Department Academy or College Academy?

[TXGrunt]

Howdy Gents, I have another question, this time a little more serious. I am trying to research all my options and find departments I want to work for etc., but I am running into a couple of different scenarios. I get out of the Corps Feb 28, 2011, and I originally hoped that I would already be hired on by a police department before I actually left the Corps and went back to TX. The question is, does it really matter whether I get hired onto a department and go to the academy or whether I go to the local community college that offers the academy and then apply to departments afterwards? Im not too worried about if I have to go the college academy route, because I know it will be covered by the GI bill, but does it come down to I'm making more money if I am already hired through a department or does it really matter at all? I don't know if there is really a clear question here, but more or less if yall have any advice on which route to go. Thanks.

[Broke Hoss]

I would say that it depends on the department you're gonna try to work for. Here, the only thing a college academy helps you do is meet the college hour requirement, you still get to go through our basic academy. I think the SO would look a little more favorable on you having your basic certification, but you'd still start in the jail & have to wait for a patrol opening. That's when I think having the Basic Peace Officer Certificate would benifit you.

I always reccomend people that need to accrue college hours to meet minimum qualifications to take non-LE classes. Exciting things like accounting & Business Management. Because when you come up for promotion they're looking for supervisors & people that know how to deal with budgets.

[TXGrunt]

Thanks Hoss, Im starting to look close to back home, the Brazoria county area, and I know Pearland, TX has the size department I want to work for. Not po-dunk, but not Dallas either. I'm going to hopefully get hired no by a department first, such as pearland, and then go to the academy they send me to, but worst case my local community college offers one that goes a full semester I guess, and I will do that one if I cant find a department to hire me right away.

As far as the college goes, right now Im taking mainly criminal justice classes working on an associates, but as far as bachelors goes when I get down the road, should I not major in CJ?

[Broke Hoss]

I'm not saying "shouldn't" take CJ classes; that's all my son took to get nuff credits to get in our academy and that's all I had when I ETS'd. I suggest looking down the road; think about promoting or even being a chief somewhere. Most of what you learn in an good academy will be a repeat of a CJ program anyway. I encourage courses in accounting & business admin because IMO they can benifit later in your career. I believe as you climb the ladder & have to deal more with numbers than arrests those classes can be helpful. Usually, this is seen at about the rank of LT when you start dealing with budgets & such.

Again, this is just my view on this & offer it just for consideration. If you have contacts in the PD's you're looking at visit with them as well.

ETA-I also think classes/degrees outside CJ can help at the end of your LE career. As I look at retirement myself I find few people in civilian world impressed with my creds.
BTW-I know 2011 doesn't exactly fit your schedule, but we'll likely be hiring here & it ain't a bad place to work.

[Feet]

I went to an academy and got paid to go through the academy. It was about 7 months long and the option was to go to the local cc or training academy on my dime (or GI Bill in your case) but I needed to also have a job to pay bills.
If you have a choice, go to an academy with a department and get paid by that department. Plus, you will get paid monthly GI benefits. I got $900 monthly years ago but I hear it is up to about $1,300.

Summary: GO TO AN ACADEMY WITH A DEPARTMENT.

[Reno911]

In NV you can put yourself through an academy then try to get hired or get hired and let the agency put you through. One thing I've found is that if there is something in someone's background that will preclude them from getting hired, having paid to go through an academy on their own won't change anything. I got picked up by Reno and they paid for my equipment, the academy and salary. On top of that I was getting the College fund and GI Bill. I got lucky and didn't have to have another job on top of going through the academy. Good luck.

[TXGrunt]

Thanks for the responses. I am kind of stuck in a waiting game right now, it will be a few months before I can start applying, but I will be applying to a few departments hoping to get hired and have them send me through their academy. Right now I'm working towards my degree and just trying to decide who all I want to apply to and where I want to work. Thanks

[Feet]

Good luck. LE hiring processes are typically long. State and federal are ridiculously long, measured in years and not months.

[TXGrunt]

Thanks Feet. Thats why I'm kindof on hold, I dont know if I should start applying now or wait a few months until I am closer to my EAS. And thats another thing thats up in the air, I am supposed to get out late May of 2011 but the Corp's is doing a Voluntary Early Release program where you get out 3 mo.'s early; that would put me out of the Corp's late Feb. 2011, which is what I'm hoping for. Also, I am wondering if once I apply if they are going to want me to be in person for an interview and then I know if they choose to look at me further that I have to be their for physicals, fitness tests, and polygraph and all that. I did find that Pearland is civil service like yall advised, and it's the same size department I want to work for.

[Reno911]

Do any of the agencies you are looking at have a reserve program? Our department had one years ago but doesn't now. Lots of sworn guys started as a reserve. It gets you in the door, working as a volunteer but you get to know the Dept. and the guys. Once you are in they'll get you hired as long as you fit in. Shouldn't be a problem for you.

[TXGrunt]

Reno, the only problem there is I dont think that I could participate much in a reserve program, due to the fact that I'm in Cali and the departments are in TX. I will look into seeing if any of them have a reserve department though. Thanks

[Feet]

Stick wit the bigger departments. They have good job security and after a few years when you are tired of taking DWI's and fighting drunk college kids you can move laterally to a different position within your department.
Also, look at their pay steps. As an example, a department from down the street starts higher than my dept starting salary. What you might not see at first is after 5 years, I am making 20k more than them. Not a problem at first but believe me, in 5 years you will go "What the hell??"

[TXGrunt]

Thats good advice feet. I don't care as much about pay as I do getting with a good department that takes care of their officers. If I have to sacrifice a little of my salary to know that my job is secure, and that Im being taken care of as a whole then I will take a little cut on my paycheck. Also I know that I want to move laterally or vertically up if I can into a investigations division after a while on the streets. Thanks Guys.

[Maverick1701]

I put myself through the academy at a college then got a job. I would have much rather been payed to attend the academy from a department (and saved my own money) but I wanted my instant gratification hahaha