Question about TPD

[SigSauerDawg]

So I have ridden with a half a dozen or so agencies in western WA and as far as I can tell so far my number one choice would be Tacoma PD. I came away thouroughly impressed after my ride with them and they will probably be the first department I apply to.

My question is how do they (Or any PD or SO for that matter) deal with people in the National Guard or Reserves? Correct me if im wrong but they drill one weekend a month and a two week period once a year when they aren't deployed. With what seems like an endless list of different schedules used in PD's these days how do they work around this?

[BigSky]

There shouldn't be any problems. A smaller department possibly (but if you're already hired on they can do nothing about it by law).

My hats off to you if you want to serve in the Military and in LE.

[TPD Recruiter]

From all of us here at TPD.... If you're currenlty in the Reserves or National Guard, Thank you for your service to our country! If you are thinking about joining the service, awesome!

Being in the Reserves or National Guard is not a problem at TPD. We have many officers who serve in the military. Many of them have also been deployed overseas in the past eight years too! We currently have several deployed right now. They are scattered all throughout the ranks from officer all the way up to Assistant Chief!

When time is needed for the weekend drills, the two-week drill or a deployment the officers notify supervisors and the schedule is adjusted accordingly. If they are deployed for the conflicts overseas, or in support of the conflicts, then the City will make sure they do not lose any pay. The City will make up the difference between what they receive from the military and what their normal pay would have been. Its a way to support those who serve.

[Ignite]

^That's awesome.

[SigSauerDawg]

Thank you TPD Recruiter!

I am not currently but in the military but I plan on joining one of the two branches I mentioned above in the near future. I have only been on one ride so far with a TPD officer (Planning another one currently) and it is the most professional and well run agency I have had the pleasure of riding with.

Does TPD have a preference on when an applicant/officer joins? For example, applying while already in the National Guard, Reserves, etc. vs joining after they have been hired (And obviously after the academy/FTO/etc.)?

[Ryandus]

SigSauerDawg-
I was AD and Air National Guard for close to 8 years as a military police officer. About 70-80% of our Guard members were law enforcement, ranging from WSP, corrections, city, county, and military/federal. The size of the departments ranged from hundreds of officers down to about 10. The smaller cities were impacted much more from deployments and training that a city the size of TPD. I personally got out of the Air National Guard just this month because I want to be able to work with smaller cities without adversely affecting their manning issues.

While you cannot be discriminated based on your Guard/Reserve status legally, a police chief does have to keep the department's manning roster in mind when hiring someone. If they only have 10 officers, and one has to be gone for 6-8 months every few years, that can be very taxing- that means more work and overtime for other officers. With a larger city, the impact is less because there are more officers to help pick up the slack. Each of our Guard member's departments worked with training and deployments as mandated by law.

TPD's reimbursement for lost wages is excellent, and is not standard among all agencies.

Just my personal opinion (not TPD's)- I would suggest if you're going to join, join before you secure a job as a law enforcement officer. Basic training and technical training school will set you back at least 6 months and will be gone during this time. If you want to do both, do your future department a favor and go military training first, then join.

[TPD Recruiter]

Thank you TPD Recruiter!

Does TPD have a preference on when an applicant/officer joins? For example, applying while already in the National Guard, Reserves, etc. vs joining after they have been hired (And obviously after the academy/FTO/etc.)?

Nope, no preference. We have handled it both ways, even have had long time officers join up after being with us for 10+ years.

[SigSauerDawg]

Ryandus - Yes I plan on joining before applying to local PD's

TPD Recruiter - Thanks again. Making up the difference in pay is something I have never heard of before and I think its great. Very classy department all the way around!

[Ryandus]

Ryandus - Yes I plan on joining before applying to local PD's

Sig- let me know if you have any military questions. Also on the military end, some units really work around your schedules also. My particular unit would release our guys for 6-7 months for the academy and FTO so you didn't have to go to drill during this period, so that was cool.

Also, you can sometimes "stack up" your drills so you can do all of your drills in a month then be done with it for the most part, so that's cool. I've found it was a great PT gig and you get to serve your country at the same time.

Good luck!

[SigSauerDawg]

Thanks Ryandus

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