Police Academies

[regulator]

I have question regarding Police Academies, I am soon to be 33 years old and decided to follow my dream and pursue a career in Law Enforcement.

I have decided that it might be in my best interest to sponsor myself through a part-time academy at a nearby Junior College. I contacted a local police agency and talked to an Sgt who indicated that while his department has hired recruits who have put themselves through academies other departments might be reluctant to do this, why?

The academy I want to attend is a well-known P.O.S.T certified academy.

He also advised me that if I really want to be a cop I should commit to it 100% and sponsor myself through a full-time academy. As much as I would like to I can't quit my job I have monthly bills to consider, so it seems to me the part-time academy is the only option.

Any advice?

Thanks

[RPD Explorer]

I'm not too sure that i'd put myself through an academy. Our department pays you to go through the academy. I thought that a lot of departments did this, but maybe not.

But I guess it depends on where you live and all.

Mike

[vbrenner]

With the lack of applicants department recruiters are facing, you shouldn't have to put yourself through the academy. That only becomes necessary when departments have a glut of applicants. Most departments will put you through. Check into this a little further; you could save a lot of time an money.

Whatever you do, good luck! This is the best job you could have.

[Copper2be]

Here in Canada, you cannot attend a police college unless you have already gone through the recruiting process and been hired by the force of your choice.

[Metro174]

Most departments will put you through their own academy or if they don't have one they will put through another department's. Thr reluctance may be due to the fact that while all aceademies have to teach the state mandated training, they each put an emphsis on what their particular needs are. As such they want to train you in their way.

For example, the department that I work for is fairly small and doesn't have an academy. They send all recruits through one of two different academies in the state. The academy I went through was the Maryland Transportation Authority Police. They put a major emphasis on traffic enforcement because that is their primary responsibility.

[Don]

Hey regulator, welcome to the forum. We will try to answer any questions you have. I'm going to move this from the General Topics section to the Ask a Cop section. You might get a few more answers there.

If the staff here can be of any help to you, feel free to drop any of us an email.

Now, to your question. I see that you are in SoCal. I am sure there are some departments there that use reserves, and that is what you are taking about with your "part time academy." Starting as a reserve is a very good way to get to know whether or not you will fit into LE. It is a good way for you to get to know the department and for them to get to know you. It is a good way to gain a variety of experience that you won't get if you go full time.

And the best part of all of this is that you can keep your regular job, you can work the hours you want to work and you can do it for a long time if you like it but for some reason don't want to go full time.

Of course the down side is you are doing a lot of the same work that we do, facing the same danger, and the same possibility of civil suits and you are not getting paid to do it.

However there is another BIG down side and that is your age. Let's say you decide to go to the reserve academy, then go through the FTO and find out if you like it. Lets say it takes you a few years to make a decision.

Your California retirement benefits are going to be cut considerably if you get into the system after you are 35. Simply because you won't have as much time "in harness" to build it up.

So if you are going to go this route, do it now, and make your decision fairly quickly.

As was mentioned in the above post, start talking with different departments in your area. There's a whole bunch of them down there!

Good Luck



------------------
I used to have an open mind - but my brains kept falling out.

6P1 (retired)