Moving to Colorado

[OkieDawg]

...Possibly.

Hello, everyone. I am new to the board and was hoping for some information from those of you in CO. I currently live in Oklahoma and my fiancee and I are considering a move to Colorado after she finishes her masters. I'm probably jumping the gun a little bit because we wouldn't move any sooner than 2 years from now, but what the heck.

My questions are; 1) What departments would you avoid and why, 2) What departments have a good reputation, 3) Would there be any disadvantage to being an out of state lateral candidate? 4) Which cities are expected to be hiring or are always hiring (I know that's hard to say now).

I've done as much research on the internet as humanly possible on the following cities and their police departments, but would like some input from people who actually live there and aren't just trying to sell the town.

Cities of Interest:
Boulder
Aurora
Arvada
Fort Collins
Colorado Springs
Denver
Golden
Greeley

Also, feel free to suggest any cities I didn't mention and add any info you think would help me. Thanks alot everyone, be safe!

[Traffic_82]

Most agencies along the front range/I-25 corridor seem to have good reputations and pay competitively (start around mid 40's, top out in mid to late 60's), including those you listed. Now it seems that alot of agencies are always hiring.

Type any of those cities into the search engine on this site and you will find loads to read. The Denver metro area does have alot more cities that you may not know about (Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Thornton, Fed Heights etc...). There are also bigger Sheriff's Offices (Arapahoe, Jeffco, Douglas, Adams).

[jman077]

I moved up here from Florida for the State Patrol and I love it! We live in the Highlands Ranch area. It is an awesome community. Make sure to check out the patrol. They are always hiring and it is a great organization to represent.

Good luck!

[OkieDawg]

Thank you for the responses, I got a couple private messages as well that were very helpful. I am extremely grateful for the input, thanks again!

[camelcluch]

If you have time I would try and achive your POST cert. before moving. That will give you more opportunies in some of the smaller towns. Lone Tree, Castle Rock, and Centennial come to mind. But everythng else you have seems right on. You may want to research what part of town you would like to live in too.

[OkieDawg]

If you have time I would try and achive your POST cert. before moving. That will give you more opportunies in some of the smaller towns. Lone Tree, Castle Rock, and Centennial come to mind. But everythng else you have seems right on. You may want to research what part of town you would like to live in too.

Here in Oklahoma we have CLEET, is that transferable to POST?

[camelcluch]

Not sure but POST is a national cert. that is transferable. You can contact POST and see if they will accept the CLEET.

[Mystikal]

POST is not a national certification... each state runs their own POST board and has a say in who can or can not transfer. Not to mention most of the east coast does not have POST.

Anyways, You have to submit your training records to the Colorado POST board and they evaluate to see if the training is commensurate to that taught here. If it is not, you probably will not be certified in Colorado. POST or not, if your training is transferable you will be let known.

I say this because there are florida officers that are here both on the board and who I know personally, have something totally different that isn't POST, and so does Michigan and they lateraled.

Good luck to you.

[Kieth M.]

Your profile says you're a student. I take it you don't have an OK POST certificate?

Even if you do, but have never served as a P.O. in OK, I don't think you could do the two-day CO POST test-out.

Most larger agencies will hire and train you, then you test for CO POST.

Most smaller agencies require CO POST, up front. Most of the applicants in line with me at the agencies I applied to and tested with were graduates of the local Community College LE Academies. They had self-sponsered themselves through the program, to the tune of anywhere from $3K to $7K.

Here's the link to the CO A.G.'s POST website: http://www.ago.state.co.us/post_boar...Page=True.html

And if your move is up to two years away, none of what we tell you about who to avoid, who's hiring, etc. will mean a thing - the ebb and flow of agencies, here in CO, is unpredictable. Small towns can become major cities within weeks and months due to people escaping California and Texas.

[OkieDawg]

Your profile says you're a student. I take it you don't have an OK POST certificate?

Even if you do, but have never served as a P.O. in OK, I don't think you could do the two-day CO POST test-out.

Most larger agencies will hire and train you, then you test for CO POST.

Most smaller agencies require CO POST, up front. Most of the applicants in line with me at the agencies I applied to and tested with were graduates of the local Community College LE Academies. They had self-sponsered themselves through the program, to the tune of anywhere from $3K to $7K.

Here's the link to the CO A.G.'s POST website: http://www.ago.state.co.us/post_boar...Page=True.html

And if your move is up to two years away, none of what we tell you about who to avoid, who's hiring, etc. will mean a thing - the ebb and flow of agencies, here in CO, is unpredictable. Small towns can become major cities within weeks and months due to people escaping California and Texas.

I'm in the process with a couple agencies in OK, I'll graduate in December with my bachelor's. My fiancee and I both want to live in CO, but we're waiting for her to finish school. That's why I asked about lateral, hopefully I'll be a police officer by the time we move. Thanks for the info.

[Kieth M.]

I'm in the process with a couple agencies in OK, I'll graduate in December with my bachelor's. My fiancee and I both want to live in CO, but we're waiting for her to finish school. That's why I asked about lateral, hopefully I'll be a police officer by the time we move. Thanks for the info.

Yeah, with OK POST & LE experience under your belt, testing here to get your CO POST before applying is a better move.

Where are you applying in OK? I just spent a month there, for two days last week, when I visited my mom in Pawhuska. I love my Osage ancestry, but I feel like I'm a strange visitor from another planet when I step foot on that reservation.

Anyways, they offer two-day test-outs every so often here in CO. There's a handy guide which helped me get through the written portion. I had 30 years of doing things the California way. It's a 100 question multple-choice written and they require a passing grade of 70%. I had never written a ticket or made an arrest, here, and passed with 80, and I'm probably 2X your age!

[Kieth M.]

And, BTW, are you aware that in Los Angeles there's an artery-hardening meal called an Oki Dog?

Two grilled hot dogs, chili, sheese, and pastrami wrapped in a flour tortilla the size of a trash can lid.

[OkieDawg]

Yeah, with OK POST & LE experience under your belt, testing here to get your CO POST before applying is a better move.

Where are you applying in OK? I just spent a month there, for two days last week, when I visited my mom in Pawhuska. I love my Osage ancestry, but I feel like I'm a strange visitor from another planet when I step foot on that reservation.

Anyways, they offer two-day test-outs every so often here in CO. There's a handy guide which helped me get through the written portion. I had 30 years of doing things the California way. It's a 100 question multple-choice written and they require a passing grade of 70%. I had never written a ticket or made an arrest, here, and passed with 80, and I'm probably 2X your age!

Thanks for the info, I'm applying in Tulsa County, pretty much every agency in and around the county: Tulsa PD, Owasso, BA, Sand Springs, Bixby, and TCSO.

And, BTW, are you aware that in Los Angeles there's an artery-hardening meal called an Oki Dog?

Two grilled hot dogs, chili, sheese, and pastrami wrapped in a flour tortilla the size of a trash can lid.

That sounds like it'd take me a week to eat! And put my workout schedule back a month! I chose the name because I'm from Oklahoma (duh) and my college is the Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs.