PoliceLink

i'm in college right now, majoring in criminal justice, but i really just wanna be a cop. possible a detective one day. thing is, i'm hearing from friends that they know people who've tried to become one, and all i ever hear is that they never got the job despite applying to multiple areas. Is it really that hard to get the job?

i mean i'm a moron, i'm pretty intelligent (all B's and A's in college) and i have absolutely no criminal record. only thing i could see getting in my way is my weight, i'm no doubt skinny, but i could put on a few pounds before applying by going to a gym and eating overpriced weight gaining foods.

Should i just give up and change majors or something? if its really hard to get a job, i'm gonna have second thoughts.

Is it hard to get the job? Yes. It should be. The professional standards used to vet applicants in Law Enforcement have to be set high to ensure the best are the ones that make it. You have to have more than a clean record and good grades to pass the tests coming at you when it's still 96 degrees at 2 in the morning, you're lone Officer on a call to a neighbor dispute, and tempers are flaring to the point that you are going to have to put your hands on the one big mouth that is making it worse. There are ten people that agree with him, and your closest back up is five minutes away. You have to be the level head, you have to be the moderator, you have to get the big mouth to shut up, and you have to keep tempers corraled long enough to do all that. You also have to watch your own back, keep track of everyone at the scene, make sure no one starts a fight that is going to balloon into a brawl with you in the center of it. You have to be in charge and make it stick by being firm, by making a hundred correct choices in less than a minute, by asserting your authority and doing it with the right touch so that YOU don't start the fight that turns into a brawl with you in the center of it. You have to watch for weapons and people that might be concealing weapons. You have to know which people are just in the way and need to go home and you have to know which ones are going to start the afor mentioned brawl. You can't let stress get in the way. You can't let fear get in the way. You have to do it. When you are done you have to go find the six year old girl that has been missing for a week, then there's the robbery alarm after that. Tomorrow you have to do it again. You bet it's hard to get the job. It has to be. You can do that. The biggest part is WANTING to be a Police Officer. You have that already. The next thing is never ever giving up. You can't give up when the fight is on, when you can't find the child, or when you are wounded, down, and your attacker is coming toward you. You fight and you win. Don't ever give up. If this is your dream then come and get it.

smokex28 says ...

i'm in college right now, majoring in criminal justice, but i really just wanna be a cop. possible a detective one day. thing is, i'm hearing from friends that they know people who've tried to become one, and all i ever hear is that they never got the job despite applying to multiple areas. Is it really that hard to get the job?

i mean i'm a moron, i'm pretty intelligent (all B's and A's in college) and i have absolutely no criminal record. only thing i could see getting in my way is my weight, i'm no doubt skinny, but i could put on a few pounds before applying by going to a gym and eating overpriced weight gaining foods.

 

Should i just give up and change majors or something? if its really hard to get a job, i'm gonna have second thoughts.

Might want to proof read your posts.  Just a suggestion.   I mean, you can't be a moron and be pretty intelligent at the same time.  I'm guessing you're the latter and you left out "not" in the first part of your sentence.    Just picking at you.  (something else you have to get used to as a cop because we constantly give one another a hard time).   As a criminal justice major I would imagine you would be able to arrange a ride along with a local department.   Being an FTO, I have interns ride with me from time to time.  They get to see what REAL policing is and not the crap they see on COPS or movies.   They then have a better understanding of what we do and thus can make a better, more informed decision as to whether it is the career on which they want to embark.  Don't let your friends' negative experiences disuade you.  They may have skeletons in their closets that came to light and they're not telling you the whole truth about why they were disqualified as applicants.  Oh, and don't worry about being skinny.  All that means is that you don't have as much room on your belt for all the crap we carry.

yeah its tough.  dont give up if its really what you want to do.  just a suggestion, change your profile pic.  the one you have looks more like a thug that LEO's are chasing rather than someone wanting a serious career in law enforcement.

smokex28 says ...

i'm in college right now, majoring in criminal justice, but i really just wanna be a cop. possible a detective one day. thing is, i'm hearing from friends that they know people who've tried to become one, and all i ever hear is that they never got the job despite applying to multiple areas. Is it really that hard to get the job?

i mean i'm a moron, i'm pretty intelligent (all B's and A's in college) and i have absolutely no criminal record. only thing i could see getting in my way is my weight, i'm no doubt skinny, but i could put on a few pounds before applying by going to a gym and eating overpriced weight gaining foods.

 

Should i just give up and change majors or something? if its really hard to get a job, i'm gonna have second thoughts.

Nothing worthwhile is easy.... of course you could just quit, change majors and maybe consider a career in politics... Heck, look at Presidential Candidate Obama.... he spent less than six months doing the job of a Senator & now he's got a shot at running the whole country...

Taffy says ...

Is it hard to get the job? Yes. It should be. The professional standards used to vet applicants in Law Enforcement have to be set high to ensure the best are the ones that make it. You have to have more than a clean record and good grades to pass the tests coming at you when it's still 96 degrees at 2 in the morning, you're lone Officer on a call to a neighbor dispute, and tempers are flaring to the point that you are going to have to put your hands on the one big mouth that is making it worse. There are ten people that agree with him, and your closest back up is five minutes away. You have to be the level head, you have to be the moderator, you have to get the big mouth to shut up, and you have to keep tempers corraled long enough to do all that. You also have to watch your own back, keep track of everyone at the scene, make sure no one starts a fight that is going to balloon into a brawl with you in the center of it. You have to be in charge and make it stick by being firm, by making a hundred correct choices in less than a minute, by asserting your authority and doing it with the right touch so that YOU don't start the fight that turns into a brawl with you in the center of it. You have to watch for weapons and people that might be concealing weapons. You have to know which people are just in the way and need to go home and you have to know which ones are going to start the afor mentioned brawl. You can't let stress get in the way. You can't let fear get in the way. You have to do it. When you are done you have to go find the six year old girl that has been missing for a week, then there's the robbery alarm after that. Tomorrow you have to do it again. You bet it's hard to get the job. It has to be. You can do that. The biggest part is WANTING to be a Police Officer. You have that already. The next thing is never ever giving up. You can't give up when the fight is on, when you can't find the child, or when you are wounded, down, and your attacker is coming toward you. You fight and you win. Don't ever give up. If this is your dream then come and get it.

 

Yup ... and that would be maybe your 5th or 6th call for your shift up to that point. Good stuff....but you didn't have to wait 5 minutes. I was standing right behind you ! :)

TheSarge says ...

Taffy says ...

Is it hard to get the job? Yes. It should be. The professional standards used to vet applicants in Law Enforcement have to be set high to ensure the best are the ones that make it. You have to have more than a clean record and good grades to pass the tests coming at you when it's still 96 degrees at 2 in the morning, you're lone Officer on a call to a neighbor dispute, and tempers are flaring to the point that you are going to have to put your hands on the one big mouth that is making it worse. There are ten people that agree with him, and your closest back up is five minutes away. You have to be the level head, you have to be the moderator, you have to get the big mouth to shut up, and you have to keep tempers corraled long enough to do all that. You also have to watch your own back, keep track of everyone at the scene, make sure no one starts a fight that is going to balloon into a brawl with you in the center of it. You have to be in charge and make it stick by being firm, by making a hundred correct choices in less than a minute, by asserting your authority and doing it with the right touch so that YOU don't start the fight that turns into a brawl with you in the center of it. You have to watch for weapons and people that might be concealing weapons. You have to know which people are just in the way and need to go home and you have to know which ones are going to start the afor mentioned brawl. You can't let stress get in the way. You can't let fear get in the way. You have to do it. When you are done you have to go find the six year old girl that has been missing for a week, then there's the robbery alarm after that. Tomorrow you have to do it again. You bet it's hard to get the job. It has to be. You can do that. The biggest part is WANTING to be a Police Officer. You have that already. The next thing is never ever giving up. You can't give up when the fight is on, when you can't find the child, or when you are wounded, down, and your attacker is coming toward you. You fight and you win. Don't ever give up. If this is your dream then come and get it.

 

Yup ... and that would be maybe your 5th or 6th call for your shift up to that point. Good stuff....but you didn't have to wait 5 minutes. I was standing right behind you ! :)

Yup, there are somethings that are as solid as sunrise, I knew you were there bro!  

Another thing - and I am going to be constructively critical of your original posting - learn to write.  You will be doing a lot of writing - even more if it keeps being kicked back for grammatical and spelling errors, and just plain lack of attention.  Learn that sentences and proper nouns begin with a capital letter.  Learn the difference between "you're" ( you are ) and "your" ( belonging to you ) - a common error here!   "Wanna" and "gonna" - is this what they taught you in college?

If you are going to present your abilities in a professional forum like this - remember that your interviewer or potential chief may be reading this.  First impressions are hard to change.