Im going to school to get me criminal justice degree....

Question

im getting my degree in Criminal Justice with a 2year degree police academy . i would like to become a cop! would it be hard to find a job on a department? are they pretty much always hiring? ive made some poor choices in my past life with smoking pot but i do have a clean background. ive done a complete turnaround and i hope they dont hold that against me if that does not work out what else could i do in my career field? thanks. im almost thinking about changing my career field due to not getting a good job in Criminal Justice.

Answer 1

You simply have to be honest and don't hide anything.  As long as everything is what you say it is, then you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a job.

Answer 2

My advice to you as a police detective of ten years in the Tampa Bay area in FL is:

Change your degree field. You don't need a CJ degree to be a cop. You can have a degree in business, philosophy or basket weaving and it doesn't matter. It's a good idea to have a fall back plan. If you get hurt and can't be a cop anymore you will have a degree to do something else.

Police work has a high wash out rate, it's not for everyone and a lot of people don't make it; some burn out after a few years and many get washed out in training. The academy, which you will have to do anyway, teaches you everything you need to know and gets you your state certification.

Some agencies require either none, two years or four years of college, or a combo of military service/college. Most in FL require 60 credit hours minimum. It depends on the place your going.

As far as openings, it depends on the state and place. Some have a civil service system and testing is every couple of years and some hire directly by the agency. Florida is pretty straight forward in the hiring process. No civilian boards, all police. Some states use the POST system. Some states have bootcamp type sleepaway academies.

As for your background, it depends. Some states use a polygraph or CVSA to verify what you put on your application. Florida has the poly. Almost all have the psych screening. All do a background check and investigation, talking to old teachers, neighbors etc.

Drug use varies from state to state. Almost all allow for past marijuana, and each agency sets a limit on how many times you did it, if you sold it/bought it, and when was the last time you used it. The key is to be honest because if you are deceptive you are done in law enforcement. Any harder drug use pretty much excludes you from 95% of all police employment.

Also, most agencies will not hire someone with a misdemeanor criminal conviction involving dishonesty, alcohol, or domestic violence. You also need a good driving record and decent credit history.

Some agencies won't hire anyone with tattoos.

It's certainly tough to get hired. Don't put your eggs in one basket, apply at several agencies at the same time.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Larger departments hire quite a bit.  You need the college, but not specifically Criminal Justice.  They send you to the academy and your pay starts then.........