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POLICE SERVICES OFFICE |
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A unit of the Yarmouth Police Department “It’s Not Just A
Job, It’s An Education” |
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(508) 398-7653 |
Dial 9-1-1 for Emergencies |
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Careers In Law Enforcement |
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A Guide To The Basics
Provided by the
through the
Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School
©1996
There are
nearly 800,000 police officers in the
WHAT ARE YOU GETTING
YOURSELF INTO?
The Yarmouth
Police Department has over fifty-five sworn police officers, ten civilian
employees including a mechanic, clerical staff, and public safety telecommunicators, two K-9s, and over twenty reserve police
officers. We operate 30 vehicles and
five bicycles. Our operating budget is 4
million dollars a year. We serve a
community of 26,000 year-round residents plus as many as 60,000 visitors at the
height of the tourist season. The
Yarmouth Police Department is a community oriented agency and we truly are “Committed To Our Community”.
Many new
recruits are surprised to find out that law enforcement is not all catching the
bad guys. Police work is a
service-oriented people business. The
Yarmouth Police Department handles around 30,000 calls for service a year. We handle a wide range of situations, from
bank robberies and domestic disturbances to giving directions to lost tourists
and providing information at neighborhood meetings. Most of those calls were service activities
as opposed to law enforcement calls.
The Yarmouth Police Department, like many other agencies,
runs a Citizen Police Academy. This intensive program provides the student
with a tremendous amount of information about what police work is really like
and can be an excellent resource to those considering law enforcement as their
career field.
HOW DO I GET
A JOB IN LAW ENFORCEMENT?
Watch the
newspapers! Most agencies must advertise
when they begin their hiring process. If
you do not know when they are hiring, then you cannot apply. Every law enforcement agency has its own
hiring process, but many of the elements are generally the same. Here is the hiring process of the Yarmouth Police
Department as a typical example.
Only applicants who pass each stage move on to the next:
·
An ad for applicants is placed in various newspapers.
·
A general-knowledge written test is administered.
·
Background investigations are conducted on applicants who
meet or exceed a set cut-off score.
·
Those applicants are then interviewed by a board of senior
Yarmouth Police Officers. Some
applicants will be eliminated base upon their interview.
·
A smaller number of applicants are then interviewed by a
representative from the office of the Chief
of Police and from the Town Administrator’s Office (usually the Chief
and Town Administrator themselves)
·
A list is formed and each applicant has a specific ranking
on that list.
·
As openings come up, a conditional offer of employment is
extended to the person ranked number one on the list.
·
Applicants are given a psychological screening to ensure
they have the appropriate disposition for police work. A physical screening is also conducted to
ensure an applicant is physically capable of doing the job.
·
A physical ability test (PAT) is held
that, by law, each candidate must pass in order to be hired as a police officer
in the Commonwealth. The PAT standards
are set by the Massachusetts Human Resources Division and the test is conducted by their
personnel. Applicants must also meet the
criteria for acceptance to the
academy as set by the Municipal Police Training Committee.
Applicants
passing all phases and accepting the job are appointed as police officers by the
Honorable Board of Selectmen. Unless
they are already academy trained, new hires are given a date on which they
begin the six months of police academy training.
This process
is typical for an agency about the size of the Yarmouth
Police Department. The process will
vary from agency to agency. A very large
number of law enforcement agencies in
MAKE YOURSELF MARKETABLE
Law
enforcement is generally a buyer’s market.
In other words, there are more applicants than there are jobs. Most agencies have the luxury of picking and
choosing whom they want. Making yourself
marketable is crucial.
COLLEGE
EDUCATION
While some
agencies do not require a college degree, almost all prefer a minimum of an Associates
Degree. Degrees in Criminal Justice or
similar fields are preferred.
EXPERIENCE
Applicants
who come to the job with some type of experience are very attractive. Many agencies have some type of reserve,
auxiliary, or cadet program where prospective police officers can get their
feet wet and gain valuable experience and training. The armed forces also offer excellent
training and experience in their Military Police Schools, both on active duty
and in the reserves.
POLICE
ACADEMY TRAINING
Applicants
who are graduates of a Municipal Police Training Committee approved
police academy are very desirable. The
hiring police department can put the academy trained applicant to work
immediately and not wait the normal four month training lag between hiring and
active duty. Most applicants who are
already academy trained are coming from other police departments where they
have had the opportunity to get some experience under their belt. A few others are sponsored by a police
department. These people are few and far
between because they must commit to the rigors of four months of training
without pay. They are also responsible
for providing their own uniforms, equipment, and health insurance. Not many agencies participate in sponsorship.
CRIMINAL
RECORD
You must
keep your nose clean. Even the smallest
infraction on your record can keep you from getting a job. Many state and federal laws carry a
prohibition from carrying a firearm upon conviction. In minor cases where no prohibition exists
the impact can still be significant.
Think of it this way: if it came
down to someone with a “minor in possession of alcohol” charge on their record,
or the next person whose record is clean, who would you pick to be a police
officer?
PART-TIME
OPPORTUNITIES
Many cities
and towns including those on the Cape & Islands have part-time police
officers. Reserve, special, or auxiliary
police officers are used to increase manpower to meet the needs of the seasonal
population increases, and during special or major police deployments. The Yarmouth Police Department has a moderate number
of reservists on our roster. The hiring
process resembles our regular hiring process very closely and it to is very
competitive. A background investigation
is conducted on all new hires. Those
hired must complete the Reserve-Intermittent Academy training
course approved by the Municipal Police Training Committee. This program offers prospective police
officers a taste of the real thing and provides them with some very valuable
training and experience.
FULL-TIME OPPORTUNITIES
MUNICIPAL
(LOCAL)
Municipal
government is the home of the bulk of police employment opportunities. The average police agency in the
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COUNTY
Sheriff's
departments in Massachusetts, like the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office are
primarily responsible for corrections and not law enforcement, though some have
a small staff of criminal investigators whose role is to provide forensic and
photographic support to local police departments and act as clearing houses for
information such as fingerprints. In
other parts of
CAMPUS LAW
ENFORCEMENT
Most large
colleges and universities maintain a private police force on campus. In many cases these officers are granted
their arrest powers by the local or state government where the campus is
located. These officers receive their
basic academy and in-service training alongside municipal police officers at
state accredited training centers. Campus Police agencies such as the Boston College Police, Northeastern
University Police, and the University of Massachusetts Police (Amherst)
officer tremendous career opportunities and excellent benefits packages.
STATE
The Massachusetts State
Police is a large agency that offers a diverse range of specialty
units from ballistics to aviation. The
State Police hold their own civil service style test when they have a need to
hire new troopers. The state also
operates other agencies such as the Environmental
Police, and the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) Transit Police. Some of these agencies are Civil Service
subscribers.
OPPORTUNITIES AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL
The federal
government has a large number of law enforcement agencies, usually with small
staffs. Almost every federal agency has
some law enforcement branch within it. These
agencies have a wide range of jurisdictions and specialties to choose
from. Most train new recruits at the Federal Law
Enforcement Training Center.
Each has its own extensive hiring process. This is just a partial list.
·
Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms
·
Drug Enforcement Administration
·
Federal
Bureau of Investigation
·
United States Marshals Service
Department of Homeland
Security
·
Customs
& Boarder Protection
·
Transportation Security Administration
·
United States Secret Service
·
U.S. Postal Inspection Service (the oldest law enforcement agency in the
Other
federal departments that have one or more law enforcement agencies under their
auspice:
·
Environmental Protection Agency
·
o
United States Capitol Police
MILITARY LAW ENFORCEMENT
Each branch
of the armed forces is served by its own law enforcement agency. The Army
and
Marine
Corps have the Military Police; the Air Force has Security Police;
the Navy, Master at Arms. Each branch has battlefield obligations on top
of its law enforcement responsibility.
They are each charged with security, force protection, and law
enforcement on military installations at home and abroad. Serious crimes are investigated by the Army’s Criminal
Investigation Command (C.I.D.), and the Air Force Office of Special Investigation (O.S.I.). The Navy and Marine Corps fall under the
jurisdiction of the Naval Criminal
Investigative Service
(N.C.I.S.). C.I.D. and O.S.I. do not
take direct enlistments. You must serve
in the respective branch for a period of time before being considered. N.C.I.S. is actually a civilian branch of the
Navy and hires personnel in much the same way other federal law enforcement
agencies do. The United
States Coast Guard, a division of
the Department of Homeland
Security, is responsible for
enforcing criminal as well as environmental and maritime law on the high
seas. All offer excellent training,
opportunities and assignments all over the world. The M.P.s and S.P.s offer excellent training for prospective civilian
police officers and can be a good starting point for young people who do not
choose the college route.
MORE QUESTIONS?
Remember,
this guide is just meant to give you basic information. The U.S Department of Labor also has
information in its on-line on pursuing a Police
& Detectives career. If you are
seriously considering a career in law enforcement at any level, please do not
hesitate to stop by the D-Y Police Services Office to get more
information, or if you are reading this on the internet contact your local
police department or any of the other agencies mentioned here.
CAREERS IN LAW
ENFORCEMENT
A Guide To The Basics
Written by
Officer
Nicholas R. Pasquarosa, Jr.
School Resource Officer
Provided
by The
Peter L. Carnes, Chief of Police
through the
Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School
Police Services Office
“Committed To
Our Community”
© 1996-2007 Nicholas R. Pasquarosa, Jr.
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