K9 Police

[Tysmom]

Did you take Skills at Alexandria Tech? Thats where I have to do mine, they don't offer skills at the school I am attending (Fergus Falls) Alex is only 30 min from here though. What is skills like?
And how do you "sponser yourself"?

[apdwannabe]

I believe sponsoring yourself means picking up the tab on your training. Whatever the academy in question deems their training costs are

[K9 Police]

I did not actually attend Alexandria. I went up there for a day to get registered, take the MMPI, etc. I was accepted into their program. I was very impressed with what they had in regards to the skills training. In my opinion, the best in the state and that is the reason I wanted to go there. I was setup on the four-year transitional program which was a shorter and more condensed program than the two-year program. Alexandria is physical, with a lot of running. The school itself is nothing like the University of Minnesota, kind of reminded me of high school, but worth the money to become certified.

I really never heard the term "sponsor yourself" in Minnesota. As with the "education and tranining" thread, Minnesota dicates that everyone must become certified themselves, pass the POST test, and then apply to departments. The MN Police Corps is one of the few exceptions (St. Paul PD has a Police Cadet Program for individuals with four year degrees, hires them, buts them through the classes and skills at Metro, pass the POST test, then puts them through their academy, then off to FTO). I came back to Wisconsin as I was given a firm sworn position job offer, and they were not only going to be pay for me to become certified, but also pay me while going through the academy. Like I said, I can now take the reciprocal POST test for MN and be certified with my current sworn experience. If I was in MN, I'd still be at Alexandria waiting to get out, and finally put in some applications. So basically in MN everyone is sponsoring themselves. They pay for everything from tuition to fees to become certified. Yet, they can't even pick up an application and may never even get hired; especially with the competitiveness up there.

As for what skills is like, as I said, I never went through it. Basically you have had the "book" portion of becoming certified. Skills would be everything from EVOC (if that is what they call it) to DAAT or PPTC (defensive training) to firearms. It is the hands-on portion of the entire program.

Any other questions, feel free to ask. If you go to a school and want to become a officer in MN, make sure you ask plenty of questions in regards to if they with make you POST eligible.

K9