Out of state applicants

[Sooner2000]

Hey guys,

I'm down in South Texas, and i'll be getting my peace officer license from TCOLE (TCLEOSE) next year, and while Texas would have a plentiful offering of LE jobs, I would love to move up towards my hometown again (Grand Forks, ND) but getting a law enforcement job in NorDak seems like a crapshoot.


How do departments such as Minneapolis, St. Paul, or Duluth PD treat out of state applicants? Or maybe MSP?

Just curious to see if you folks know how kind they are to Houstonians like me! Thanks!

[MN Cop Hopeful]

Sooner 2000 - To become a peace officer in Minnesota you will need to take the Minnesota POST Board Reciprocity exam.

Here is the link to the MN POST Board's website explaining what you need to do and if you qualify to take the exam.

https://dps.mn.gov/entity/post/exams...city-exam.aspx

I cannot comment about the hiring practices of the agencies you mentioned, I can tell you that the peace officer job market here is extremely saturated. Depending on the agency, it is not uncommon to see anywhere from 300-800 applicants applying for only a few positions.

[Bluecrew]

You will have to be 3 years full time down there to transfer back up here without taking SKILLS (our law enforcement academy). As for Nor Dak jobs, out west you should have no trouble and ND only requires 1 year of work to transfer up to them. East side of the state I think would be as you put it, is a crap shoot as I have heard of a lot of experienced westerners heading that way to get out of the oil boom. Your above mentioned MN agencies I have heard treat out of staters decently but wont look at you without being eligible to be licensed up here which would require that 3 years of work or you going to SKILLS. When that happens for you, the lateral process would likely be your best bet as they dont see nearly as many applicants as the normal recruit process does. Last but not least there is perhaps one option for you, the MN State Patrol has a cadet (or something similar named) program in which they hire you as a non traditional recruit and actually send you through the SKILLS academy and testing and then send you to their academy. I think that this usually involves other disciplines though (like people with biology degrees or other non-LE degrees) to diversify the department but perhaps your training and experience down there would be desirable for them. Your willingness to go up north by Grand Forks or farther too may be a draw to them as well.. Hope this wasnt too long of a rant... Good luck!

[Sooner2000]

I appreciate the responses! I'm actually tired of the warm Texas weather, and I would LOVE to go back north!

[JKOV]

Minneapolis PD also has a cadet program where you don't have to be POST certified to apply for. The link is posted below. They'll be accepting applications for this position sometime in June.

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/recruiting/WCMS1P-109629

[Sooner2000]

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out

[JKOV]

^ You're welcome

[SCSU74]

Shoot me a pm I just moved back up here from Tx