You won’t be transferring somewhere else in three years so make sure that the city and the job are right for you. I thank God I found out before I wasted time and moneygoing to a place I would never want to live. While the website looked great, the city itself left much to be desired. Fortunately, my parents traveled there for a visit. I nearly took a job at a department in Arizona. While you are doing this, look at the city itself. Do they put on their own academy or send you to a regional one? Do you get paid during the academy? Will they wave residency requirements (most do) for military veterans? Are they actually hiring or just trying to fill the hiring pool? When would you start? Ask questions about shifts, pay, promotion opportunities, and specialized units. Employment brochures don’t tell the full story. You may not want to join a department being investigated by the DOJ or going through major upheavals. Learn about what’s going on there (valuable in an oral board!). Read local articles about the departments. Take a hard look at the departments you’re interested in. Unless you are dead set on returning to your home town you need to do your research. In my case, I didn’t care about moving back home so the field was wide open. The more time you give yourself, the greater your options will be. If you’re thinking about getting out, you need to start thinking way ahead - remember: prior proper planning prevents piss poor performance. And so began my transition from sailor to cop. The fence collapsed and I knew it was time to go. The people were good, but for various reasons I couldn’t stomach it. I was told all E6s were being extended a year at my Command. Without a doubt, I was a career sailor, and for the most part, loving it.īut the question caused me to wonder: Was I too old to be a rookie cop? Did I really want to jump ship from an already promising career that was already half way to a retirement check? Did I really want to start over? I was solidly on the fence. I’d made Petty Officer First Class in seven years and had an excellent chance of making Chief. But after three years at sea, changing my rating to Master-at-Arms (Navy Police), three years in Italy, coming back to the states and then volunteering for my most recent deployment, nine years had gone by. At the time I believed it would help in a later career in law enforcement. I’d joined the Navy in February 2000 after graduating from college. After the homecoming hugs and kisses, my wife asked, “What ever happened to you wanting to be a cop?” In December 2009, I’d just returned from a nine-month deployment to the detainee camps at Guantanamo.
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