Do you pay the academy or are you paid during you class?

[Aurore J]

Bonjour,

As I said in my presentation, I am a French cop (woman) and when I'll move in USA in few months, I intend to pass the test (in Virginia where my husband is stationed as US Marine).

So I have a several questions and I ask you to be lenient with me if some of these questions sound silly.
I know I could open another topic for each question, but I think it's smarter to do a large topic directly.
I'm a little lost on the forum, therefore I can not find answers ....
Our recruitment in France is surely different from yours, especially cause we get a municipal police forces in each city, a national police forces (where I serve) and military police (gendarmerie).

Thank you in advance for your answers.

1 / is it possible to apply as a permanent resident? otherwise I will have to wait to get dual citizenship.

2 / where to apply? I mean, is there a special office?

3 / how are you recruit? here, first, we have written test, psychological test. nd in a second time we have an interview with a jury and sporting events.

4 / if you satisfy and you are recruited, do you pay your school (as in Canada), or earn you a salary (as here in France).

5 / how long your classes? here, we are trained on a year between theory classes and practice during a year.

6 / I once heard that before being eligible for recruitment you must obtain a license, could you enlighten me on this?

7 / if I get an interview, can I bring official documents (translated of course) proving my six years as a cop in Paris, my way of serving, my letters of Congratulations (in severe cases solved ) and my next medal for acts of courage and devotion (saved a man's life during the service)? does it can help or is it better to avoid?

7/...no 7 / for now, I think you are already annoyed with all my questions.

Thank you very much in advance to read me (and maybe respond), and excuse me if I didn't ask the right questions and if some have been already answered to others.

I wish you a nice day.

(PS : sorry for the name of the topic, at first I thought I will just get one question )

[CCCSD]

It will realistically take you YEARS to get hired. Non citizen. Poor English, which just means you need to practice more reading, writing -no offense intended. You need to have your education evaluated for US standards. You need to establish a residence and work history, not moving from base to base if your husband is still in the Marines.

You usually apply to the agency that is hiring. They test you and if you pass, get hired, send you to the academy.

Start by doing a search on this board as all your questions are answered.

Good luck!

[Aurore J]

Well, thank you for your reply. I didn't think my English was that "poor". And I was already pretty sure that will take years for applying to this work.

But thanks I will find answers as a big girl on the board.

cordially

[CCCSD]

It's your sentence structure, that would reflect in your writing. It's not bad, just something all ESL persons struggle with.

[Aurore J]

Thank you for your advice, I'm gonna write and read more. I know I have to improve my English, and I will. Have a good day.

[worthashot]

Concerning getting paid or not during the Academy. The rule of thumb is bigger departments, as in larger cities, counties and states usually pay you to attend their academy that's approximately 6 months. Smaller departments like towns, suburban cities and less populated counties typically only hire recruits that are already certified in their state and/or self-sponsored (the recruit paid) their way through an academy. Here in the midwest, most technical colleges and vocational schools run a Police Academy for those that want to pay their own way. Usually you have to have a certain number of college credits (like 60) and/or an Associate's Degree (2 year degree here in the U.S.) or higher to be able to attend their academy. Since you're planning to move to VA, you'll may even have some federal agencies to try for as well - though citizenship may hinder that. The feds also run their own academies. This may be different in VA, but here in WI if you do self-sponsor your way through an academy, you have to get hired within 2 (maybe 3) years to keep your certification. If you don't get hired in that time, you'd have to do the academy all-over again.

As others said, it's a long process and with the current economic conditions continuing it's become more competitive than ever. A lot of people that lost their corporate jobs have been applying and getting jobs in LE.

Good luck!

[Iowa #1603]

A major problem will be that MOST states require citizenship. Not all but most


As far as the rest of your questions the answers will be agency specific for most of them.


You found this site---------------I would suggest Googling the Law Enforcement Officer licensing agency in the state you wish to work in---that agency can answer most of your questions

[Aurore J]

Thank you so much for your answers to you both.

Recruitment is really different than in France (but not for the part of being a citizen).

I'm gonna take time to improve my English again and again, being a citizen and then I guess I could try to apply.

Maybe it's difficult for someone who never left his country and his job....but my work is my world. I love being a cop, I'm good in my job and I'm really afraid to back in the civilian world. I know I could do several others jobs, I already found one and I will be hired when I'll move...that's great..but in the same time I'm afraid to get up every morning and be in a bad mood in a job I don't like.

Well thank you again I'm gonna googling your suggestion Iowa