What Are Some Entry Level Federal Law Enforcement Careers?
I could take a local or a state job and use that experiance and get in later, but for now I'm wondering what starting/entry level federal jobs are out there in Law Enforcement with the Feds. I already know of a handful. Probation Officer (or Probation Officer Assistant depending on district)... Postal Inspector (did hear it requires a year first in general employment with the postal service, so it's not really 'entry' level)... Border Patrol/INS (though my vision fails their standard)... Secret Service (same as above but it's closer, though I've also heard they only theoretically hire entry level, in practice they only hire those w/ experiance)... What else is there out there that allows entry level into a federal law enforcement job? (IE it has a GS rank or equivalent, and it has either/or arrest powers, firearms cert., or some form of criminal investigative authority). Marshalls and FBI are out since they only hire prior exp or Masters degree, but what about the IRS, etc?
Good Idea for college for law enforcement career?
First, a little clarification: a major is not a degree, but your primary study in college; a bachelor's degree is received in a certain major. Perhaps you were thinking of a master's degree? Either way, Criminal Justice is not a good option. It gets you nowhere and teaches you nothing. Granted, a police department will take someone with a CJ degree no sweat, but for future advancement, it's useless. Psychology, on the other hand, is not a bad choice. Pretty much anything having to do with the mind (psychology, sociology, etc.) or law is a great place to start and agencies are always interested in applicants with those kinds of qualifications. As for additional classes - foreign language, foreign language, foreign language. If you're already taking a foreign language in high school, and aren't half bad at it, you might consider minoring in that language in college. Departments can always use another bilingual officer, and are willing to offer incentive pay for speaking another language. You can also look at minoring in fields that will be beneficial to you based on your future plans/aspirations. For example, if you want to promote in the future, think about Administration of Justice. Remember: anything you can major in, you can minor in, so doors are always open. If it helps, I am also an incoming junior. Here is my basic plan for college: Major in Sociology with minors in Spanish and either German or Arabic (unsure which); after undergraduate school, apply (and theoretically be hired) to the Texas DPS; after completing academy, attend law school part-time for my J.D. Obviously, everyone's future is always up in the air, so no one piece of advice is enough. Think about yourself: What are you good at? Where are your strengths right now? Use criteria like this to decide what path you want to take, and how you plan on getting there. Best of luck to you.
Law enforcement career path questions please help!!?
So right out of high school i want to enlist in the army but still go to school at the same time ill stay in the army for 4 years and have a degree in criminal justice or criminiology. Then attend a police academy and start out as patrol and then join SWAT as a sniper and after 5 years i think it is i could get promotes as a detective in homicide. My questions are these... 1.) would a degree in criminal justice or criminology be best for this path 2.)would military service help me vs others? 3.)would i need sniper experience to be a SWAT sniper? 4.) would that be enough experience to get to be a homicide detective? Thanks you so much! Serious answers only please!!!
What is the most dangerous law enforcement job statistically whether it be federal state or local?
I believe the Detroit Police Department in Michigan with their Organized Crime Department and their Narcotics Department suffered the most police fatalities in the year 2016.Likewise Chicago Police Department cops covering the nine projects also have the largest fatalities through random gunshots by hopheads, random stabbings etc.Surprisingly the FBI have a cushy job as the number of agents who die a year on duty is very little as compared to the local level cops.Another interesting statistics is the rate of divorce is highest for local law enforcement (especially detectives).So local police is a tough job especially if your job involves patroling the projects or investigating narco crimes or organized crimes
How useful is a psychology degree in the law enforcement career field [in both federal (FBI, DEA, etc.) and local/state law enforcement]?
Special Agents | FBIJOBShttps://www.drugenforcementedu.org/You can read the requirements for Special Agents and see that a four year degree is a minimum requirement in addition to work experience. I have not seen any federal law enforcement particularly recruiting for a psychology degree. Ask yourself what use that degree would be in obtaining any job if for some reason you could not pursue any type of law enforcement field position due to a major joint injury for example or an eyesight problem. My answer is that degree is not useful above meeting the requirement that one have a degree of some kind.The agencies that require a four year degree for all applicants don't typically care what field the degree is in. The FBI does like certain advanced and professional degrees like accounting and law, so those areas of preparation are not only useful in law enforcement but for many other career options as well. I completed a bachelor's degree in journalism then went to law school. Both of those degree programs allowed me to gather skills that were useful in law enforcement. My suggestion is that you think about useful skills that can be articulated clearly to potential employers and that you get relevant work experience while in school if possible.I graduated with a bachelor's degree and three years of working in a medium sized university police department with my certifications on the NCIC and state computer systems from being in Communications for a while and quite a bit of field experience in handling interviews, taking reports, responding to emergencies and processing simple crime scenes. I was lucky that they took pride in being a training department that prepared interested students for careers in law enforcement. We were not simply used as cheap labor, so that is something to consider when planning for school and student jobs. Competing against someone with any undergraduate degree and nothing more, guess who would look more useful as a new hire?
Which law enforcement office has higher authority?
They all have exactly the same power within their given jurisdictions. A city police officer only has jurisdiction (and authority) within his/her municipality (with exceptions in some states for when they encounter a crime in progress). A deputy sheriff has the exact same power within his/her county, but not in other counties. And, a state Trooper has the exact same jurisdiction anywhere in the state. Except in most states, Trooper cannot enforce "City Ordinances", like open container laws. The real power comes from the State Attorney General (on a state level) and "States Attorneys" or "District Attorneys" or "Prosecutors" within each county. They are the only ones who can have final say on the prosecution of a criminal case (or make the decision to decline prosecution in a case, or Nolle Prosequi (drop altogether) a case). Just as a side note, Federal Agents have LESS power than any of those three when you are talking about "state" crimes. Federal Agents can only enforce violation of Federal statutes.
Is a job as a security officer counted as law enforcement experience?
Most times no. Security guards, barring some rare instances, are there to observe and report, not enforce state/local laws. Most places with private security use them act as an agent if the owner to enforce the rules of the property or In a loss prevention setting. If a person steps to violating law and/or refuses something like a request to leave, they act in accordance with their company policy in reporting the incident and contacting local authorities. But generally, their job is to be a good witness and intermediary for the owner of the property if law enforcement needs to intervene.I have worked with some good security guards/loss prevention officers and some who acted like bullies and pretended to be the police. It can be good experience, but it is not law enforcement. There are some limited exceptions (armed security at nuclear power plants comes to mind) and some states have different liabilities and abilities of security guards in enforcing laws if they aren't sworn.
What are the most dangerous law enforcement jobs?
Listen being a cop is far from the most dangerous job in this country it isn’t even top 10. The most dangerous job is cutting lumber in a forest or mining coal from a mine but if you get killed chopping wood or mining coal or maybe fishing for crab you don’t get a hero’s funeral you get an ID number and your widow gets a small pension. I appreciate the job law enforcement does I really do but I don’t believe there job is any more dangerous than most manual labor type jobs and statistics bears that out. All I can tell you is that being a cop isn’t the most dangerous job in this country and fishing for crab may not have the same sexy risk of danger it is still as relevant a job as being a cop.
What are some possible career paths for former police officers and criminal investigators?
I left full-time law enforcement in 1994. Since then, I've been a criminal justice professor at several colleges, a training coordinator for the state agency that certifies and trains most non-medical public safety personnel in a western state, and a full-time editor for two commercial law enforcement web sites. I still write for several law enforcement web sites and magazines, and I've written two non-fiction books in the genre. I've occasionally been a trainer at police conferences and seminars. My story is not common, but it's not unique, either. Most of the cops I've known who went on to successful careers in security and investigations made their contacts when they were still on the job. It also helps to have some good academic credentials. Corporate executives seldom stop with high school diplomas or associate's degrees. Degrees from traditional brick-and-mortar schools carry more weight than institutions with most of their course offerings online or by correspondence. If you want to teach, a doctorate from a regionally accredited university is almost a requirement (unless you're already in tight with a local college that will hire you with a master's). There are so many master' degrees now, mostly from online schools, that it takes a doctorate to rise above the pack. Having a bunch of published articles, even if they're in trade magazines as opposed to academic journals, also helps a lot here. ASIS International is probably the best-known industrial/corporate security professional organization, but it's difficult to build a network of contacts even there after you're out of law enforcement. Joining while you're still a cop and obtaining some of their professional certifications or the Certified Fraud Examiner credential from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners can be valuable in seeking post-career work. The latter credential can be difficult to qualify for if you're not working full time in fraud investigations.
What are some possible law enforcement jobs for someone with a CS degree?
A computer science degree is probably as good as any in competing for a law enforcement job, but don't expect that you will spend your career investigating computer crimes. In the FBI and anywhere else, you still complete the same basic training and spend some substantial time as a street officer (or agent, in the case of the FBI). Only once you have established yourself as a competent officer/agent will you have a shot to move into a computer crime specialty, and even then there is no guarantee. It isn't like TV, where the geeky field agent deals with computers, computers and nothing but computers. Most computer forensic specialists in law enforcement gain their skills during their careers, not before. The techniques involved in forensic recovery of evidence and software engineering are related, but different. As an example, my agency hired a new officer who was a certified public accountant. You would think he would go straight to fraud and financial crime investigation, but he spent about five years as a uniformed patrol officer before he got a slot in detectives. He did work fraud for a while, but eventually rotated back to patrol (as was the policy there--being a detective was a 2-3 year rotating assignment) and promoted to sergeant. Supervisors were not directly involved in investigations or first response to incidents. This is not uncommon in law enforcement.