What departments in southern CA are really hurting for officers and will hire quick?

[1970k10]

I need a job, I think So CA is the right place, I am probably not going to self sponsor due to advice on this board.

I really want to apply with a department that really needs officers, not one that just says they are hiring but only have one academy slot.

thanks

[Badkharma]

LASD / LAPD / CHP have more than one academy slot open.

[hbliam]

I have a friend that is a recruiter for South Gate PD. She keeps bugging me to apply and they process very quickly. PM me if you want her #.

Long Beach isn't taking apps again until March.

Riverside Sherriff's is hiring alot of guys as well. And there is always LAPD.

[GB0610]

LASD / LAPD / CHP have more than one academy slot open.

True, but these Agencies in no way have a "fast" hiring process.

Original poster, you have to realize something. Just because so many agencies are hurting for bodies, it doens't mean that they are going to lower their standards terribly or breeze you through the application process.

Be prepared for a wait. And you will STILL have to sell yourself and be a good looking candidate (no, not your looks).

[nobody33]

Any city with more than 100 officers. No one here hires fast. It takes min. 4 months, usually 8-12... it just depends. CHP took forever. I was in the academy for another agency that started my process months after I tested for CHP before I got their academy package... and I got the highest oral score possible with them.

[1970k10]

but dont alot of PD's and SO's do expedited testing/hiring?

[nobody33]

but dont alot of PD's and SO's do expedited testing/hiring?
Certain portions of some processes are condensed into one weekend... but the longest parts... backgrounds and medicals are not. The sooner you apply though... the sooner you can get hired.

[beachcop05]

but dont alot of PD's and SO's do expedited testing/hiring?



Ya they can expedite the tests you take, but they can't expedite your background check.

[firemanjb]

I need a job, I think So CA is the right place, I am probably not going to self sponsor due to advice on this board.

I really want to apply with a department that really needs officers, not one that just says they are hiring but only have one academy slot.

thanks
Most people choose depts. because they are well-respected, have good benefits, are in an area they like, etc. Your post makes it sound like you are looking for the easy way in, are worried about competition and don't care what type of agency you work for. If that is the case, I'd be concerned about your attractiveness as a candidate. I'm not sure I'd want you on my dept. with that kind of attitude...

[SOCALCOP]

STAY AWAY FROM SAN BERNARDINO PD

Joe Nelson, San Bernardino Sun Staff Writer
Article Launched:11/17/2006
SAN BERNARDINO - A veteran police sergeant accuses Chief Mike Billdt of launching an internal affairs investigation against him after he refused to sign a resolution to a complaint he filed against a supervisor.
In an eight-page letter that has recently been circulated throughout the Police Department, gang unit Sgt. Steve Lowes outlines complaints by himself and others claiming that Billdt and his command staff have abused their power and created a hostile work environment.

Lowes confirmed he wrote the letter but said he did not intend for it to be released to the media.

"It was basically a letter to the officers of the (Police Department) so they're aware of the issues," Lowes said.

His claims come on the heels of complaints filed by two others, retired Capt. Jeff Breiten and Sgt. Mike Desrochers, and at a time when the Police Department is preparing to beef up its ranks by hiring additional officers.

But city officials say the complaints have had little effect on the department or its focus on its top priority: reducing crime after a decade-high 58 slayings in 2005.

In addition to increasing patrols in one of the city's higher crime areas under Mayor Pat Morris' Operation Phoenix program, the Police Department has spent about $80,000 a month in overtime this year, all of which has contributed to a 14 percent reduction in overall crime and a 25 percent reduction in violent crime compared to last year, officials say.

"The city and the department have been very proactive in addressing the crime issues. There has been a lot of momentum in the department," Billdt said. "We have worked obviously within the Operation Phoenix area, but we've also worked across the city to address the crime issues, and crime is down."

Billdt declined to discuss

Lowes' letter or the complaints filed by Breiten and Desrochers, saying they are personnel matters.

An attorney representing Lowes, however, said he has never seen so many complaints filed against one police chief in the span of a year.

"I've never seen the level of frustration in any department that currently exists than at the San Bernardino Police Department," said Bob Krause, who has represented the San Bernardino Police Officers' Association for the last 20 years.

"It's a sad state of affairs when the number of people that have very good reputations and are in good standing describe this culture at the department, and no one seems to want to do anything about it & ," Krause added. "They're lucky any of these cops even show up for work."

However, Rich Lawhead, president of the police officers association, said the complaints are having little effect on productivity or morale.

"Is it really affecting the way we do our job on the street every day? Not really. Is it causing an inability to do our job? No," Lawhead said. "In reality, I think the majority of the people here, in the 90th percentile, are happy to work here."

But in his letter to fellow officers, Lowes describes department administration as retaliatory and claims Billdt threatened him when he refused to settle a hostile-work-environment complaint.

Lowes' allegations also surfaced in a complaint to the city Equal Employment Opportunity Office, the third filed this year by former and current police officers.

Investigations into the first two complaints - by Breiten and Desrochers - have been concluded. The outcomes have not been made public. Lowes' complaint is currently under investigation, said Jim Morris, the mayor's son and chief of staff.

In his letter, Lowes alleges that shortly after he refused to sign a resolution to a grievance against his then-lieutenant, Mitch Kimball, Billdt launched an internal affairs investigation against Lowes for allegedly disobeying a direct order from his new lieutenant, Brian Boom.

Lowes said Billdt on June 1 presented himself, Desrochers and two other sergeants originally party to the grievance against Kimball, William Hanley and Steve Filson with a document to dissolve the hostile-work-environment complaint.

Hanley and Filson signed the document, Lowes said, but he and Desrochers thought it was inadequate and refused to sign it. They wanted Kimball monitored and a change made to the department's core values stating that hostile work environments are unacceptable, according to Lowes.

Later, Lowes says, Billdt called his cell phone and encouraged him to return to the Police Department to sign the resolution. When he refused, according to his letter, Billdt told him to sign the form or "I am going to do something ... and that something will be for the good of the department."

The next week, Lowes says, he was the subject of an internal affairs investigation for failing to obey Boom's order to take an arrested man who had swallowed a dime bag of heroin to the hospital.

Lowes says the man vomited in the patrol car and that detectives were able to collect the heroin from the vomit. The man then said he felt fine, and Lowes felt there was no need to take him to the hospital.

"I confronted Lt. Boom and told him that I did not believe that he could consider the decisions I made & to be insubordinate," Lowes wrote in his letter. "He replied that he did not send it to (Internal Affairs). I did not push the conversation further, but I believe that Chief Billdt personally initiated this IA investigation to make good on his threat."

Desrochers, who also refused to budge on the hostile-work-environment complaint, was subsequently removed from the homicide unit.

Desrochers later filed a lawsuit against the city and Billdt over his transfer from the homicide unit to the robbery detail - a lateral move on paper, but one that has been described by officers as a substantial demotion and a cut of $60,000 a year in overtime.

The mayor's chief of staff brushed off Lowes' letter and the allegations made by other officers.

"They want to raise visibility of their complaints because they don't think they've been heard loud enough," he said.

He said the complaints have not created any doubts in the Mayor's Office about whether the Police Department is on the right track.

"Does the mayor still have confidence in the leadership of the Police Department? Absolutely," Morris said. "The basic message is: Our police officers are doing an outstanding job."

Among the rank-and-file, Lawhead said, the struggle is staying on the fence during contentious times.

"We're the ones who have to balance between having a relationship with our friends and having a good working relationship with the chief," Lawhead said, adding that his working relationship with Billdt has been a good one.

"We want to have good working relations with the chief, but we want Mike (Desrochers) and Steve (Lowes) to know we support them as well," Lawhead said. "It puts me in a precarious situation, especially when they're in the same room."

[1970k10]

Most people choose depts. because they are well-respected, have good benefits, are in an area they like, etc. Your post makes it sound like you are looking for the easy way in, are worried about competition and don't care what type of agency you work for. If that is the case, I'd be concerned about your attractiveness as a candidate. I'm not sure I'd want you on my dept. with that kind of attitude...

I'm a good candidate, but I need a job. I would prefer to apply to agencies that are actually hiring and actually need officers.

Or else I will just go back to the Military.

[Mystikal]

Most people choose depts. because they are well-respected, have good benefits, are in an area they like, etc. Your post makes it sound like you are looking for the easy way in, are worried about competition and don't care what type of agency you work for. If that is the case, I'd be concerned about your attractiveness as a candidate. I'm not sure I'd want you on my dept. with that kind of attitude...

that was my first thought just reading the subject.

[beachcop05]

I'm a good candidate, but I need a job. I would prefer to apply to agencies that are actually hiring and actually need officers.

Or else I will just go back to the Military.



Ya but this isn't just a job you apply for and get right away, it's takes a long while. I agree with firemanjb.

[firemanjb]

I'm a good candidate, but I need a job. I would prefer to apply to agencies that are actually hiring and actually need officers.

Or else I will just go back to the Military.

So get a job...then apply for the agencies your think would be best to work for, working towards your police career. Just fishing around for anyone that will hire you sounds desperate, and does make it sound like you are trying to hide something in the hiring process.

[nobody33]

STAY AWAY FROM SAN BERNARDINO PD


I used to work there. I left under good terms, however it is a good ole boys club, and probably the worst place to work in so cal. The money there ain't worth it. It's too bad because the pay is real high, and it's so ghetto it's like a playground for cops.

[Badkharma]

...it's so ghetto it's like a playground for cops.

LOL :D

that's hilarious

[M.P.ZMan]

I used to work there. I left under good terms, however it is a good ole boys club, and probably the worst place to work in so cal. The money there ain't worth it. It's too bad because the pay is real high, and it's so ghetto it's like a playground for cops.

I like playgrounds =)

Im out at Fort Irwin, and I know what you mean about San B.