Looking for a small town

[rolandthunder]

I was wondering if anybody knew of any small towns in the midwest that were looking for help. I have very little expierance, A degree in criminal justice, and a wife that would like to stay in the midwest. I am a certified EMT. I have several years of expierance in corrections. The smaller the town the better. I love rural life. S.O. prefered over P.D. but b either is good.

[MarineGrunt]

I don't know if you have tried this but go to the home page of officer.com and at the top there is a link for agencies. Click on that and click United States. Then simply click the state and view all depts in that state with a website. Thats how I found my dept.

[kirch]

Try the Dane County Sheriff's Department in Madison, WI. They're always hiring, they pay well (for these parts) and their hiring standards aren't overly demanding. Madison is a city of about 200K, with about 500K in the entire county. Large enough to have most of the amenities of a larger city, but small enough that you can be in the middle of farm fields or on a lake flipping for bass 10 minutes outside of town. Sheriff's deputies patrol the rural areas outside the metro area. You will be required to start in the jail and they say the average wait for FT road is 4-6 years, but I know several deputies that made the road in 3-4.

[PPDMO373]

You have to be certified in Missouri before you can get hired on....except for the Highway Patrol, Water Patrol, Conservation Dept, Kansas City, St. Louis City and County......they have their own academies and will pay for you to attend....

Some cities will hire you and then send to the academy....but those are few and far between.....at least from what I have seen because there are so many certified folks without jobs out there....

[scott72]

Lots of small town Iowa agencies will pick you up without being certified. If you really want to enhance your chances, send yourself thru the academy and you'll get picked up immediately. It's tough to live on no income for 13 weeks tho unless you work a little on the weekends.

[kirch]

I should have mentioned that getting yourself certified here in WI would also great improve your chances of getting hired. There are at least 2 academies in the state (Fox Valley Tech in Appleton and Blackhawk Tech in Janesville) that offer the full academy in a way that conflicts very little with a day job. It allows you to work while attending the academy. It's what I did. Very few agencies in WI will hire someone who's not been through an academy.

[PPDMO373]

If you really want to enhance your chances, send yourself thru the academy.

Didn't think Iowa would let you self-sponsor yourself through and academy. I thought you had to be picked up by an agency first.....and they sponsored you....?

[Staubb00]

all you need right here (https://wilenet.org/html/employment/index.jsp)

[scott72]

Didn't think Iowa would let you self-sponsor yourself through and academy. I thought you had to be picked up by an agency first.....and they sponsored you....?

they just recently changed that. The academy is hurting for $$ so they've made a lot of changes. You still have to be sponsored by a dept. I believe but a lot of dept's will let you use them as a sponsor only, as long as your understanding it's not a job offer. Of course you have to pay for all the costs.

[PPDMO373]

they just recently changed that. The academy is hurting for $$ so they've made a lot of changes. You still have to be sponsored by a dept. I believe but a lot of dept's will let you use them as a sponsor only, as long as your understanding it's not a job offer. Of course you have to pay for all the costs.

I did not know that....thanks....

[CharlieMike]

My agency is looking, Crawford, NE pop. of about 1100. The PD consists of the Chief and 2 officers. Like alot of the smaller towns, if you get hired you get paid to go to the academy in Grand Island, NE. and you start working as soon as you're hired. Check out the academy website: www.nletc.state.ne.us
They've got alot of job postings on the site. Good luck.

CM

[2297]

I just wanted to inform you of a little city called Franklin in TN. I was a officer there for four years and just got hired back. Tried Florida and hated it! Anyway, Franklin is a suburb city south of Nashville with about 45,000 in pop. It is growing and there is going to be great opportunity there in the coming years. Check out the city website and the county is Williamson, so take a look at that too. I highly recommend Tennessee for anyone looking for a great place to live that won't break the bank.

Good Luck, 2297

[ParkLE]

Ever consider the National Park Service or Forest Service or state parks LE? They are mostly stationed in rural/small towns and you can self sponsor through seasonal academies and eventual end up in a permanent job. The NPS has around 380 sites nationwide and the FS has a lot more. Just a thought, high quality of life, great places to live.

[SoCalFed]

NPS Protection Ranger and USFS Forest LEO postions are VERY highly sought after and EXTREMELY difficult to get. Many people getting those jobs have prior NR experience and/or LE experience.

I'm of the opinion that your best bet is to pay your way through a state academy and then you should have no problem getting hired on at a 'small' town department.

Good luck!