Missouri Agencies

[USCG to PD]

Good Afternoon,

My name is Rich and I am a new member. Missouri is my home state and I wanted to apply at a couple of the agencies there. I was wondering if anyone had any input on which two agencies they would recommend out of the state and which ones will be hiring about this time next yeat. I was looking possible into Highway Patrol or possibly Wentzville. Thank you for your assistance.

[NBW791]

Go with the Highway Patrol.

[ignignokt373]

Depends what you want to do.

MSHP is a very good agency. Around the major Cities of the State (KC/Springfield/Columbia/St. Louis/Springfield) you will be working primarily traffic and traffic accidents.

Out in the rural areas of of the State, you will be doing that as well but you could be the only Law Enforcement around for miles and will be backing up/assisting Sheriff's Deputies on such things as rapes, robbery's, murders, drug cases, etc.......

With the Patrol, you are at the needs of the state. Which means you could be working in the NW/NE Corners of the State, or down in the boothill.

With a local Agency, you will get a lot of calls for service, not have to worry about moving to the far reaches of Missouri, and the ability to do more things later in your career. Not saying the Patrol doesn't have those things, as they do. But, trying to get into an DDC spot, K-9 spot, or Aviation spot, will be hard to come by.

Just my observation being a prior local Officer and having a ton of friends/buddies that work for the Patrol.

[NBW791]

That's a pretty accurate depiction of the Patrol. I don't know about how difficult it is for advancement opportunities versus with other cities, but there are plenty of different things to do within the highway patrol.

I can tell you my experience though as a former city officer and now a state trooper (in a neighboring rectangle state).

The freedom the Highway Patrol offers you is UNREAL. You probably won't find it anywhere else in law enforcement. You must be able to make good decisions on your own because you usually don't have a supervisor around, especially in rural counties. You will be well trained and will be able to make decisions without supervisor input by the time you're flying solo.

You also have a ton of geographic freedom. You can take enforcement action anywhere in the state which is a very nice perk of the job. If you're on your way back from training across the state, or the State Fair and see something, you can take action on it.

Speaking of travelling out of your troop, I don't know about Missouri but next door we get paid for travel time. From the time you leave your house to the time you get back, it's all on the clock. They prefer us to take it back as equivalent time (meaning if you spent 6 hours driving, take 6 hours off of one of your shifts in the near future), but sometimes that's just not possible to do if you're at the end of a pay period.

There are some of my classmates who work 8 counties with only them and MAYBE two other guys. Other classmates are the only trooper in a county, so it's just him, a county deputy and a city officer.

Those troopers work very close with the local agencies and Missouri is very much a "state police" type agency in that they investigate crimes, have their own lab, etc.

Another nice thing - if you spend a few years in a certain area and get tired of it, you can put in for a transfer and hopefully get it. If you do, it will be like having a new job in a new area with new people, but you won't have lost anything. You won't have lost vacation, sick leave, seniority, etc like you would if you had worked for a city and left for another city.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM or e-mail me and I'll do my best.

To summarize: Leaving the city for the Highway Patrol was the best decision I could have ever made.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol is a very well respected, very professional agency and I'm sure you'd be happy there if you want to be a street cop.