US Law Enforcement Careers

[MariaElizabeth 0]

Hi,

I am wondering if there are any VJ people who know information about obtaining a career in Law Enforcement in the United States. Any information would be appreciated!

-M.

[Flames9_RN 358]

Most states but not all, require one to be a US citizen!

[MariaElizabeth 0]

Right. I figured for most, if not all states require one to be a US citizen. The reason for my question is because I am currently a Law Enforcement applicant here in Canada, and quite close to finishing up the entire process. A new path has appeared in my life and therefore I have changed plans. I want to continue with my career goals and obtain employment as an LEO. I am hoping that I can do so when I start my new life in the United States.

[MrsCat 6]

Right. I figured for most, if not all states require one to be a US citizen. The reason for my question is because I am currently a Law Enforcement applicant here in Canada, and quite close to finishing up the entire process. A new path has appeared in my life and therefore I have changed plans. I want to continue with my career goals and obtain employment as an LEO. I am hoping that I can do so when I start my new life in the United States.

You could try service as Military Police and complete the citizenship process faster.

[MariaElizabeth 0]

Oops, I just realized I should have posted this topic in the 'job' thread. Perhaps it can be moved to the appropriate thread?

I never even thought about Military Police. I have friends who are in the Canadian Forces and I know about the process to join with them, but I don't know anything about the process with the United States Military.

[Flames9_RN 358]

Did 15 yrs in the Cdn Armed Forces. Too easy to go and talk with an USA Armed Forces Recruiter. I'm sure one can find out a lot of info online, they may even have some type of live chat

[MariaElizabeth 0]

Did 15 yrs in the Cdn Armed Forces. Too easy to go and talk with an USA Armed Forces Recruiter. I'm sure one can find out a lot of info online, they may even have some type of live chat

That's a great idea. My brother has been in the CF for seventeen years. I will check into speaking with a recruiter online. Thank you!

[Colleens 40]

I know that in Canada (Ontario) you have to be a Canadian citizen for the RCMP and OPP, but for the Ottawa City Police (not sure about other cities) you do not need to be a citizen....only a PR. So you may want to look into city police forces as they maybe a little more flexible on citizenship requirements.

[Krikit 1,164]

Moving from Canada forum to Finding Work in America.

[The_Dude 1,142]

I work for a police department, but not as an officer. I can tell you that military experience is a plus, but not necissarily an equivalent to getting a degree in criminal justice (or whatever each universtiy chooses to call it). The requirement to be a citizen is not a statewide requirement where I work. I can't attest to the hiring process anywhere except where I work. It is very long, and fairly intrusive into your background.

[BRB 6]

Most city police forces if you can pass the academy you can get a job. Once you get your citizenship you can join the Hwy Patrol which pays a lot better than city police and the job in my eyes is easier.

[britbird 4]

www.officer.com is a good place to start. Some of the people in the forums are quite mad, but the employment forum advice - can be very helpful.

Citizenship requirements vary. Depending on where you are, you might want to take a look at University Police - the University of California system for instance has a pretty cool set of officers.

[paul. 0]

I work as a federal civil officer full-time and am a part-time deputy sheriff in Oklahoma. I have been here since May 21st 2009, so am still a resident alien.

What I found while looking for LE jobs (I am prior military) was that the municipal jobs often state you need to be a citizen, but when you actually question it, they realize they haven't actually dealt with resident aliens applying before and therefore they misunderstood the state statutes. So in my position, I just made sure to read the state statute and then printed the relevant section off, applied and on the interview explained why I thought I was qualified, then brought out the printed section to prove I'd done my research correctly. This may in fact help sway any interviewer, as it shows some useful traits for LEOs...

For state and federal law enforcement jobs, you will need to be a citizen for sure...I am biding my time, slowing gaining experience before applying at one of the federal agencies. However, there is one exception I have found-a tribal police officer. These are federally trained officers, but at least in my area, they allow permanent aliens to apply as they are governed by their tribes own statutes.

My example:

http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/Deli...p?CiteID=454176

Do a CTRL+F to search for "alien", there is only one mention of it:

f. such person has provided proof of United States citizenship or resident alien status, pursuant to an employment eligibility verification form from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

Obviously, this may change depending on what State you want to work in, but all States have a resource such as the website I linked to, where their Statutes are online. If not, a Public Library will carry them for sure.