Any advise for getting on with Charlotte-Mecklenburg?

[jcarteret]

I am 20years old, clean record, high school diploma, currently in CJ school, and working at Target Corp. in Loss Prevention. Any advise for getting on with CMPD? All responses appreciated.

[tripledouble]

Finish getting your bachelor's degree. You will give yourself more opportunities in law enforcement other than local police, maybe a federal agency.

[Washingtonian]

Apply...

finish school in the meantime

[Gibbmusic]

If you're willing to make chicken scratch for a while as you finish school, look into their "Uptown Guide" program (I guess it still exists). You wear a casual type uniform and walk around uptown with radios. You are essentially just a walking customer service person under the direction of the Police Department. If you put in some time there, the transition to the Police Dept. is much easier, they like to hire from the Uptown Guide ranks.

Good luck finding info, the CMPD.org site sucks lately, looks like the morons that redid the site made it worse. Lots of 404 errors.

Good luck,
Gibbmusic

[nybyrne]

I used to work with CMPD prior to switching to the Fire Department. It is a good idea to get a degree it will help, especially with starting pay but CMPD will hire you without one. Practice for the JRPAT and the written and stay clean (drugs, driving, credit) and you should not have any problem getting on. I have never known anybody who had passed all of the test and had a clean background not get on. Living in the Charlotte area you should know that the city is in a budget shortfall and they are raising taxes which should bring more officers. Chief Stevens had requested 90 new positions before the budget crisis so they should be hiring plenty. Just remember if they don't take you the first time, try try again! Later

[Dave2886]

Apply now, and don't finish school until you get hired. The reason for this is that the city will reimburse you 100% of the cost of your degree, but only for classes you take while a city employee. Why pay for it yourself? Besides, it's only 5% extra for a 2 year degree or 10% extra for a 4 year...if you do the math, you'll see it's much more economical to let the city eat the big bill, than it would be to finish your degree on your own dime just to get that 10% a little sooner. Other than that, do what everyone else said. A couple things to think about: I know guys who were all but hired, and then they got a speeding ticket. They were bounced, and had to wait a whole year before starting all over again in the process. Also, aside from keeping your nose clean criminally, you also want to make sure you take care of your personal finances. A bad credit history will hurt you, and if it's bad enough it'll DQ you. Good luck.