Law Enforcement Questions

[Devilpup]

I am interested in joining a Law Enforcement Agency in the future. I first plan to join the Marines and become an Officer of Marines.

1. If I were to join an agency when I retired from the Marine Corps would I be able to join an agency giving my age? I'd be around 43, if I retire at 20 years.

2. If I worked for a local law enforcement agency, what are the requirements and how would I go about becoming a SWAT member?

3. Retirement- how many years would one generally need to put in at an agency to be able to retire and collect a pension? This is a curiousity question, I obviously don't need to be worrying about this, but it never hurts to know.

Thanks for any and all help.
Devilpup

[TGK]

Most of your questions would vary from Dept to Dept.

In Texas under civil service law you must be under 45 YOA or a little higher with Military. However a non civil service agency would not care usually.

The SWAT question again is going to vary from Dept to Dept. I know Dallas requires you to be off probation and I think you still have to be a Sr Corporal..but that might have changed.

Retirement in Texas under TMRS is 20 years....

[webjeep]

Most agencies in VA have a 25/50 retirement which means that you are either there for 25 years or 50 years of age (typically 5 years to be vested) when you are eligible for retirement.

As far as SWAT or tac goes it usually differs from agency to agency, my current agency requires two years with the agency (and it appears that you must be a card carrying member of the GOBC).

Most local agencies do not have an age requirement, I don't think that VSP does either.

Good luck in the corps.

-web

[Devilpup]

I've heard that the FBI only accepts applicants who are 37 and under and that its not waiverable because its a federal law. Is this true?
I figured I'd be able to join any agency, federal or local. I didn't think age mattered, so long as I can do everything, there'd be no problem. I would be in good physical shape, giving what my desired MOS in the Corps.
Thanks for the help.
Devilpup

[pkagel]

In CA most of the better agencies are 3% @ 50 which means you can retire after 20 years or @ age 50 and you times your pay 3% by the number of years you have served. You are also allowed to buy in 4 or 5 years of your military time which is cool since you could do 15 years and get a 20 year retirement.

3. Retirement- how many years would one generally need to put in at an agency to be able to retire and collect a pension? This is a curiousity question, I obviously don't need to be worrying about this, but it never hurts to know.

Thanks for any and all help.
Devilpup

[Sleuth]

The Federal Gov. has manditory retirement at 57, so they do not hire anyone for a 6c (Law Enforcement) position over 37. They want to get a full 20 years out of you.

[jakflak]

1. If I were to join an agency when I retired from the Marine Corps would I be able to join an agency giving my age? I'd be around 43, if I retire at 20 years.

No problem in Alaska. The oldest guy in my academy was 58.

[Devilpup]

Good information, thanks. So, I guess it all varies from department to department and state to state? The thing where I can put 15 years in the Corps and another 5 in the FBI and get a retirement sounds pretty cool. I'm correct in saying this, right. I think I got what y'all said correct.
I ain't looking to retire at 20 years and be a couch potato afterwards. I just want to know what all my options are.
Thanks again.
Devilpup

[That Guy]

No problem in Alaska. The oldest guy in my academy was 58.

We had a retired USMC Colonel get hired on 2 years ago. Still moving strong.

I'd suggest working on your Marine Corp retiremement first, that seems long and adventurous. Once you get close to retirement on an Officer's pay you may reconsider working again. Not to mention many life changes will be occuring from now to then.

TGY

[Navy Guy]

Good job worrying about retirement. The sooner you worry about retirement, the less you will worry about retirement.

The FBI (or any federal agency) will want 20 years out of you, not 15 military plus 5 in the agency. You will have the option to "purchase" additional years of retirement. So in theory you'd end up with being paid for 35 years of service when you turned 57. I'm not sure but there may be a limit to how many years of retirement you can purchase. I know at the last place I applied (a municipal agency) you could only purchase 5 years of military service.

The current federal plan is Base Pay X (Years of service X 1.75%). So in the above example assuming a GS-13 level of around $120,000 X (35 X 1.75%) = around $73,000. You also have the option of participating in a 401K (matching up to 5% I believe).

I doubt there is any agency on Earth that would let you retire with less than 20 years. Retirements are expensive and they need time to let their pension plans generate returns.

As far as age, there are a few departments that will hire up to 45. But the norm seems to be around 35 or 37 with the option to waive 4 or 5 years depending on military service.

I'd suggest looking at the web pages for some the departments and agencies you are interested in.

[Devilpup]

Sounds good. I've read that if I were to retire from the Corps and retire from the FBI I would have to chose which pension I want, since they're both from the Government. Is this true?
I also read that I can retire from the Corps at 20 years and continue adding to that with the years I work with the FBI. So if I work for them for 10 years lets say, I'd retire at 30 years. True ot not?

Another quick question- when one wants to be a SWAT member, he is also a COP patrolling the streets, correct? If so, when does one do any training for SWAT? Also, can a Detective be a SWAT member?

And incase anyone is wondering, I don't want to do all this to be a hot shot. I know all this is not a video game and I know the consequences that might proceed if I do all this. I want to serve my country and make it a safer place, and maybe make a difference and help some people out along the way.
Thanks.
Devilpup


Thanks.
Devilpup

[pkagel]

Where are you in your USMC career right now, rank, rating, years in, location?

My guess is SWAT might sound all awsome and glorious now, I did a bit of it while in the Navy and it was quite a blast but as I age my tastes have changed. Yours might also.

SWAT training schedules really depend on the dept and some are regional and consist of multiple agencies. My buddy was on SWAT as a sniper when he was a reserve officer (just went full time a couple months ago.)

After 20 in the Corp you might want to not be moving state to state and I can almost guarantee your wife won't. Thier are many great local jobs for officers and better investigators than the FBI you have time to look.

How about taking a reserve police job if you get to a duty location that makes that possible.

[Devilpup]

Reserve Police Duty...never heard of it. I'll look into that. I'm open to a Federal and Local Law Enforcement position. Whatever suits me best. I know things will change with time, so I know all the information I'm getting now could be different. Atleast I can get the brunt of the information now and will acknowledge any changes along down the road.
Thanks.
Devilpup

[pkagel]

Well, I have a web site that has all my notes on it from when I went to the academy here in CA. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CABasicPolice/ Check it out, a lot of good stuff on it even if you don't plan on comming out to CA at EAOS. It will at least give you some idea of what you'll be learning though the laws vary from state to state they are, for the most part, pretty similar.

[Sleuth]

As noted, your Mil. time gets added to your Fed time when you retire, but you must serve 20 years Fed time before reaching age 57 to be a Fed. So no, you cannot do 15 in the mil., then 5 as a Fed, and call it 20.