Certification

[equinox137]

Is it just me, or do you have to move out west (i.e. outside the Omaha area) in order to get a department to hire and certify a person? It seems that all these departments (except OPD) will put you up to and as far as oral boards, but otherwise won't give you the time of day unless you're ceritified. Am I off base?

Thanks

[1798]

Is it just me....Am I off base?
Thanks

No. That's what I thought when I went through numerous hiring processes. I even went to Arizona where they are hurting for cops, and found out the same thing. Small municipalities want certified LEOs. You have to admit if, for example, LaVista has the opportunity to hire someone who is Nebraska Certified, or someone who isn't....they are going to hire the certified officer just to save money. What a lot of people don't realize is that the municipalities want everything for the least amount of money they can spend (low bid). So, when an agency is hiring 3 people, it is extremely hard to get on with that department, when you don't have any experience in LE. People without experience do get on to small departments, but in the Metro area it is a lot tougher. Many of the smaller departments don't have the numbers of officers as Omaha, Lincoln, etc. and hence the turn over is a lot less. You have to wait for retirements. Look for departments that have a growing population and high turn over rate. OPD hires a lot, because they are a growing city plus the retirements are substantial at this time. In the future, there is going to be a time where hiring slows down and they have a freeze.
Cities look at population as justification to hire officers, when they should be looking at crime trends.

I feel your pain....

[TP Dynamic]

Hey equinox137,
Are things not going well, man? I ask because I am in the same boat as you and if that's what you're hearing then maybe I should be worried too. Good luck to you.

[equinox137]

I can't exactly say "not going well" but here's where I stand as of today:

Douglas Co. Sheriff - "you're on the eligibility list, but don't get your hopes up unless you have a bacholer's degree and/or are certified"
La Vista PD - "your background is done, no, you're not disqualified but don't call us, we'll call you"
Bellevue PD - oral board on April 23
Sarpy Co. Sheriff - "forget about it - period"
Ashland PD - "we don't pay much, but come back when you're certified anyway"
Shennandoah (IA) PD - taking PAT on April 14
Pottawatamie Co. Sheriff - currently completing background packet

[Stewie]

I can't exactly say "not going well" but here's where I stand as of today:

Douglas Co. Sheriff - "you're on the eligibility list, but don't get your hopes up unless you have a bacholer's degree and/or are certified"
La Vista PD - "your background is done, no, you're not disqualified but don't call us, we'll call you"
Bellevue PD - oral board on April 23
Sarpy Co. Sheriff - "forget about it - period"
Ashland PD - "we don't pay much, but come back when you're certified anyway"
Shennandoah (IA) PD - taking PAT on April 14
Pottawatamie Co. Sheriff - currently completing background packet

Why did Sarpy County say that? I find Nebraska is a pretty stagnant state of PO hirings.

[nebraska_deputy]

I don't see why you don't stand a chance with Douglas County. There were 4 people in our class from Douglas County. At least one of them was a manager for Wal-mart with no experience before he come on, one worked in the jail over in Pot. County. Either of them two had degrees, but the other two were over qualified. Seems like most classes at Grand Island have a lot of people from Douglas, Sarpy, or Cass County, they tend to send the most through. A lot of times they form their own groups just like back in high school. Just keep testing and applying that's all you can do. Did you try over in Burt County? There are a few departments over there and they seem to hire a lot, the best thing is Its only minutes from Blair.

[equinox137]

Why did Sarpy County say that? I find Nebraska is a pretty stagnant state of PO hirings.

Background....basically.

[smith0096]

Folks, the hiring process simply stinks. Over the course of being hired you will hit highs and lows, you will be forced to look yourself in the mirror and wonder, question, and double think everything. Keep you head up and remember you got further than others...believe!

[David Hineline]

A friend of mine

A friend of mine fellow IPSC shooter, had the same issues, wanted to be cop oriented, so he paid for his own schooling in G. Island, bought his own drug trained dog, and right away the Chase Co, sheriff's dept. needed him, 6 months later sheriff retired and no one else ran, and he was Co. Sheriff after 6 months on the job.

Of course in a place like Omaha you have much more competition so you have to offer something the competition does not. Figure out why they should hire you over all the other candidates and emphasize that to the hiring dept. in your resume.

[2Adam29]

I'm going off to college in a few years, and I plan to learn Spanish fluently. Hopefully that will help me in the recruiting process later in life.

[Redders]

I have a feeling that there will be a couple more openings over in the metro area.

Bare in mind there is no Media release about this, but here is a reason that alot of depts are going away from uncert's to cert's only as far as highering. 3 people were kicked out of the past basic for having a threesome, yes you heard me, in the dorms (2 female, 1 male). The kicker is when they were confronted they lied about it. Guess what? They had taped it and the training center had the footage and pictures these geniuses took of the frolicking.

IMHO metro knows that smaller agency's need warm bodies. Metro knows they pay alot better than the certifing agency's so they let the small agency's certify and then metro skim's the cream off the top. It's the way it is. The only solution would be to have a state wide FOP to represent the small agencies as a whole.

[equinox137]

Figures, doesn't it

[equinox137]

Bare in mind there is no Media release about this, but here is a reason that alot of depts are going away from uncert's to cert's only as far as highering. 3 people were kicked out of the past basic for having a threesome, yes you heard me, in the dorms (2 female, 1 male). The kicker is when they were confronted they lied about it. Guess what? They had taped it and the training center had the footage and pictures these geniuses took of the frolicking.

I wonder which agency/ies they were from.

[rookie2812]

3 people were kicked out of the past basic for having a threesome, yes you heard me, in the dorms (2 female, 1 male).

I wish my academy experience would have been that much fun

[nebraska_deputy]

If I heard right it was two weeks or less away from granduation.