I'm interested in becoming a law enforcement officer, but eventually i want to be a detective. i know i would need a BA in criminal justice or something like that in order to be considered, along with several years experience as a patrol officer. So my question is, would it be better to graduate college prior to applying for the police or would i have ample time for school if i become a cop first? I was thinking the latter simply because i could be getting street experience at the same time as my degree... thanks for the help.

If you are lucky enough to get hired without any college, and are disciplined enough to still get a degree after you are hired, then either way would be fine. The problem is that once people get a full-time job, they often don't go back to or continue school!

Finish college first!

Starting work sound more fun, but I agree that you should finish college first if you can. I started working before I finished my degree. That was ten years ago, and I still haven't finished.