Career as a cop.

[arampapik]

How you guys doig. I tried using the search feature, but didn't come back with helpful results.... hope you dont mind me asking a few questions.

background:
I am 22, did 3 years in the Navy.
I am very interested in becoming a part of the LAPD.
I have just a few credits at a community college, but nothing much.
I have a very clean record. No felonys, no nothing. Altough, I was once arrested for petty theft (1.99 CD from tower records) but teh charges were dropped, and i did not have to go to court.
I have been unemployed for about 15 months.

My question is, should I go ahead and apply for the LAPD right now, or should I go to college and major in criminal justice, recieve my AA degree and then apply.
I know having a degree looks a lot better, but what are my chances of getting in with my background?

Also, can you please recommend a book or two for the written test?

Thank you very much in advance, and i appreciate the help.

aram

[FutureLE]

How you guys doig. I tried using the search feature, but didn't come back with helpful results.... hope you dont mind me asking a few questions.

background:
I am 22, did 3 years in the Navy.
I am very interested in becoming a part of the LAPD.
I have just a few credits at a community college, but nothing much.
I have a very clean record. No felonys, no nothing. Altough, I was once arrested for petty theft (1.99 CD from tower records) but teh charges were dropped, and i did not have to go to court.
I have been unemployed for about 15 months.

My question is, should I go ahead and apply for the LAPD right now, or should I go to college and major in criminal justice, recieve my AA degree and then apply.
I know having a degree looks a lot better, but what are my chances of getting in with my background?

Also, can you please recommend a book or two for the written test?

Thank you very much in advance, and i appreciate the help.

aram

Bottom line-- You wont know unless you apply -- That being said, I dont think you have a good chance right now.. Again this is my opinion from what I have dealt with personally and seen and heard

Dont know much about LAPD.. But

1- No education hurts

2- An arrest for theft doesnt look good- Shows dishonesty

3- Unemployment looks very bad, espescially for 15 months.. What are you doing for money? At 22 and not in college fulltime, you should be working to support yourself

I would get a job and keep steady employment for a few years-
Go to school and at least get your AA in something-- Doesnt have to be Criminal Justice
Keep your credit-driving history-etc clean and apply later, your still young and can definetly improve you chances

[gomets11]

Bottom line-- You wont know unless you apply -- That being said, I dont think you have a good chance right now.. Again this is my opinion from what I have dealt with personally and seen and heard

Dont know much about LAPD.. But

1- No education hurts

2- An arrest for theft doesnt look good- Shows dishonesty

3- Unemployment looks very bad, espescially for 15 months.. What are you doing for money? At 22 and not in college fulltime, you should be working to support yourself

I would get a job and keep steady employment for a few years-
Go to school and at least get your AA in something-- Doesnt have to be Criminal Justice
Keep your credit-driving history-etc clean and apply later, your still young and can definetly improve you chances


some more advice about getting a degree...i have a few friends who have 4 yr degrees in CJ and they are having a hard time finding a job. Some advice is to major in something you are interested in besides CJ because if for some unknown reason, you are unable to get a job in LE or you decide that LE isn't what you want to do, that CJ degree helps, but it doesn't as much as a degree in say IT or Business...just my own opinion...

[irishlad2nv]

"aram"...first thing is you need to get a job so that if you do apply, you can show that you have some type of stable work history. Being 22 and I am assuming you got out of the Navy 15 months ago? But thats a long time not to have any tyoe of job. I mean you could at least use your GI Bill, if you were honorably discharged? And go to school, etc. Even if you can't get a job for some reason, at least show that you have some ambition and start school. I know of several places that would turn you down right away for not even having a job. As far as the whole CJ degree...listen to what others are saying as this topic has been beat to death on here about CJ degree and LE. LAPD is no picnic into getting hired. Good luck in whatever you decide to seek.

[arampapik]

Thank you so much for the responses guys, I really do appreciate it.

Just to clear a few things up.
I was discharged from the Navy honorably.
For work, I use to play poker professionally...not anymore.
And I did use my GI bill, for about 3 months.
My arrest was when i was 14, but the charges were dropped. So does that mean i have to let them know i was arrested?

Thanks,

[FutureLE]

Thank you so much for the responses guys, I really do appreciate it.

Just to clear a few things up.
I was discharged from the Navy honorably.
For work, I use to play poker professionally...not anymore.
And I did use my GI bill, for about 3 months.
My arrest was when i was 14, but the charges were dropped. So does that mean i have to let them know i was arrested?

Thanks,


They will ask if you have ever been arrested, detained or questioned any LE agency, so yes you will have to tell them, but you were 14 so its not that bad IMO

Playing poker is probably not the ideal job, since excessive gambling is frowned upon from what I have seen

See the above advice and good luck

[irishlad2nv]

Thank you so much for the responses guys, I really do appreciate it.

Just to clear a few things up.
I was discharged from the Navy honorably.
For work, I use to play poker professionally...not anymore.
And I did use my GI bill, for about 3 months.
My arrest was when i was 14, but the charges were dropped. So does that mean i have to let them know i was arrested?

Thanks,


Still, you need a job, not having one for 15 months as I said does not look good. Yes you have to tell them you have been arrested before, same as when you went to enlist, if you told them?

[wattst]

Many University's have went away from the plain ole CJ degree. The new title is Justice Administration. JA goes over the CJ system and it goes in to Bussiness so you can be able to have options unlike the CJ degree.

[pkagel]

Just be honest and let the chips fall where they may. Their are other LE agencies besides LAPD. Try LASD, IPD, or just about anybody out there. If you are finding it hard, try Compton Schools PD.

Here are my academy notes. You can put yourself through the academy and get your GI bill if you want to go that way.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CABasicPolice/

[JFrazier]

Hey bud. Like the other guys were saying, you wont know until you try and apply. If you graduate from the acadmy, you can always go back to school and finish your degree. I am sure your past issues will come up without a doubt, but there is nothing you can do to change your past. You just have to move foward, be mature and professional about the whole thing and just hopefully that would not be the only factor of you not getting hired. Some depts will forgive persons with really minor drug type history (not many though) so you never know. Simply, just apply and who knows. Good luck.

[DH21187]

DO NOT GET A DEGREE IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE...Absolutely useless. Get a degree is something uselful like computers, medicine, etc. Academies will give you everything you need so start planning your next career now. 20 years will be over before you know it and it's nice to have your education and stuff setup before you go.

[Tikidaddy]

First start out by researching LAPD, you can easily find out what their hirng requirements are and work from there. Also understand that LAPD as most know has had alot of controversy in the past and as a result have made alot of changes to their requirements daily ops etc. to better their image (ie: the quality of recruits, etc). Now gambling.....pro gambler I can tell you is not the best employment history to have. I wouldn't be surprised if the DQ'd you just for that. Most departments do credit checks, to see how much debt you have. The reason for this is, they believe that someone deep in debt is more likely to accept bribes, shake down perps, etc in order to pay off debts (see where this is going?). I bet (no pun intended) they will look at your gambling profession as a potential problem for them.