Part time?

[Gros1120]

Just wanting to get some input from some fellow ohio folk. I am currently planning on taking an open enrollment academy this fall. Now I have read all the posts and know from living here in the great state of OH for 23 years that the Cop job market isn’t very desirable, however at this phase of my life (no wife,kids (knock on wood), house, ect.) I can afford to live a fairly low income life style. I just got out of college and am fairly used to it... anyway that being said as much as I would love a full time LE job, I would gladly take a part time gig for experience and just b/c this is what I want to do that badly. (Hell I would do it for free if the student loan companies and my landlord would stop sending me bills) I have college and so forth that i could use to supplement my income and benefits. So the question... is getting a part-time job something that is attainable after the academy? I live just southwest of Cleveland, and would prefer to work in a more rural area anyway and have no reservations moving to other parts of the state for work. Thanks in advance for the input/advice.

GO BUCKS!

[just joe]

You can start by trying to get a reserve commission at one of the local SOs or with a small village or township.

[CPD7297]

Are you dead-set on working a parttime local PD/SO, or have you considered putting your college degree to use in federal LE, i.e., FBI or Secret Service, etc? I have a question for you. What is an open enrollment academy?

[car9cop]

An open enrollment acadamy is an academy that any Joe Blow can go to. You do not need a commission. You pass a low level background check and pay the money.

ie: Down in Cincinnati it would be Scarlett Oaks or Butler Tech. I think around Columbus there is Eastland.

[Gros1120]

Yeah, an open enrollment academy is basically an academy that anyone who qualifies (no felony, DV, decent driving record) can attend. After I complete it I will have my OPOTC. The reason I am going to get it is b/c all the smaller depts around here including the SO require you to have it to even turn in your application.

As far as Fed goes, I have considered BP but I've just always had interest in being local police.

Has anyone out there gained part-time employment shortly after finishing an open academy? The reason I ask is b/c I want to make sure Im not wasting $4000 and that I acually have a shot at getting on part time at least. I know no one can really answer this as its kind of a case by case thing, but I am just looking to see if they exist.

[FPDRecruiter]

Gros1120: You may want to consider moving if you are interested in a LE career. The south, southwest, and west coast have a lot of opportunity. As a general rule currently sworn, college graduates, and separating service members are in the preferred hiring group.

As a Police Recruiter in NC I moniter other Departments. I know that the 13 largest cities in NC have open hiring. The majority of the larger cities have their own Academy or will sent a candidate to a community college BLET as a paid employee.

[just joe]

Impossible to say. Some people get picked up right away, some never get picked up.

[Mr. Mister]

I completed an open enrollment academy in May and am working part time for a small township. It is auxillary so it is unpaid, but there are part time openings I can apply for once FTO is done (auxillary here just means you're unpaid. I'm armed, on patrol, etc...)

In my experience, most PD's in northeast Ohio who have part time officers will only hire someone in that role who is OPATA certified. They're not going to send you to the academy on their dime if you're only working part time. There are plenty of certified applicants willing to work part time that they can hire without having to drop the $4 g's for the academy.

I'd suggest attending open enrollment regardless. You can still take the civil service tests for full time gigs, if you're in the running for an LEO job the BI will most likely contact your academy commander and if you're a solid candidate, that can only help.

[CPD7297]

$4000 ...

Are you serious? And if so, where can you get employment. I don't mean any disrespect, because I know from reading posts regarding these "academy's" many are dropping the cash in hopes of employment with a solid LE department/career and finding no such luck. As FPD stated, go west youngman (or south)...that's where the PD's are hiring.

[pat8228]

Most departments don't have paid part timers. The ones that does, they only have a couple, so the demand for part timers are slim to none. Most departments, city, townships, villages, has non paid reserves. The sheriff departments has special deputy which gets paid for some events, but normally not for patrol work. I went through the academy the first time in 1994 and worked as a special deputy for a year, and a reserve officer for 8 years.

[FiremanMike]

Why do you feel the need to troll every freaking thread in this forum to say the job market sucks. Get over it already.

To the original poster, part-time jobs are all over the place, and in my opinion, a definite step up from an auxiliary position. Most places allow part-time officers to cover shifts and ride solo, some even allow part-timers to handle their own cases.

This is the perfect world for me, and I'm currently in the hiring process with two agencies for part-time and one for auxiliary. Despite what Mr Pelish loves to rant over and over again, it is not that hard to get a job in Ohio, as long as you are driven, motivated, and not a complete ****** nozzle.

[JKralC104]

You need to step off your high horse. You think your part time position gives you the experience and know how of a 20 year officer or osmething like that. You are ripping Mike and you don't know a thing about him or his experiences. I know TONS of officers from all around the state and other parts of the country that have NO security work(this never really was a huge part of anyone getting hired) and never did more than 1 maybe 2 ride alongs. LE is an experienced based field, I'm not taking that away but you need to reconsider what you advice and statements you make to people before you go shooting off at the mouth. In general, most of your posts make you sound like more of a wannabe than an officer who has ever been to the academy and gives the impression you have NO people skills whatsoever... You can't even get along with other REAL, PROVEN, and experienced officers on this forum.

[CPD7297]

Oh FiremanMike,

By the way when reality finally sets in about how bad the job market really is. You will see. I will add this. It took me 3 months to get a part time job where I am now. That is not because the background check took that long.

I worked security. Did over 200 hours in ride alongs.

I'm fairly new to this forum and I have noticed rather quickly, you (wpelish) like to stire the pot to get it boiling. I asked you on another post what department you worked for, the size and your time in service, so maybe we could get a better feel about you and your comments. But, you didn't respond. So, from the above writings can I assume you are on a very small PD, working as a parttime officer, with little street experience? You should be very careful who you choose to rile. Many on this forum have decades of street experience in some tough parts of town. I've had contact with FiremanMike through PM's and he is a professionally trained FF and EMT working a rather tough suburb of Columbus. So, I ask again Ofc. wpelish, where are you obtaining all this expert experience? If you care to know where I'm coming from, check my profile. One final comment. Remember this is a LE forum and we should be nice to one another, because the public could care less. The Thin Blue Line.

[FiremanMike]

Will, do you ever think for a second that your difficulty in finding a job might be directly related to your entitlement attittude that because you were an older candidate with life experience that you should be given your badge on a silver spoon? Call it what you want, but every single post you make on these Ohio forums is how hard it was for you, so obviously it sucks here. I know plenty of people hired with absolutely no job experience, not to mention LE experience. My class sent 14 to the OPOTA test in May, 8 are already sworn, those are better numbers than my fire class.

Thanks for assuming I don't do my research. Of the two part-time positions I've applied for, one I've been put on the back-burner because the chief was called up to Iraq, and they are busy trying to hire a full-timer. The other I am the only applicant for my position, the third (auxiliary position) I am one of two applicants for a position that really has no cap. The only reason I've not already been sworn into the aux position is because due to my own stupidity I stalled them waiting on another position.

You spend quite a bit of effort in this forum to either a) pound your chest with with your months of experience, or b) try to discourage anyone even remotely interested in a job in this area. I do believe you don't intend to "fight" with anyone here, however your attitude is absolutely dismal, and I can almost guarantee that it bleeds over into your interviews and your job. Try to remember that public safety is one of the biggest gossip mill soap opera's there is, and I would be willing to bet the majority of the cops/chiefs in your neck of the woods have a good idea who you are and what you stand for.

I will close with this, I learned awhile ago from a background investigator that if you wanted another avenue to learn about someone, check myspace. After about 30 minutes of browsing your myspace, I have a pretty solid idea of your level of maturity (esp combined with the posts you make here) and I also feel I have a pretty good idea why you are having so much trouble getting a full-time job in this business.

[JKralC104]

Mike,

You are right, that myspace page just threw out the little, VERY little miniscule amount of credibility that Will had.