I'm 20 years old currently in Afghanistan. Eight months left to complete my four year contract. No misconducts whatsoever or any negative marks. I passionately and eagerly want to be a Police Officer as soon as I’m done.


[u]My question is it wise for me to apply for 3 different departments before I get out or just take the initiative to put my self through the academy?[/u] Also I’m going to go to college to pursue my bachelors’ degree. Doesn’t it make sense to apply at a department and hopefully go as a cadet and once becoming a Police Officer going part time to school? Starting my life long career at a early age, instead doing another 4 years for college full time when I can go part time to school when I’m an Officer.

As far as background I had a citation for being out past curfew on Halloween, when I was 16 (2006) witch was paid for. No other problems with the law and no drug use, but lousy grades in high school.

Thank you and would appreciate any help or comments!

Apply to the departments. Also apply to college. If you're lucky enough to get hired, withdraw from college until you've been on the road a year or so!

First of all, where I live, to be a cadet you have to be between the ages of 18 and 21. You should either apply to a bunch of departments and try to get a job as a police officer or go to school, but NOT BOTH. Where I live, you have to get hired first before going to the academy. My advice is to get your degree first because right now it's hard to become a cop because of a bad economy. Maybe in like 2 or 4 years the economy will be much better and its a good thing to have a degree anyways.
The reason I say that doing both the school and the academy/being an LEO is not a good idea is because being in the academy taks a lot of time and then if you get a position you will have rotating shifts and not much time for school.

@PHIL Yes I think that's the best idea.

@hockey I don't remember why but I've read that it's not a good idea to apply to too many departments can you confirm that?. If I got hired I wouldn't be in enrolled in school while doing the academy, like Phil said after a year or so. So what do you think? I mean it's worth a shot applying at Police Departments right?

youngone, yeah it's definitely worth a shot applying to departments. The economy is bad, but it's still definitely worth applying. All I am saying is, you could have a better shot at it if you have a degree and are a bit older and more mature. But it's still alright. I know a couple of police officers who got a position when they were 22 or 23 and never went to college.

I never heard about "applying to too many departments" as being bad.
My interpretation of this statement is that departments know or can find out where else you applied. If you get rejected by many departments for the same reason, it's kind of a red flag for departments because they will see that you've been rejected from so many places.

For example, suppose you smoked weed 2 years ago, it's not a good idea to apply to many other departments once you have been rejected by one department for this obvious reason. In this case, it's better to wait a few years and apply to your desired departments again rather than bombarding all local departments with applications after you've been rejected by one of them.
I hope this makes sense.

Apply with a few departments. Do the best you can. In the meantime, register, and be prepared to start college in case you don't get hired right away. By the way, thanks for serving!

I say go straight to college and get your degree. The outlook for law enforcement officer jobs is good. You should have no problem getting a job after you graduate if you are a decent candidate!

What TANK said!