Question for the LEOs on POST academy and hiring

[DingleBerns]

It's definitely a hard career to get into due to the amount of applicants who are well qualified (with 4 year degrees, military experience, laterals, etc.) Obviously getting paid to go through an academy is the best option however sometimes that is not possible. You can do the shotgun approach and try all cities, and counties or only do the ones you really want. My first go I only did three. When I lateraled, I only did two. Some people say the shotgun method shows that you aren't committed to a specific agency and you aren't truly invested in them.

If you can't get on, you can go the Red Rocks or Arapahoe Community College route. Bad thing is you have to pay for it and you will probably have to quite your job. Good thing is that you can now apply to smaller agencies that don't run their own academy. (However some smaller agencies will still put you through an academy i.e. Lone Tree, Vail, Trinidad, and Golden all have gone through Jeffco's academy which is now regionalized with Lakewood Police.) If you go this route, get POST certified, and go to a small department, do your three years and lateral to a bigger department.

Yes to Lateral you need 3 years of street experience but doesn't mean you can't still apply and go through another academy, but this time your getting paid. And don't give up, keep applying to the places you want to show your determination.

[LippCJ7]

Yeah if you can go through POST first it will certainly help, DCSO does both, hires POST as well as participates with JCSO Academy for civilian employees who test into the program(Hopefully me), its hard to get in but sometimes going the civilian route can be faster if your not interested in going to a couple smaller agencies to get your hiring points up (experience is huge), I know most of our new Deputies were very high in their Academy Class. Its pretty amazing how many deputies continue to go through the hiring process even though they are on somewhere else, it seems to never stop. The hiring process for DCSO is 3 to 4 months long so keep that in mind, the way I understand it our hiring process is the norm time wise.

I didn't want to go to several places, I wanted DCSO so I got my foot in the door in a civilian position and then test into the in house program in the last quarter of this year.

I guess it just depends on your personal preferences you know? I can tell you that we can't hire civilian and commissioned personnel fast enough, its amazing how many people come on board through the hiring process then through FTO then the job and decide its not for them or they get another offer at an agency they prefer, crazy how competitive it is once you get going, seems like we are always short handed.

[Ronin13]

Having been both an Academy Director and Police Chief, it would help to have the POST if you are applying to agencies that do not send you to an academy. Small to medium municipal agencies, sheriff's offices, etc. Denver PD, Colorado State Patrol, large municipal and county agencies will run you through their in-house academy. But, most of these will accept a lateral transfer. Meaning you are with an agency and "transfer" to the other agency. Go for it!

This was my thinking as well. And I've all but thrown out the idea of getting with Jeffco, mainly for the first reason I already stated- kind of hard to be a LEO where you grew up and knowing what you know about many of the people around town (let's put it this way, in high school, even though I chose not to, I always knew where to get "stuff"- already had a "friend" threaten me when he heard about my first attempt at JCSO).

Thanks for all the shared advice and knowledge/experience. I'm putting together my packet today and tomorrow for RRCC's academy, then I'll need to get the gear necessary- holster, belt, mag holder and flashlight (figuring out if I want a small or large light is a little harder than I anticipated )- any ideas on local places in the metro area for this? I imagine the holster will probably have to be internet order through galls or something, since there are too many variations (Glocks, Sigs, Berettas, etc.).

[OneGuy67]

It's definitely a hard career to get into due to the amount of applicants who are well qualified (with 4 year degrees, military experience, laterals, etc.) Obviously getting paid to go through an academy is the best option however sometimes that is not possible. You can do the shotgun approach and try all cities, and counties or only do the ones you really want. My first go I only did three. When I lateraled, I only did two. Some people say the shotgun method shows that you aren't committed to a specific agency and you aren't truly invested in them.

If you can't get on, you can go the Red Rocks or Arapahoe Community College route. Bad thing is you have to pay for it and you will probably have to quite your job. Good thing is that you can now apply to smaller agencies that don't run their own academy. (However some smaller agencies will still put you through an academy i.e. Lone Tree, Vail, Trinidad, and Golden all have gone through Jeffco's academy which is now regionalized with Lakewood Police.) If you go this route, get POST certified, and go to a small department, do your three years and lateral to a bigger department.

Yes to Lateral you need 3 years of street experience but doesn't mean you can't still apply and go through another academy, but this time your getting paid. And don't give up, keep applying to the places you want to show your determination.

The shotgun approach works, but you have to be careful in what you say to the prospective employer. This is tricky as you don't want to lie, but if you do tell them you are testing everywhere, then it does indicate to them you are job shopping and not truly interested in their agency or working for them, just attempting to gain employment.

However, being persistent with one agency doesn't normally work as if you have been turned down previously by a department, your chances to be hired by them are not good if you continue to apply over and over. I've been a part of the hiring process, background investigations and the oral boards for two different agencies and I can say, if we turn you down at pretty much any phase of the process past the initial application process, there is a reason and you will continue to be turned down and being persistent is wasting your time and mine and although I or anyone else cannot tell you, you are wasting your time, you should realize that.

The smaller agencies will not put you through another academy if you are already POST certified. It costs money to them to pay JCSO for their combined academy, so why would you expend the money on something redundant? Once you obtain your certification, it opens doors to agencies ALL over the state. It still isn't easy in getting a LEO job. I have some of my Guard Soldiers who are extremely squared away and have the right make up for law enforcement who are struggling to find LEO employment, mostly due to their own decisions as to where they want to apply.

Yeah if you can go through POST first it will certainly help, DCSO does both, hires POST as well as participates with JCSO Academy for civilian employees who test into the program(Hopefully me), its hard to get in but sometimes going the civilian route can be faster if your not interested in going to a couple smaller agencies to get your hiring points up (experience is huge), I know most of our new Deputies were very high in their Academy Class. Its pretty amazing how many deputies continue to go through the hiring process even though they are on somewhere else, it seems to never stop. The hiring process for DCSO is 3 to 4 months long so keep that in mind, the way I understand it our hiring process is the norm time wise.

I didn't want to go to several places, I wanted DCSO so I got my foot in the door in a civilian position and then test into the in house program in the last quarter of this year.

I guess it just depends on your personal preferences you know? I can tell you that we can't hire civilian and commissioned personnel fast enough, its amazing how many people come on board through the hiring process then through FTO then the job and decide its not for them or they get another offer at an agency they prefer, crazy how competitive it is once you get going, seems like we are always short handed.

Most law enforcement agencies take anywhere between 3-6 months to hire someone, sometimes longer if you were lower on the list and they exhausted and/or hired people above you on that list.

Doing the civilian thing for an agency is a double edged sword as it can provide the agency with a great opportunity to look at you critically and in a way that the normal application process does not and if they like what they see, then it provides you with that easier way to gain LEO employment. However, if they are concerned with what they see, don't like some personal habits of yours or comments you've made, then you will have almost zero chance of gaining LEO employment.

The younger generation does not truly understand the difference between an occupation and a career; conversely, they also do not understand between a profession and a job. Law enforcement isn't something you just hop into as something to do for a year or two, while you wait for your application to law school to be accepted, or obtain your real estate degree, or pilots license (all events I've seen recently by the 20 somethings). There has been a real effort to professionalize the profession and elevate it out of the public perception of being a blue collar job. States and agencies west of the Mississippi have required formal education as a prerequisite to employment for over 20 years, while the east side hires pretty much anyone with a pulse. A little bit of an exaggeration, but not much. Look at college requirements for entry level; look at what degrees the supervisors have now at most agencies. Pretty much every chief in the metro area has a Master's degree or higher, some have law degrees and PhD's. Commanders and equivalent have Master's degrees and all supervisors below that usually have Bachelor's degrees. A Bachelor's degree is required at the state level for everything other than entry level Troopers and DOC employees.

[OneGuy67]

This was my thinking as well. And I've all but thrown out the idea of getting with Jeffco, mainly for the first reason I already stated- kind of hard to be a LEO where you grew up and knowing what you know about many of the people around town (let's put it this way, in high school, even though I chose not to, I always knew where to get "stuff"- already had a "friend" threaten me when he heard about my first attempt at JCSO).

Thanks for all the shared advice and knowledge/experience. I'm putting together my packet today and tomorrow for RRCC's academy, then I'll need to get the gear necessary- holster, belt, mag holder and flashlight (figuring out if I want a small or large light is a little harder than I anticipated )- any ideas on local places in the metro area for this? I imagine the holster will probably have to be internet order through galls or something, since there are too many variations (Glocks, Sigs, Berettas, etc.).

If you are accepted to the academy, they will provide you with a list of accepted items that you can take directly to Neve's and fill. Just bring your credit card and don't look at the end amount when signing.

[Ronin13]

If you are accepted to the academy, they will provide you with a list of accepted items that you can take directly to Neve's and fill. Just bring your credit card and don't look at the end amount when signing.

Already have the list. Yeah, pricing on Galls and Brownell's police supply sites I don't think I'll be pleased with how much it's gonna cost. Where is Neve's?

[OneGuy67]

Already have the list. Yeah, pricing on Galls and Brownell's police supply sites I don't think I'll be pleased with how much it's gonna cost. Where is Neve's?

Google is your friend...Off of I-70 and I-25. Police supply store.

[Bailey Guns]

Ronin, the RRCC or ACC academies are no-brainers if the GI Bill will pay for it. Being certifiable will open many doors that otherwise wouldn't be open for you. Prepare yourself for a lot of rejection. You may be hired by the first agency you apply to or it may be the 20th.

I'd also hit up Craigslist or even the Trading Post here for used duty gear. Gun shops are also a very valuable resource and frequently have "bargain bins" where you can find a ton of used duty gear for pennies on the dollar. Once you get hired you're going to get issued all new gear anyway (usually with the exception of footwear and gun). Frankly, I wouldn't spend the money on new stuff because it is very expensive and the used stuff will get you through an academy just fine. On the other hand if the GI Bill is paying for equipment, doesn't matter unless maybe you have to front the money.

Good luck. I hope it works out for you.

[Ronin13]

The younger generation does not truly understand the difference between an occupation and a career; conversely, they also do not understand between a profession and a job. Law enforcement isn't something you just hop into as something to do for a year or two, while you wait for your application to law school to be accepted, or obtain your real estate degree, or pilots license (all events I've seen recently by the 20 somethings).

THIS! Had to single this out because I'm in this for the long haul- done plenty of checking, ride alongs, tag alongs (hanging out with cops), etc. and despite the negatives and moments of sheer and utter boredom, this is what I've decided I want to do with my life in terms of lifestyle and profession (because yes, I realize this is not just a job/profession, it's a lifestyle). Well put! I've even met folks who are using their temporary career as a stepping stone to something else. I'd use an LE career as a stepping stone to promotion within a department (SGT/LT, detective, chief, sheriff... etc.).

Google is your friend...

He kept snooping into my affairs so we're on a break.

Ronin, the RRCC or ACC academies are no-brainers if the GI Bill will pay for it. Being certifiable will open many doors that otherwise wouldn't be open for you. Prepare yourself for a lot of rejection. You may be hired by the first agency you apply to or it may be the 20th.

I'd also hit up Craigslist or even the Trading Post here for used duty gear. Gun shops are also a very valuable resource and frequently have "bargain bins" where you can find a ton of used duty gear for pennies on the dollar. Once you get hired you're going to get issued all new gear anyway (usually with the exception of footwear and gun). Frankly, I wouldn't spend the money on new stuff because it is very expensive and the used stuff will get you through an academy just fine. On the other hand if the GI Bill is paying for equipment, doesn't matter unless maybe you have to front the money.

Good luck. I hope it works out for you.

I'll have to check into that on the GI bill... if it pays for equipment then I'm going on a shopping spree!

[LippCJ7]

The other thing I would tell you is to not go all crazy with your gear, because your going to change it, a lot. I'm not saying go get cheap stuff, I'm just saying be frugal, once you get on you will be inundated with suggestions and opinions on what works well, what lasts longer and what is best for this situation and that, you have to make your mind up what works best for you within your departments policy, one thing that has caught my department by storm is a wider under belt, specifically in the small of the back, I don't remember who made it but I will find out today, it was introduced to us early this year and I would say that 40-50% of the department wears this belt now, the rest of your gear is a lot like a ford versus chevy debate so have fun with that.

OneGuy67, made very good points, it certainly has been a ride for me, first thing I learned is you cannot keep your mouth shut enough, when your starting out nobody wants to hear what your ambitions are, do your job do it properly and work hard, that's all anyone cares about at first. Once you establish yourself its a different story, completely, you will be given the opportunity to handle difficult situations from the start, how you handle them will determine what happens next, I can't stress how important it is to be able to articulate any situation clearly, report writing 101, I'm sure the others have important advice too but I sure wished I had taken a class on report writing, learning on the fly has been fun but I wished I had some form of education to back that up, you will get that in the academy, but I know several that supplemented that education by learning from those who write great reports, as I did.