations through Bosnia but that is all I can think of at the moment. Also you will not need to sign a 6 year contract. I signed a contract for 3 years 35 weeks (basically 4 years), it is all dependent on the MOS you want and what is in your contract. If they are offering you a enlistment bonus (good luck getting one of those) then you will probably have to add on additional years or if you are adding a bunch of specialty schools into your contract that might also bump up the number of years you enlist for. Regardless of your enlistment time there is no guarantee of a deployment and if things continue the way they are going for the next 5 years then a deployment is not likely.

Here in Wisconsin, or at least my local sheriff's dept. you need to have a minimum of 60 college credits to even be considered. You don't technically have to have a degree, just 60 college credits. Although 60 credits is almost enough for a associates anyway. 

 

Or you can be like that department up north, the one that allowed the 20 year old to be a sheriff's deputy. Crandon was it?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crandon,_Wisconsin_shooting

As someone who is in the military and part of a unit that deploys teams frequently I can tell you that deployments are not likely for most regular Army units. We are out of Iraq and Afghanistan, most deployments are in the Special Operations fields now. MPs are definitely not deploying to very many places, there may be a few doing some small rotations through Bosnia but that is all I can think of at the moment. Also you will not need to sign a 6 year contract. I signed a contract for 3 years 35 weeks (basically 4 years), it is all dependent on the MOS you want and what is in your contract. If they are offering you a enlistment bonus (good luck getting one of those) then you will probably have to add on additional years or if you are adding a bunch of specialty schools into your contract that might also bump up the number of years you enlist for. Regardless of your enlistment time there is no guarantee of a deployment and if things continue the way they are going for the next 5 years then a deployment is not likely.

 

Sorry, allow me to clarify. To get Mont. GI you need at least a 5/6 contact along with some other benefits. And in terms of being deployed thing long term....within the next 6 years it is very likley the US will be engaged in a serious conflict(maybe not to scale of Iraq/afganistan) SO if you plan to join it shouldn't be somehting you think couldn't happen.

Sorry, allow me to clarify. To get Mont. GI you need at least a 5/6 contact along with some other benefits. And in terms of being deployed thing long term....within the next 6 years it is very likley the US will be engaged in a serious conflict(maybe not to scale of Iraq/afganistan) SO if you plan to join it shouldn't be somehting you think couldn't happen.

 

Not sure who told you that but they are wrong. If you are active duty you pay $100 a month from your paycheck for 12 months and you have to serve a minimum of 2-3 years. Unless you are talking about the reserves then it is 6 years like you said. As for deployments it is difficult to say whether or not we will be engaged in a serious conflict or not and what the scale of that conflict will be. Of course when you join the military you should always be ready to deploy, but my point is I don't think anyone can say with any confidence that a deployment is likely.

Sorry, allow me to clarify. To get Mont. GI you need at least a 5/6 contact along with some other benefits. And in terms of being deployed thing long term....within the next 6 years it is very likley the US will be engaged in a serious conflict(maybe not to scale of Iraq/afganistan) SO if you plan to join it shouldn't be somehting you think couldn't happen.

 

Umm, you're wrong about the GI bill. 

 

Entered active duty for the first time after June 30, 1985

Had military pay reduced by $100 a month for first 12 months

Continuously served for three years or two years, if that is what you first enlisted for or if you entered the Selected Reserve within a year of leaving active duty and served four years (the 2 by 4 program)

 

You'll still deploy even now, in the MP career field. As somebody who is Active Duty Security Forces, I just returned from A-stan, and met a few MPs. Although, USUALLY, MP's won't augment into frontline combat. But they don't call them Multi-purpose for nothing.

Or you can be like that department up north, the one that allowed the 20 year old to be a sheriff's deputy. Crandon was it?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crandon,_Wisconsin_shooting

 

Age likely had nothing to do with that shooting. There are unstable people at all ages, I can find just as many, if not more so, cases of people in their 30s and 40s doing the same thing. Unfortunately from time to time there is someone who slips through the cracks and is able to get hired as a police officer. Not to mention the fact that he was a police officer had nothing to do with the shooting. He was off duty at the time and he was just a nut job, plain and simple.

 

You'll still deploy even now, in the MP career field. As somebody who is Active Duty Security Forces, I just returned from A-stan, and met a few MPs. Although, USUALLY, MP's won't augment into frontline combat. But they don't call them Multi-purpose for nothing.

 

 

Yes there are still deployments out there but there are fewer and fewer of them now. Getting deployed is always a possibility, we have troops all over the world but like I said earlier, nobody can say a deployment is likely unless you work in Special Operations.

Edited January 19, 201511 yr by l3ubba

Not sure who told you that but they are wrong. If you are active duty you pay $100 a month from your paycheck for 12 months and you have to serve a minimum of 2-3 years. Unless you are talking about the reserves then it is 6 years like you said. As for deployments it is difficult to say whether or not we will be engaged in a serious conflict or not and what the scale of that conflict will be. Of course when you join the military you should always be ready to deploy, but my point is I don't think anyone can say with any confidence that a deployment is likely.

 

Yes the only thing i was ever discussing was the reserves......

 

And given terrorist threats and other unstable regimes in the world it's obvious there is a propensity for a large global conflict. The point is that it is by no means unlikely there could be a deployment for a reservist.

Well, in my county, there is a high school diploma minimum. In other places, idk.

Like it has been mentioned, you need to demonstrate your capcity to stand out and be better than the average Joe. It would be fair to say you are taking the easy way but that choice is yours. The reserves is a great idea, no doubt, and one you should look into. You have mentioned the explorer's and increasing your community involvement so definitely do that. Good luck Mate