Worth the trip to Dallas?

[knecht]

Upon learning of the shortage DPD is facing at the moment, I decided to give their recruiting unit a call and gather some information which wasn't posted on their official website. The responses from the recruiting officer were as follows:

-Yes they are hiring a ton.
-They have 4 academies scheduled this year and are not ruling out a 5th (each class consists of approximately 30 recruits)
-The 120-150 they plan to hire this year is about half of their target (he basically told me they are hiring everyone who is qualified)
-Physical minimums are extremely low, better scores are expected. I remember the requirements (roughly) and they are:
4 push-ups in one minute
16 sit-ups in one minute
1.5 miles in 19 minutes and some change
300 meter dash in quite a bit, dont remember number
Overall I was very impressed with what the officer had to say, and he was very professional throughout the conversation. He also called me back the very next day, which was very nice. Anyway, here is where my issue comes in....Dallas seems like just my type of department, but I dont want to spend the money to fly out there, rent a room for 3 nights, and get a rental car if I dont have a realistic shot. Now I realize most people (including myself) would say anything you truly want is worth the risk, but I cant justify putting a strain on my families budget for a longshot. If it were just me, I would have no problem. However, I dont want my wife to have to deal with something like that unnecessarily. So my question is something along the lines of the generic "what are my chances" or "do I have a shot" posts. Invariably many of the answers (from smarter people than I) will say you can never really tell unless you apply. I agree completely. But you can always ballpark it and/or let me know if any flags stand out to you, that would at least spare me some of the havoc :) . Now as far as I can see, I dont have any major issues, but I am not a law enforcement officer, so my opinion isn't much better than anyone of the street, if not worse. So here are the basics of my package:
-Working in my BA in a technical discipline (math,science, engineering, etc). 3.1 gpa, will have around 65 units after spring semester.
-Held 5 or so jobs since I was 15 (I am now nearly 23) and currently only go to school. Never been fired.
-Tried marijuana once, no other drugs. Dont drink or smoke. No tattoos.
-No criminal record of any sort. One red light camera traffic ticket 4 years ago (only ticket). You look pretty funny in those pictures and it looked like my head was facing straight forward and my eyes were completely sideways :eek:
-Married for 3 years w/ no children
-moderate/ok physical shape (obviously above the minimums)
-Courses in psychology, intro cj, english composition, forensic chem, tons of math including stats, and Spanish
-Fluent in Spanish
-4 months of volunteer service in foreign country
-out-of-state applicant (So Cal)

Now to me, this seems like an ok package. However, I view my employment history as a liability that could become a road block in the process. What do you all think? Sorry for the long-winded post, but like everyone else on these boards, this is something I care about very much, and have dreamed about since childhood. The way I see it, the more peoples opinions I have under my belt going in, the better. Thank you very much for you time and I wish you all the best.


S

[knecht]

Oh I almost forgot, there is also a vertical jump in the physical. I believe 6" was the required height.

[gotthblues]

how long ago did you smoke the mj?

other than that i personally dont see anything wrong, seem like an average candidate. just remember, nowdays, someone that hasnt smoked mj a handful of times, been arrested for a dui, so on, is a rare find, you have no crim history, you are married, have good credit?? sounds like just as good a shot as anyone else,
sometimes not having police experience is a good thing, like in dallas for example, they seem to have their fair share of problems, you wont bring bad habits or questionable behavior with you, plus they are going to put you through their academy anyway so there really isnt much benefit to hiring officers.

as far as putting a strain on you and your wife, buy a bus ticket, it'll be a sucky ride, but a whole lot cheaper than a plane,

but i will say this, just remember, it sounds like they will consider just about anyone, and almost hire anyone, do you want to work with those kind of individuals, i hope they dont compromise, but since they are doing a nation wide recruiting and offiering bonus' and whatnot, if i lived there, id be kind of worried. but on a side note, if you get the job, work there for 2 or 3 yrs, then apply at the other pd's in the metro, if you made a good hand and build your police resume, then you would have a good shot at the great pd's, plano, richardson, rowlett, ft worth, grapevine, a lot of good pd's surronding dallas.

[gotthblues]

oh yea, YOU SPEAK SPANISH,, that is huge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Troophopeful]

Hey KNECHT, I am not currently a LEO so I will just try to ad my .2 cents to the questions that I can answer and do not require any type of previous LEO experience.

I too recently spoke with a Dallas PD recruitment officer and I also found them to be very helpful and quick to answer the questions that I had. As you may already know, DPD has a problem finding qualified applicants (they do receive a good number of people applying, but many of their applicants have done things and engaged in behavior that prevents them from being hired by l.e. agencies. i.e. drugs, dwi, higher than normal and recent moving violations etc, misdemeanors etc).

Now, it is the goal of DPD to receive 2500-3000 applications a year however they only had 1800 applicants applied as of 2005. According to the recruiter that I spoke with, the Dept hires roughly 150 officers per year. For the most part and from the bit of background that you provided here of yourself nothing appeared to jump out (speaking from a civilian point of view). Statistically you stand a good chance of being hired in a large size dept like Dallas (according to a recruiter, you pass all phases below and you will be offered a job). Ok,

1800 applicants applied for DPD in 2005
150 recruits, what the dept hoped to hire last year but many academy classes were short for lack of qualified applicants.

Off the top you have a 1 in 12 chance of being hired.

Now, remember that the entire hiring process is made of test (and stages)

1. You have the civil service test
2. Agility test
3. Polygraph
4. Psych test (both written and oral)
5. Board interview
6. Background investigation
7. Medical test

Failure of one of these stages will prevent one from going forward. As I understand before you decided to schedule Phase I of processing with DPD you will speak with a recruiter for a quick pre-application interview. During this interview you can ask a member of the dept of the questions that you may have and bring your concerns up with them. Ultimately you will need to get through all the stages to get the job. Pro

[Txcop276]

it's a 100 question multiple choice test. they give you a caculater for the math section of the test. got to get 70%. THEY NEED PEOPLE BAD!!!

[mtnbkrpnk]

I f you haven't smoked the pot in many years and you are truthful on the polygraph, you should have no problems.

[knecht]

I was either about to turn 16 or had just turned 16 when I smoked the pot. It was at a wedding and I went back to my friends house where all three of us who had tried it threw up for a while. I dont have good credit in terms of purchasing power, but my score is good and I have NO negative credit. In other words, I didnt get a credit card until recently. The polygraph makes me a little nervous because I have heard of many people failing on what they claim to be false readings, but I have nothing to hide so hopefully I should be fine.
About the 2 day testing, is that standard? That would save me from having to pay for another hotel evening and I would love that. I should be fine on the written, and I am glad there is a math section, since I am a math major.
Also, thanks a ton for the bus idea, that thought hadn't even crossed my mind. Way to think outside of the box! I appreciate you saving me money like that.

[igneous]

I would hate to see what a person would look like if they couldn't pass those physical requirements, but I'm sure they are just a low end requirement anyway.

[knecht]

Yes they are just low end requirements. He stressed that to me several times. They want people to be well under the run times and well over the other numbers.

[shaund44]

tHE TEST IS PRETTY EASY. I TOOK IT LAST AUGUST . BASICALLY ALL IT IS SOME MATH, MAKE SURE YOU KNOW HOW TO FING THE AVERAGE OF A SUM OF NUMBERS. AND SOME SPELLING, AND PUNCTUATION. NOTHING CRAZY. THE FITTNESS TEST IS EASY ALSO JUST A SPRINT, RUNNING STRESS TEST, PULL UPS MAKE SURE YOU CAN DO ATLEAST A FEW OF THEM, THE AVERAGE ALL THE PHYSICAL TESTING AND PULLUPS HELP ALOT. POLY, JUST ANSWER HONESTLY AND YOU WILL BE FINE.

[knecht]

The math should be fine, like I said, I am a math major in college. Pullups huh? He didnt mention those, just pushups....maybe they eliminated that portion?

[Txcop276]

they did change it , it's easyer now, no pull ups,

[pkagel]

They had pullups as of last year. The ladies got to do a different kind but even they had to do them.

[winn1]

Does anyone know what they want in regards to the physical agility test to graduate from the academy? Obiviously it is not going to 19:00 min. for the 1.5 mile run. Does anyone know if they follow Cooper's? Any info would be appreciated.

[knecht]

I have no idea, I remember the officer mentioning some system, maybe it was Cooper's, I can't recall.

[mksm2000]

pull ups? how many do u need to complete? how long is there academy and do they have their own police academy? yes, COLA in texas is damn cheap. no state taxes and best of all it doesn't snow ;). So texas is better than so cali huh?

[pkagel]

I don't remember if they had a minimum per sey, you just had to get an overall passing score. If you really busted out on the pullups and other events that would mean you had to run less on the treadmill to pass.

[icecoldblueyes]

Dpd has it's own academy.... 32 weeks.

Winn...yes, it is Coopers.

[knecht]

Does Dallas especially need Spanish speakers? Here in SoCal it hasnt seemed to help so much, but every department is different I suppose.

[oSutrooper]

Does Dallas especially need Spanish speakers? Here in SoCal it hasnt seemed to help so much, but every department is different I suppose.

I would have to say yes

[pkagel]

Yes, they need Spanish speakers, as does every other department in the South West. DPD is notoriously hard to qualify for the extra money though. From what I understand they have people on the dept who have spoke Spanish their entire lives and can't qualify, though they can talk to anyone on the street in Spanish. I'd definetly highlight in your oral board.

I would have to say yes

[knecht]

Well I have decided to make the trip. I am also interested in making the trip to Las Vegas to apply for a position with the LVMPD. I am not sure what the situation is now, but I heard a few comments a while back that they were hiring a good number of officers. Does anyone know if this is still the case? I have also heard similar rumors recently regarding the San Diego Police Department. Apparently a large number of their veteran officers have left due to pension issues affecting city employees. As a result, they are supposedly hiring like crazy. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get a number (or even a ball park figure) out of anyone actually affiliated with either of these departments. If anyone has any insight it would be greatly appreciated. Oh by the way, I am very thankful for the responses I have received to my Dallas question. I expected to get some ideas but I never expected so many great comments and ideas. Thank you everyone for the help and support, hopefully sometime soon I will be in a position to offer the same type of support to others.

[pkagel]

Well, where do you actually want to be??? You've mentioned DPD, LVMPD and SDPD???? If you just want to stay in CA then the LASD is hiring like crazy and they have tons of OT in the jails so you can make good money.

[KaiGywer]

With flying from SoCal to Dallas and Las Vegas, have you looked into Southwest Airlines? They have great prices (download Ding! from their webpage, and you will get special offers), and high frequencies. Why endure Greyhound, when you can get plane for just a little more.

[pkagel]

SouthWest won't get you into Dallas. We have the Wright ammendment which prohibits Love Field from flying to anywhere but surrounding states. American is trying to push SW out by moving into Love Field and in doing so they stopped flying to Long Beach, Grrrrr :mad: . You can get cheap flights to Vegas out of Long Beach though on one of the other airlines.

[mksm2000]

dude try out SDSO too. they need 300 officers this year alone...i'm gonna take a trip also to vegas, dallas and san diego see if i can get process. even atlanta PD, the officer that i spoke too said the hiring process takes about 110 days to complete so roughly 4 months. i'm tired of the cold weather here in IL :D wanna see some sunshine hehehe...forgot to mention check ARIZONA too...

[knecht]

Most of the deputies SDSO is hiring are for detentions. Unlike LASD and most other agencies, this is a completely different classification, so if you ever want to get on the street, you have to apply like everyone else. The background detective told me generally 8-10 years in detentions gets people a job on the street, providing they are in good standing. Also they are not considered peace officers, in that you cannot lateral because you only attend a 3 month academy and are not trained in street operations. I have applied there a couple times, but unfortunately after filing out my packets both times, they went into a hiring freeze and neglected to tell me, then made me repeat the whole process. My opinions may be wrong, but I am looking for a department that is a little more professional. Of course, my opinion of their level of professionalism comes strictly from the hiring process, but many other departments I have looked into have treated me a lot better. Also, does southwest fly to dfw?

[pkagel]

No........

Also, does southwest fly to dfw?

[KaiGywer]

SouthWest won't get you into Dallas. We have the Wright ammendment which prohibits Love Field from flying to anywhere but surrounding states. American is trying to push SW out by moving into Love Field and in doing so they stopped flying to Long Beach, Grrrrr :mad: . You can get cheap flights to Vegas out of Long Beach though on one of the other airlines.

Yeah, the good old WA. Make a stop at another airport will get around the WA though. SAN-HOU-DAL or something like that.

[knecht]

That whole flight restriction thing is kind of odd....I have never heard of anything like that before.

[KaiGywer]

That whole flight restriction thing is kind of odd....I have never heard of anything like that before.

Just Google Wright Amendment, and you'll get more info on it than you'll ever need :)

[pkagel]

You got that Wright ;)

Just Google Wright Amendment, and you'll get more info on it than you'll ever need :)

[knecht]

That boy aint Wright....