I agree with those recommending against a CJ degree. The movers and shakers in the big PDs have degrees in things like business, which are useful outside of LE, as well.
I agree with those recommending against a CJ degree. The movers and shakers in the big PDs have degrees in things like business, which are useful outside of LE, as well.
A lot of my friends are a mix of Former/Current Military that went local LE, MP's that went local LE, MP's that went Fed, Local LE that went Fed, etc.
Overwhelmingly, I hear a lot about how Mil & MP stuff might as well be a different sport altogether compared to local LE and Fed LE.
Given that you'll have been in a full 20 years, and able to claim at least 5 points Veteran's Preference - I'd make some connections to local Navy/Army Reserve elements in your geographic area of interest and keep an eye out on USAJobs for various Federal positions that are not necessarily LE. There's a lot of nice gigs for armed security with Secret/TS-SCI and other clearances, not to mention a lot of staff/admin/training positions.
In particular, the OPM is almost constantly hiring background investigators to interview folks regarding security clearances.
There's a lot of positions in those sorts of organizations that could capitalize on your military experience and security clearances without going full rough-and-tumble local LE. The pay and work schedules are often far better, too.
With a lot of those Federal/GS positions, starting out with 20 years active duty would put you in a really nice position for accruing PTO, retirement, etc.
I’ll get in line in recommending against a CJ degree. LE is a full-contact sport— it’s easy to get hurt, and it will wear your body down. Get your degree in something that will help you in another career in case you get hurt, if your military retirement won’t be enough to pay your bills/support your lifestyle.
Forgive my intrusion. You can still use much of your coursework to count toward a 4 year degree in business, for example. Showing "anybody" that you understand how budgets work, plus the fact that you have military security experience, plus having a few courses in cj that gave you civilian l.e. buzzwords, and plus the fat that you are a good guy(pf member :))will all put your name at the top of the list. Large airports have high paying cop jobs. Many federal agencies have uniform cop jobs. My opinion is that you can fulfill your dream and not have to hustle drunks, respond to domestic dispute calls, and have teenagers call you a motherfucker.
Exactly.Quote:
Originally Posted by willie
Especially on the federal side, most work is not full-contact all the time; it can be down right completely hands off for a lot of OIGs. It's certainly there, but not anything that would prevent a 40 year from starting (and it's done all the time with very successful careers).
On the local side you may want to take the advice others have said about starting out at 40, because if you never make detective (which sounds like where you'd want to go) then you don't want to be half-way to a pension and miserable with the idea of the jumping ship early vs being in pain all the time, sand bagging ("let the young guys do it!" attitude), or disabled. Port authorities, airports, etc might be a place to check. Like Willie mentioned, they can be very high paying and will also allow you to keep that separate military retirement stream.
Just do what you want in life, as long as it doesn't actively jeopardize your future. If you really wanted to be on the federal side, fuck it....just get out at 14, get the job you really want and in the mean time keep working towards that reserve/guard pension. I have colleagues and friends that are Navy O-5 submarine officers, military intelligence, EOD, USCG maritime security, Marine Recon, Marine Force Recon/Scout Sniper, Army SF, and even an AFOSI reservist. They ALL had 10+ years on when they left active duty to take our job and continue with a reserve commitment on the side. Many of the guys with 8 years or less active duty tended to have dropped their reserve/guard commitment, from what I've seen (juice not being worth the squeeze at that point).
Point being: You'll still make out well in the end, so do what you want in life and what fulfills you.
What about putting in for Fed jobs now and if you get hired transition to the reserves to get the mil retirement? I know several who have done this.
My Agency needs like 5,000+ Agents...I believe we are still taking former .Mil up to 42. I went through out academy at 37 and was fine. Lots of former service guys in the Patrol, it seems like a good fit for y’all and lots of guys to reserve to ride out thier 20. You could easily get a Duty Station in TX (although it will be no where near Ft. Worth). Lots of our guys are jumping over to ICE (no academy) or to Customs (chill academy) after becoming career conditional (3 yrs) to “get home”...the process is pretty long but it’s more check the box (apparently our stupid Poly is a bitch though) compared to the processes I went through while applying to PD’s after getting a worthless CJ degree and graduating Pre-Service from a CA POST academy (that was very worth while).
I remember chasing some dude for something when I was in my late thirties/early forties and thinking that I'm too old for this shit and how it really is a young mans job. That's something that you have to consider if you go local or state. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't even think local. It would be federal all the way or a different line of work. DEA,FBI,DSS, BP,USMS,USPS are just about the only agencies in law enforcement I'd even consider now. No offense to anyone employed in a different agency that I may have forgotten.
That's what my uncle said after he went ashore with the first wave at Tarawa and then did the same at Inchon when he was 41 years old. You old guys mentor the younger troops, model desirable behavior, and assure seamless transition beteen generations. Thank you.
Everything in law enforcement depends on where you live and what agency you work for.
When researching for an agency, here are some things to consider (in no particular order):
(1.) Find out what they pay. What’s the cost of living in that locality?
(2.) How much VOLUNTARY overtime is available?
(3.) How often might you be ordered in or held over? It happens to all of us sometimes, and in some places, because of the staffing level and the amount of calls for service it happens A LOT. That makes it difficult to plan anything outside of work and can interfere with daycare.
(4.) Do they rotate shifts or do they work straight shifts? Some places have you rotate from days to evenings to midnights. Some places may have you rotate in relief between two shifts, and others just have straight shifts.
(5.) How does the days off rotation work?
(6.) How easy is it to get time off and how much notice do you have to give?
(7.) Do shifts get picked on an annual basis, or do you get hired and put into a spot and don't have an opportunity to move until there is a vacancy?
(8.) Do you have a union? How detailed is your contract?
(9.) How much leave time do you get in a year? How much sick time? Does sick time accumulate?
(10.) Being a cop means nights, weekends, and holidays. Depending on circumstance and your expectations, that can be really hard on family life. Or not that big a deal.
(11.) Rookies in most places start on the midnight shift. If you can't get accustomed to working the late shift, being awake at night and sleeping during the day, maybe being the police is NOT a good idea for you.
(12.) If you work the evening shift you won't see your wife & kid much.
(13.) What kind of arrangements can you make for child care?
(14.) How well is the agency staffed? How well are they equipped? Do you have a reasonable opportunity for specialized training? Do they pay education incentive for your degrees?
(15.) How is the retirement program?
It's hard to make any kind of blanket statement about police work as a career because there are WAY too many variables from agency to agency and from one part of the country to another.
(I'm fortunate. I've been on straight 11p-7a BY CHOICE since 1977, because I'm a night person. I like the flexibility of working nights. My evenings are free to do things with family & friends and to do recreational things EXCEPT that I can't drink before going to work. We have rotating days off, reasonable pay and benefits and reasonable opportunity for voluntary overtime. As much as a few of the guys at my PD bitch and whine about everything, we have it pretty good, and they're too dumb to realize it)
If you're married and have a wife & child, then you also have responsibilities as a husband and father. Which means you need to be home sometimes. Don't make the mistake lots of guys do, and get hired on, work evenings so you don't see your family much anyway, and THEN get on specialized units like SWAT or Search & Rescue or Narcotics or something, which places even more of a demand on your time. Take a good interest in your career, feel free to pursue interesting training & education on your own time and at your own expense once in a while, but don't let the job become your life. If you have kids, having a job assignment where you have to carry a pager and be on call all the time may NOT be a good idea . . .
Lots of guys work all night and then babysit all day, and then try to catch a nap before going back to work at 11pm. They spend their whole life all jet lagged and burned out, and they never get to see their wife. Try to avoid that at all costs if you want to be effective at work and stay married.