Trying to break into the LE field

[BP03]

I'm going to be graduating at the end of this month, so I've started looking and applying for jobs. My degree is not going to be in criminal justice and I do not have any law enforcement/military work experience. I live in Plano and would like to find a job within maybe 25 min driving time from there.

For a police officer position I am mainly looking at:
Plano PD
Addison PD
UTD PD

Dallas could be an option, but I would prefer to start out in a smaller city.

If I can't get a job as a police officer right away I am looking at dispatcher, court clerk, and public safety officer positions.

I know there are a lot of factors involved, but which jobs/cities do you think would be most likely to hire a young, somewhat inexperienced person? Do you have any advice for where else I should be looking? or what for?

-Thank you.

[JSD73]

Man, you aren't gonna know until you put your name out there in as many departments as you can find. I would tell you only apply somewhere that you are truly willing to work...not just to find a job...not until you've exhausted all options.

Try for the University police position..UT will send you to their academy and pay for all you need. You get some experience and become more of a commodity to other agencies when applying elsewhere. Alot of big cities might look at you but their processes take a while. Smaller cities go a bit quicker.

Go to www.tml.org and check out some job listings.

[Northtechsan]

Dallas could be an option, but I would prefer to start out in a smaller city.

Most officers start in the major cities, and then go to the burbs. Its unusual to go the other way. Dallas PD works harder for every dollar they make, and would be an exellent place to learn how to be a cop.

[Arkansas Red]

As stated earlier getting into a smaller towns pd will be hard unless your TCLEOSE certified. On top of that their turn over rates are lower so waiting for a slot could be a while.

Working for a university pd would be a great start you also can apply for a Sheriff's Office as a CO and work there and go to BPOC on your off time.

Dallas County SO, Tarrant County SO, UNT PD, TWC PD, Arlington PD... those are some of the places I can think of that may have openings. Keep in mind that a lot of SO's will have you work the jails for a while until a slot opens.

[bikecop136]

Ark Red is right. Right now, look at the websites. Dallas, Ft. Worth, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, i think, Frisco, Mckinney, Denton, Grand Prairie, DFW Airport, N. Richland Hills, Lewisville, The Colony, Plano, Irving, Rowlett, Mesquite, Richardson, plus all the University PD's..... all are actively employing Police and having tests at different times of the year. Good luck. You will find something if you look.