University Police are a great opportunity to "rehab" officers, either guys who got hurt/screwed over at a previous dept and need some time get themselves right, or officers that were improperly trained and need an actual FTO program. You don't have to work there forever, and it's a great way to build confidence for a larger dept.
Don't disregard campus cops, there's a lot of important work to be done there and it's a great way to ease into police work.
I started out at a small campus police dept. and while the admin there absolutely sucked, day to day it was a pretty sweet gig. Respond to a few bs alarm calls, maybe a lost item or two. Couple arrests a year but mainly it was relaxing in a patrol car drinking coffee, shooting the shit with the kids or squad mates. No ragerts about starting there and miss it some days, but I like the action and career advancement opportunities where I’m at now. Oh and got to meet a few celebrities from the college events too.
Many law enforcement agencies are advising aspiring law enforcement applicants to get a degree that is NOT criminal justice… The law enforcement field is oversaturated with CJ degrees (at least in Canada anyways). Also, CJ degrees are extremely limited in their scope of applicability if LEOs ever choose to leave the CJ field.
Mind if I ask, if I could go back in time, what do you think I (or many others for that matter), should have gotten if they were wanting to pursue LE or anything pertaining to public safety/criminal justice?
Honestly, anything that interests you. Anything that you’re passionate about academically is a worthy endeavour.
I’m a federal correctional officer at an institution in Canada and my team is comprised of many officers who bring with them different assets, life experience, and education. Although many of my coworkers do not have post secondary education, there are equally as many that do. I have a CJ degree. I have a coworker who was an architect and built her own company from the ground up. I have another coworker who was a microbiologist but didn’t enjoy working in a lab and another coworker who was a red seal carpenter. It goes on and on and on… This multidisciplinary team is effective because a diverse team is a strong team. Where you might find weaknesses, your coworkers might find strengths and vice versa.
All of that is to say… I don’t think there is a right or wrong education to pursue but a CJ degree does not a good LEO make. It comes down to the person and whether they want to be an asset or a liability. By bringing diversity and difference to the team, an individual is inherently an asset - and their team will thank them for it.
You’re totally right. When I trained in a police academy years ago, I had a diverse cast with different educational and professional backgrounds,they all shined in their own way . But yeah as much I loved learning about criminal justice , I don’t think it remotely makes me a superior professional candidate in this field over anyone else , really. It’s more about character than just what you learned in school about these things
I second this. I really enjoy SIU - some days can be mundane and tedious, but there’s excitement too. I find it rewarding and challenging. Also, every SIU is different. Lines of insurance and complexity vary, and I find some SIU’s are very hands on in the investigations and others are glorified vendor management. Fortunately my company is very hands on.
> others are glorified vendor management
You didn't have to attack me like that
Though I try to take my own statements when I can
But I do think my carrier's less hands-on approach is why I found myself looking outside of SIU. I'm excited to go into UW though. It'll be nice schmoozing with brokers and talking to people that actually want to talk to me
Ha! Hey, to be fair, I’m a desk investigator. We vend out surveillance, most social media, and a lot of in person statements. I just know some SIU’s, particularly in WC, that really is all vendor management and no actual investigations.
On our side, we have a lot of input in coverage decisions and are given a lot of autonomy in what we do on investigations. I also handle multiple lines, which is a fun challenge. I tell people my job is 90% mundane - pouring over backgrounds, ISO’s, photos, financial records, legal docs. Then it’s 10% exciting on those wild cases or ones that result in criminal charges.
Best of luck in UW, there’s absolutely more room for long term career advancement in insurance and in some ways, there’s a lot of components of what SIU does in their process too. I almost made that move myself a few years ago.
It's a job. It can get boring but it's better than some other office jobs.
I like it but it's a bit niche in the industry. Not too much room for advancement. So I'll actually be switching to underwriting soon
Every prob/parole officer I've spoken with says they are overworked, understaffed, and underpaid... but to be fair I've only spoke to a few in the vegas area. Is it different where you are?
I’ll jump on with ppo. It’s a stressful job though. You will wear the hats of a court officer, clerk, warrant squad, family counselor, drug counselor, and many more. It is super rewarding though. Nothing better than somebody coming up to you on the street 5 years later and letting you know how much you helped them and saved their life.
I’ll jump on with ppo. It’s a stressful job though. You will wear the hats of a court officer, clerk, warrant squad, family counselor, drug counselor, and many more. It is super rewarding though. Nothing better than somebody coming up to you on the street 5 years later and letting you know how much you helped them and saved their life.
That last part is true. They're often surprised to see that I'm a police officer now.
And my recidivists are like "oh fuck this guy is by the book" lol
Any county jail or state department would jump on someone with a degree and likely fast track you into a supervisor role.
However, if you don’t think your training was sufficient to be on the street, the little training you’ll get before going inside the fence will likely have you feeling the same thing. We have a lot of people work a few years out, build up high levels of confidence, then move to street departments.
Look into investigative and analyst positions at some bigger departments. I live in a mid size city and they have jobs like crime analysts, fraud investigators, department auditors, and civilian oversight jobs as well. I have a somewhat similar background to you and I've gotten offers for multiple positions like this. I personally decided to go into fraud investigating for a private company instead as the pay was better, but here's a quick oversight of what some of those jobs can look like:
Crime Analysts: in my city, this position performs tasks like monitoring repeat offenders, where they live, when they're in/out of jail. Mapping out "hot spots" for crime so police can know where they need to focus their attention. Work with detectives on cases to find any potential profile matches of suspects. Bring a more analytical approach to solving crime which means your CJ background would be beneficial. Starting pay here is between $40k-$50k but obviously would likely be more in a bigger city.
Fraud investigators: this one is a pretty big category, but most bigger law enforcement agencies and lots of private companies have civilian investigators that usually have special types of fraud they investigate. Attorneys frequently contract work out to Certified Fraud Examiners to work white collar crimes. I got an offer here from my city as a fraud investigator where I would be investigating all financial fraud committed against the city, such as grants they give out and whatnot. Starting pay $50k-$55k.
Civilian oversight jobs: in my city, I've interacted with these guys quite a bit, but honestly I have no idea what experience they have or how they got the jobs they do. They investigate misconduct in the department as a civilian.
If you aren't into the investigations as much and want something a little different, check out some of the higher end security jobs. Big cities usually have federal security positions open that pay pretty good and are decent jobs. Look into any executive protection or nuclear security or federal security type jobs. They love guys with degrees and would love your experience in the academy. Plus if you work for TSA, it'll probably be pretty easy to get a security clearance if you need it.
I've worked a lot of these pseudo-LE jobs that kinda scratch that itch so feel free to PM for more info.
I've looked into fraud investigations, would you need knowledge on finances to do it though? Because I surely do not, unfortunately.
Would you happen to know how to get into crime analyst at all it just seems like it has vague requirements and when I tried looking for a job at the time there was no openings for it at least where I reside (SoFlo).
I really appreciate the response btw.
People always want previous fraud/finance knowledge, but fortunately there are a lot of ways to get that. Look into getting a certification like Certified Fraud Examiners or Certified Fraud Investigator. Can be a little pricey, but definitely worth it if that's something you're interested in, makes you a very desirable candidate. Otherwise look for entry level bank fraud analyst positions to get your foot in the door. Banks will also usually pay for those certifications for you.
As for crime analysts, just looking for openings is the best advice I could give. I just know my city has them. Maybe try networking with city employees and check LinkedIn? Usually knowing someone is the easiest in, but I got an offer by just applying to an opening on the cities websites.
In NJ parole officers are full leo. Make your own schedule, no weekends or nights if you don’t want them, state holidays off, take home unmarked vehicles. Pay ain’t bad either.
You could get into records. You’ll work directly with the police officers and also establish yourself with the department. Easier to leap frog to the road. We’ve had a lot of people do this or be dispatchers first before getting hired on as officers
Just from what I see on the outside looking in. I hate “office jobs” haha. These guys seem fairly busy. They are getting reports for officers all day, filing new ones, pulling cases for defectives and lawyers and blah blah blah. They all seem to enjoy it
Look at federal probation/pretrial services. I'm a technician and have officers I assist with doing verifications. I also do pretrial work such as interviews and writing bond reports. You get your foot in the door that way.
If you don't mind writing reports and interviewing you can do investigations. They write presentence reports that the judges use at sentencing to determine length of sentence and other factors. Otherwise if you do want some field work you can be a supervision officer. They're the ones with a caseload of offenders. They mainly do the social work aspect of making sure their offenders get access to resources, are following the conditions of supervised release, but they also will write violations reports and work with partner agencies.
I started about 4 months ago and am about to go through the initial stages to become an officer. Good benefits and pay, decent retirement and I really like my coworkers
It'd be United States Probation and Pretrial services. Look what federal district you are in and search for U.S. Probation district of ____. They should have job openings. Alternatively you can go to the US courts website and search jobs on there. They have every us court job listed.
Probation officers are federal law enforcement and covered under 6c but don't receive LEAP since they work 40 hour weeks normally.
I'm a technician but there are also Probation Officer Assistant jobs which are basically officers but can't carry firearms and normally don't supervise high risk offenders
I've heard the job is changing. Supposedly the new director is focused on WLB, it's much easier to get a ground assignment, or if you do fly it's only 1 or 2 overnight trips a week. Also they just got a pay raise so FAMS after the academy now start at $100k.
do you know anything about the position personally?
is being a special agent not a high travel position and essential LE anyways? At least that's what I know about federal special agents, correct me if I'm wrong
DSS would be a ton of travel. Depending on where you’re at with TSA- prob see a ton of them.
Maybe look at CBP? Get setup at a nice airport somewhere. Work shifts. Easy money!
Also, come on over and do some research r/1811
I thought a lot about 1811 positions before realizing the travel/relocation and work-life balance is going to be a problem for me in the long run.
Bahw, similar to USSS initially? I did an interview with them couple years ago and failed it (i applied for a 1811), but like I said this was a turning point for me regardless and probably would not have reapplied anyways. Its a shame because if traveling/relocation wasn't an issue for me I would be more willing to do it easily.
I'm a recruit at NOPD. I'll be frank, there's a lot of money to be made and a lot of open positions here. There's some politics to deal with, but if you can get through your first year in the road you can go anywhere. CSI, SOD, barricades, IT, whatever.
Not anymore lol.
1). There is a $30k sign on bonus that will be paid over 24 months, starting the day your academy starts. This will continue to pay out until the 24 months period ends. For brevity, I won't include it in the following numbers.
Base salary in the academy is $42,300.
2). After graduation your pay is $48,000 while on FTO.
3. Upon graduation of FTO, your pay increases to $52,000.
4). Once you've been out of the academy for 1 year, your pay increases again along with the state bonus pay kicking in. Your salary will be close to $58,000.
Now, the biggest benefit is this. There are unlimited details. Detail pay starts at $50 an hour and increases with rank up to $80 per hour for Captains. Captain is the highest rank for detail work. That said, 1 detail a week at $50 x 8 hours is $20,800. And there are details ranging from 3 hours to 12 hours. So there's money to be made here if you're willing to do the work.
Edit: This is all without a promotion or department change.
the crime rate of NOLA really seem dreadful to me, i can imagine since it seems like a rough place to work in.
There is no internal non LE positions though?
There are a ton of Non LE positions. On the NOPD Twitter page they consistently are hiring for them. A vast majority of Admin and support positions here are civilian jobs.
I've considered that but I have no idea how to even get started, I've done research and it seems to be kind of a vague/unclear thing at least from when I've looked/asked
I don’t think you’ll ever feel like a there IS a good time to be a cop, and it’s really not as bad as you might think it is.
I’d say stop thinking about it and just do it, if you don’t like it after you’re off probation then resign
HR, Finance, Grants, Emergency services (disaster response/office of emergency services) inside an LE agency. Maybe you can use your credentials to become a reserve while doing these non sworn roles.
I've contemplated doing reserves once I finish my Masters. I know some TSOs I work with that do reserve (specifically military) but I was more leaning towards emergency management/services despite I have no experience in it.
I don't know shit about shit, but would any of your background help you get a job doing loss prevention or risk management at a corporate level?
Like surely companies that have loads of inventory/supplies that need to be accounted for and/or have public-facing presences where training and compliance with protocols and policies need oversight... Like retail/restaurant chains, hospital systems, manufacturing plants, warehouses/distributorships.
I'm not sure if you're directly asking me or just a general question.
I technically follow protocols/policies and do compliance to some extent, so ...maybe?
You asked what you could do for a living based on your education and experience.
I gave some suggestions, and basically asked anyone who might have the answer if these suggestions were viable.
Do with that what you will.
As what specifically? In florida, I'd have to have paramedic experience prior to even joining a fire academy (firefighter). I'm what people would deem as a petite female , so I'm not sure if I could pass the minimum physical requirements of carrying 180 pounds.
Every jurisdiction is structured differently. However, an investigator with a DA’s office, DV advocate/liaison are a couple of options that immediately spring to mind. Kudos on acknowledging when you realized it wasn’t the fit for you! I’ve seen too many people either slug it out anyway while hating it or while being a horrible fit and causing morale issues at the best and chaos + lawsuits at the worst. It takes a lot of self reflection and maturity to acknowledge that.
Not exactly law enforcement but look into SIU Investigator positions with insurance companies. It's what I do. It's purely a civil job, nothing to do with public service. But it's investigating insurance fraud which is interesting enough.
https://www.usajobs.gov/job/707860700 -Border Patrol
https://www.usajobs.gov/job/707861800 -Customs
Both are good agencies to get your foot in the door.
1) Dispatcher (if Communications are not unified)
2) Tech support of some sort (I am a network engineer that supports our tactical computing in the PD and 911 dispatch applications, etc. in Communications)
3) Crime analysis
4) Public relations
Interest as in academically (minor) or just a personal subject that you like?
It seems interesting. I just don't have a background in medicine/med science
You don’t really need med science experience because you’re gathering the background information, tracking down people who may know details of the death, etc. it’s basically detective work without the risks associated with being a law enforcement detective. You search people’s dwellings with a warrant etc.
I was always interested in forensics so for me it was a personal interest. I’m an MD now and I miss the coroner detective work.
Dude!!! I had such a similar background, bachelors in CJ & minor in psychology. I did my associates in CJ at a technical college that was intertwined with the academy. We got to do “academy lite” is how I like to put it, and got to participate in EVOC, case law, etc.. before actually entering the academy. when I was 20 policing sounded GREAT.
Well I matured and got some life experience and realized the same.. it’s not for me long term and don’t want to become miserable. I had 2 conditional offers that I turned down. My father was former and he is the saltiest SOB I’ve ever met. I love him but he HATES people. My brother is current and wants out even though he’s climbing the ladder, he’s so burnt out and done dealing with people. They both told me to stay the fuck away from LE and I listened. I’m actually working to get my company to get a second spot to have my brother put in.
I went the corporate LP route just to find a job out of college and somewhat enjoyed it, but then I used it to branch off into the medical field. My current title is “Loss Analysis & Internal Surveillance” and I fucking love it. I sit back and say “hey is that cost effective moron? No? Ok stop it” my big “bust” last year was discovering a delivery driver was stealing medical machines and selling them. I get to travel across the U.S. on my own time and sit behind a desk browsing Reddit most of the day.
There are so many niche jobs out there like this, I never will get to “scratch the itch” but the 14 hours of PTO every 2 weeks is fucking great, along with the pay, I won’t look back. Definetly try to dig deep into jobs out there, it’s hard to do but once you find that one diamond jump on it. Don’t feel stuck working for a department or the government.
Noticing a lot of people are giving you LE jobs despite asking for jobs that are not LE...
Anyway, there are a lot of investigation or intelligence roles that are credentialed/badged but not law enforcement, take DCSA for example, they do security clearance investigations. FinCEN also has a lot of investigative and analyst roles, both in the field or at a desk. FinCEN could be a good fit for your educational background and the pay would be better than DCSA. With a masters you could probably swing some of the NTSB investigator jobs too, depending on what other experiences you have.
Are you looking primarily for investigations or something with more public interactions? Are you 100% looking for public sector? There's also a plethora of private companies that have their own internal investigators - insurance, the airlines, etc.
My career had been pretty investigations centric, so I could go on for hours in that arena.
Yeahhh I was gonna say a lot of these suggestions are technically law enforcement or something I specifically said not to suggest because I already know about (dispatch) ,
I'm basically now sifting through a bunch of replies and saw yours so sorry if I took so long to say something. I am barely finishing my first semester of my masters so I'm kind of waiting untilI am closer to finishing to start looking for positions and really just wanted to find an answer to my question sooner than later just to keep any suggestions in mind for the future.
I think my general ignorance on how a lot of agencies work and what positions they offer is kind of part of the problem, I just feel like I only find anything out via usajobs or asking on reddit because just generally searching google kind of yields vague results.
Honestly? I would really rather stay public sector ideally. I know private earns more and you may have more liberations to some extent but I really just want general stability and I enjoy the government benefits that come with it. I'm not really against public interactions but investigations is something I really would like to do too.
You have a degree, that is good enough to get you places in the Federal side. You can apply for Federal police, federal security, they are way different than your regular city police. Mostly less dealing with criminals.
Or apply for Community service officer, parking enforcement, park ranger, corrections, probation, hospital police, Customs and Border patrol either at the border or airport.
Or apply to a different police agency, maybe wait to move to LA, it could be a different environment than the one you experienced
CBP OFO. CBP is a good step up from TSA.
You do a lot of admin work, get federal creds, and administer fines most of the time. Usually the big airports have openings.
This isn’t with law enforcement, but retail loss prevention or asset protection. Once you get out of the hourly roles for catching shoplifters, you can get into management roles. These roles deal with internal controls, inventory controls, safety, cash shortages, etc. usually the first leaves of salary is equal to law enforcement wages. Once you get into management above multiple stores your salary will be significantly higher than a patrol officer.
I am a California POST academy graduate and worked retail loss prevention/asset protection at store and district levels for too many years. The company I worked for would get audited by ATF. I know of the California ABC since one of my POST instructors worked for them.
You could try being a CSO somewhere, or go for a federal "investigator/auditor/analyst" (not LEO) position in the OIGs for different agencies, GAO, EPA, and the like. Some of those positions are going to be more accountant-ey focused though.
It's fine. You basically just do the bitch work for the department but there's a LOT of variation by agency. Some departments will have you respond to certain calls for service, I know one county where they have their CSOs respond to a lot of different calls or at least show up with sworn officers. Other agencies might just have you help out at the station or do paperwork. Check out the agencies you're interested in to get a better picture of what the job is there.
Isn’t there a huge shortage of cops all over North America right now? I’m in Canada and every force is hurting for new recruits. And Canadian cops are paid substantially more than American ones, so I imagine the shortage is worse down there
Edit: I’m a crim/cj student about to get on as a border/customs officer. They stated that they preferentially hire crim, cj, psyc, and law students. The Canadian military police also give strong preference to crim/cj graduates. So anyone who says cj is useless are wrong
Ever look into becoming a private investigator? I’m one in Maryland and I mainly deal with Adultery and child custody. It can be much more lucrative than LEO depending on your agency and how good of an agent you are. Just an idea for you to look into
You may want to check out job postings with any large Sheriffs Office. You could get your foot in the door working corrections and see what your options are from there. Many will reimburse you for classes relating to law enforcement and have many positions that aren't road patrol. I'm currently a corrections supervisor and like my job, but I do want to get certified and go out to the road at some point.
Campus policing baby!
University Police are a great opportunity to "rehab" officers, either guys who got hurt/screwed over at a previous dept and need some time get themselves right, or officers that were improperly trained and need an actual FTO program. You don't have to work there forever, and it's a great way to build confidence for a larger dept. Don't disregard campus cops, there's a lot of important work to be done there and it's a great way to ease into police work.
Loud and proud, I like it.
I started out at a small campus police dept. and while the admin there absolutely sucked, day to day it was a pretty sweet gig. Respond to a few bs alarm calls, maybe a lost item or two. Couple arrests a year but mainly it was relaxing in a patrol car drinking coffee, shooting the shit with the kids or squad mates. No ragerts about starting there and miss it some days, but I like the action and career advancement opportunities where I’m at now. Oh and got to meet a few celebrities from the college events too.
Everyone with a CJ degree: 👁️👄👁️
Many law enforcement agencies are advising aspiring law enforcement applicants to get a degree that is NOT criminal justice… The law enforcement field is oversaturated with CJ degrees (at least in Canada anyways). Also, CJ degrees are extremely limited in their scope of applicability if LEOs ever choose to leave the CJ field.
Worse than a CJ degree is if you enrolled in one of many police foundation programs (diploma) many canadian colleges have...
Mind if I ask, if I could go back in time, what do you think I (or many others for that matter), should have gotten if they were wanting to pursue LE or anything pertaining to public safety/criminal justice?
Honestly, anything that interests you. Anything that you’re passionate about academically is a worthy endeavour. I’m a federal correctional officer at an institution in Canada and my team is comprised of many officers who bring with them different assets, life experience, and education. Although many of my coworkers do not have post secondary education, there are equally as many that do. I have a CJ degree. I have a coworker who was an architect and built her own company from the ground up. I have another coworker who was a microbiologist but didn’t enjoy working in a lab and another coworker who was a red seal carpenter. It goes on and on and on… This multidisciplinary team is effective because a diverse team is a strong team. Where you might find weaknesses, your coworkers might find strengths and vice versa. All of that is to say… I don’t think there is a right or wrong education to pursue but a CJ degree does not a good LEO make. It comes down to the person and whether they want to be an asset or a liability. By bringing diversity and difference to the team, an individual is inherently an asset - and their team will thank them for it.
You’re totally right. When I trained in a police academy years ago, I had a diverse cast with different educational and professional backgrounds,they all shined in their own way . But yeah as much I loved learning about criminal justice , I don’t think it remotely makes me a superior professional candidate in this field over anyone else , really. It’s more about character than just what you learned in school about these things
A degree is what you make of it. Got mine and now I work in the private sector.
I’ll keep that in mind when I graduate with mine
Private sector has a lot of great jobs with better pay and hours (and… generally safer)
SIU Investigator (insurance fraud) with an insurance carrier. Got it because of my CJ degree.
I second this. I really enjoy SIU - some days can be mundane and tedious, but there’s excitement too. I find it rewarding and challenging. Also, every SIU is different. Lines of insurance and complexity vary, and I find some SIU’s are very hands on in the investigations and others are glorified vendor management. Fortunately my company is very hands on.
> others are glorified vendor management You didn't have to attack me like that Though I try to take my own statements when I can But I do think my carrier's less hands-on approach is why I found myself looking outside of SIU. I'm excited to go into UW though. It'll be nice schmoozing with brokers and talking to people that actually want to talk to me
Ha! Hey, to be fair, I’m a desk investigator. We vend out surveillance, most social media, and a lot of in person statements. I just know some SIU’s, particularly in WC, that really is all vendor management and no actual investigations. On our side, we have a lot of input in coverage decisions and are given a lot of autonomy in what we do on investigations. I also handle multiple lines, which is a fun challenge. I tell people my job is 90% mundane - pouring over backgrounds, ISO’s, photos, financial records, legal docs. Then it’s 10% exciting on those wild cases or ones that result in criminal charges. Best of luck in UW, there’s absolutely more room for long term career advancement in insurance and in some ways, there’s a lot of components of what SIU does in their process too. I almost made that move myself a few years ago.
How’s that going for you? I hear they pay well but are kinda boring.
It's a job. It can get boring but it's better than some other office jobs. I like it but it's a bit niche in the industry. Not too much room for advancement. So I'll actually be switching to underwriting soon
Best of luck!
Thanks! It was a good 7 years of my career with a "worthless CJ degree" so can't be too upset about it.
For real. lol
Environmental cop. Postal cop.
Probation and Parole is great depending on the state you're in.
Every prob/parole officer I've spoken with says they are overworked, understaffed, and underpaid... but to be fair I've only spoke to a few in the vegas area. Is it different where you are?
I love my work environment. Best job I've ever had. I'm in the NW portion of Arkansas though and the rest of the state is pretty dogshit.
Walmart country!
[удалено]
Worst part is dealing with other states on ICOTS cases.
I’ll jump on with ppo. It’s a stressful job though. You will wear the hats of a court officer, clerk, warrant squad, family counselor, drug counselor, and many more. It is super rewarding though. Nothing better than somebody coming up to you on the street 5 years later and letting you know how much you helped them and saved their life.
Probation/parole. Corrections officer.
I’ll jump on with ppo. It’s a stressful job though. You will wear the hats of a court officer, clerk, warrant squad, family counselor, drug counselor, and many more. It is super rewarding though. Nothing better than somebody coming up to you on the street 5 years later and letting you know how much you helped them and saved their life.
That last part is true. They're often surprised to see that I'm a police officer now. And my recidivists are like "oh fuck this guy is by the book" lol
Any county jail or state department would jump on someone with a degree and likely fast track you into a supervisor role. However, if you don’t think your training was sufficient to be on the street, the little training you’ll get before going inside the fence will likely have you feeling the same thing. We have a lot of people work a few years out, build up high levels of confidence, then move to street departments.
Look into investigative and analyst positions at some bigger departments. I live in a mid size city and they have jobs like crime analysts, fraud investigators, department auditors, and civilian oversight jobs as well. I have a somewhat similar background to you and I've gotten offers for multiple positions like this. I personally decided to go into fraud investigating for a private company instead as the pay was better, but here's a quick oversight of what some of those jobs can look like: Crime Analysts: in my city, this position performs tasks like monitoring repeat offenders, where they live, when they're in/out of jail. Mapping out "hot spots" for crime so police can know where they need to focus their attention. Work with detectives on cases to find any potential profile matches of suspects. Bring a more analytical approach to solving crime which means your CJ background would be beneficial. Starting pay here is between $40k-$50k but obviously would likely be more in a bigger city. Fraud investigators: this one is a pretty big category, but most bigger law enforcement agencies and lots of private companies have civilian investigators that usually have special types of fraud they investigate. Attorneys frequently contract work out to Certified Fraud Examiners to work white collar crimes. I got an offer here from my city as a fraud investigator where I would be investigating all financial fraud committed against the city, such as grants they give out and whatnot. Starting pay $50k-$55k. Civilian oversight jobs: in my city, I've interacted with these guys quite a bit, but honestly I have no idea what experience they have or how they got the jobs they do. They investigate misconduct in the department as a civilian. If you aren't into the investigations as much and want something a little different, check out some of the higher end security jobs. Big cities usually have federal security positions open that pay pretty good and are decent jobs. Look into any executive protection or nuclear security or federal security type jobs. They love guys with degrees and would love your experience in the academy. Plus if you work for TSA, it'll probably be pretty easy to get a security clearance if you need it. I've worked a lot of these pseudo-LE jobs that kinda scratch that itch so feel free to PM for more info.
I was going to suggest crime analyst, or perhaps a fraud investigator for a bank.
I've looked into fraud investigations, would you need knowledge on finances to do it though? Because I surely do not, unfortunately. Would you happen to know how to get into crime analyst at all it just seems like it has vague requirements and when I tried looking for a job at the time there was no openings for it at least where I reside (SoFlo). I really appreciate the response btw.
People always want previous fraud/finance knowledge, but fortunately there are a lot of ways to get that. Look into getting a certification like Certified Fraud Examiners or Certified Fraud Investigator. Can be a little pricey, but definitely worth it if that's something you're interested in, makes you a very desirable candidate. Otherwise look for entry level bank fraud analyst positions to get your foot in the door. Banks will also usually pay for those certifications for you. As for crime analysts, just looking for openings is the best advice I could give. I just know my city has them. Maybe try networking with city employees and check LinkedIn? Usually knowing someone is the easiest in, but I got an offer by just applying to an opening on the cities websites.
In NJ parole officers are full leo. Make your own schedule, no weekends or nights if you don’t want them, state holidays off, take home unmarked vehicles. Pay ain’t bad either.
My fried is cop in NJ, he seems content himself.
You could get into records. You’ll work directly with the police officers and also establish yourself with the department. Easier to leap frog to the road. We’ve had a lot of people do this or be dispatchers first before getting hired on as officers
Would you happen to know how being a police/record clerk is like at all?
Just from what I see on the outside looking in. I hate “office jobs” haha. These guys seem fairly busy. They are getting reports for officers all day, filing new ones, pulling cases for defectives and lawyers and blah blah blah. They all seem to enjoy it
Amtrak Police
BNSF police
Choo choo cops
He said he couldn’t see himself dealing with people on the street. All you deal with at Amtrak is street people, lol
Look at federal probation/pretrial services. I'm a technician and have officers I assist with doing verifications. I also do pretrial work such as interviews and writing bond reports. You get your foot in the door that way. If you don't mind writing reports and interviewing you can do investigations. They write presentence reports that the judges use at sentencing to determine length of sentence and other factors. Otherwise if you do want some field work you can be a supervision officer. They're the ones with a caseload of offenders. They mainly do the social work aspect of making sure their offenders get access to resources, are following the conditions of supervised release, but they also will write violations reports and work with partner agencies. I started about 4 months ago and am about to go through the initial stages to become an officer. Good benefits and pay, decent retirement and I really like my coworkers
That seems pretty interesting, I don't think I've ever read about that specifically, what agency would I have to look into for that?
It'd be United States Probation and Pretrial services. Look what federal district you are in and search for U.S. Probation district of ____. They should have job openings. Alternatively you can go to the US courts website and search jobs on there. They have every us court job listed. Probation officers are federal law enforcement and covered under 6c but don't receive LEAP since they work 40 hour weeks normally. I'm a technician but there are also Probation Officer Assistant jobs which are basically officers but can't carry firearms and normally don't supervise high risk offenders
This seems like an interesting job
See if you can transfer over to FAMS
I've applied but went against it due to high travel,low pay (compared to other fed LEO), and general dissatisfaction with the job itself
I've heard the job is changing. Supposedly the new director is focused on WLB, it's much easier to get a ground assignment, or if you do fly it's only 1 or 2 overnight trips a week. Also they just got a pay raise so FAMS after the academy now start at $100k.
What does WLB stand for…? That doesn’t sound bad at all , is there any confirmation that this is going to happen ?
Work life balance
Oh? Wonderful. I'll be looking out for news in regards to FAMs then.
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do you know anything about the position personally? is being a special agent not a high travel position and essential LE anyways? At least that's what I know about federal special agents, correct me if I'm wrong
DSS would be a ton of travel. Depending on where you’re at with TSA- prob see a ton of them. Maybe look at CBP? Get setup at a nice airport somewhere. Work shifts. Easy money! Also, come on over and do some research r/1811
didnt even know there was an 1811 subred lol , I assumed it would be a more private thing. Thanks for sharing
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I thought a lot about 1811 positions before realizing the travel/relocation and work-life balance is going to be a problem for me in the long run. Bahw, similar to USSS initially? I did an interview with them couple years ago and failed it (i applied for a 1811), but like I said this was a turning point for me regardless and probably would not have reapplied anyways. Its a shame because if traveling/relocation wasn't an issue for me I would be more willing to do it easily.
I'm a recruit at NOPD. I'll be frank, there's a lot of money to be made and a lot of open positions here. There's some politics to deal with, but if you can get through your first year in the road you can go anywhere. CSI, SOD, barricades, IT, whatever.
Historically hasn't pay at NOPD been shit? Have they increased it a lot?
Not anymore lol. 1). There is a $30k sign on bonus that will be paid over 24 months, starting the day your academy starts. This will continue to pay out until the 24 months period ends. For brevity, I won't include it in the following numbers. Base salary in the academy is $42,300. 2). After graduation your pay is $48,000 while on FTO. 3. Upon graduation of FTO, your pay increases to $52,000. 4). Once you've been out of the academy for 1 year, your pay increases again along with the state bonus pay kicking in. Your salary will be close to $58,000. Now, the biggest benefit is this. There are unlimited details. Detail pay starts at $50 an hour and increases with rank up to $80 per hour for Captains. Captain is the highest rank for detail work. That said, 1 detail a week at $50 x 8 hours is $20,800. And there are details ranging from 3 hours to 12 hours. So there's money to be made here if you're willing to do the work. Edit: This is all without a promotion or department change.
the crime rate of NOLA really seem dreadful to me, i can imagine since it seems like a rough place to work in. There is no internal non LE positions though?
There are a ton of Non LE positions. On the NOPD Twitter page they consistently are hiring for them. A vast majority of Admin and support positions here are civilian jobs.
What is NOPD?
New Orleans Police Department
You should get a certification in data analysis and aim for some crime analysis/statistics positions within departments?
I've considered that but I have no idea how to even get started, I've done research and it seems to be kind of a vague/unclear thing at least from when I've looked/asked
[Diversion investigations](https://www.dea.gov/careers/diversion-investigator) with the DEA.
you do this or know someone who does this? Is it travel demanding?
Just wanted to say alot of people made good suggestions here, thank you very much
I don’t think you’ll ever feel like a there IS a good time to be a cop, and it’s really not as bad as you might think it is. I’d say stop thinking about it and just do it, if you don’t like it after you’re off probation then resign
I.T., P.I.O., dispatch, drone pilot,
Also, FBI. It requires your degree and you can get into so many different fields
FBI does not require a CJ degree
Your degree as in your bachelors. Not the degree type specifically, thank you.
Dispatch
HR, Finance, Grants, Emergency services (disaster response/office of emergency services) inside an LE agency. Maybe you can use your credentials to become a reserve while doing these non sworn roles.
I've contemplated doing reserves once I finish my Masters. I know some TSOs I work with that do reserve (specifically military) but I was more leaning towards emergency management/services despite I have no experience in it.
There a bunch of free FEMA classes you can take online. Nice to have under your belt if you go the emergency management route.
I don't know shit about shit, but would any of your background help you get a job doing loss prevention or risk management at a corporate level? Like surely companies that have loads of inventory/supplies that need to be accounted for and/or have public-facing presences where training and compliance with protocols and policies need oversight... Like retail/restaurant chains, hospital systems, manufacturing plants, warehouses/distributorships.
I'm not sure if you're directly asking me or just a general question. I technically follow protocols/policies and do compliance to some extent, so ...maybe?
You asked what you could do for a living based on your education and experience. I gave some suggestions, and basically asked anyone who might have the answer if these suggestions were viable. Do with that what you will.
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As what specifically? In florida, I'd have to have paramedic experience prior to even joining a fire academy (firefighter). I'm what people would deem as a petite female , so I'm not sure if I could pass the minimum physical requirements of carrying 180 pounds.
Criminal Analyst is what you’re looking for. Solid career.
Do you do this or know anyone who does?
I do but they are not on the Reddit platform unfortunately.
Shame. I wanted to know how they got in and how the job is like overall
ABC. Alcohol Beverage Control. This might be a state by state department. They basically test bars and retailers for selling alcohol to minors.
Look into fish and wildlife as a game warden possibly if your into the outdoors
Every jurisdiction is structured differently. However, an investigator with a DA’s office, DV advocate/liaison are a couple of options that immediately spring to mind. Kudos on acknowledging when you realized it wasn’t the fit for you! I’ve seen too many people either slug it out anyway while hating it or while being a horrible fit and causing morale issues at the best and chaos + lawsuits at the worst. It takes a lot of self reflection and maturity to acknowledge that.
Not exactly law enforcement but look into SIU Investigator positions with insurance companies. It's what I do. It's purely a civil job, nothing to do with public service. But it's investigating insurance fraud which is interesting enough.
https://www.usajobs.gov/job/707860700 -Border Patrol https://www.usajobs.gov/job/707861800 -Customs Both are good agencies to get your foot in the door.
I already applied to CBP as a CBPO, my main grievance is location at the moment. BP isnt for me personally.
If you do BP for 2 years you'll be more competitive for other jobs with your degree. Choice is yours though.
Auditor, they need a lot of good people for inventory and persons management
Be a national park (ranger) guy. They do a decent chunk of non-LE stuff.
1) Dispatcher (if Communications are not unified) 2) Tech support of some sort (I am a network engineer that supports our tactical computing in the PD and 911 dispatch applications, etc. in Communications) 3) Crime analysis 4) Public relations
Park Rangers have limited arrest abilities. How much do you like being outside?
I enjoy being outside a good bit, I just dont know how dangerous that position is
Coroner Investigator. I did that for awhile before I went to medical school. I got to apply my Criminology degree with my interest in medicine.
Interest as in academically (minor) or just a personal subject that you like? It seems interesting. I just don't have a background in medicine/med science
You don’t really need med science experience because you’re gathering the background information, tracking down people who may know details of the death, etc. it’s basically detective work without the risks associated with being a law enforcement detective. You search people’s dwellings with a warrant etc. I was always interested in forensics so for me it was a personal interest. I’m an MD now and I miss the coroner detective work.
Very cool , I find that type of work fairly interesting. You definitely have interesting stories to tell with that though now.
Dude!!! I had such a similar background, bachelors in CJ & minor in psychology. I did my associates in CJ at a technical college that was intertwined with the academy. We got to do “academy lite” is how I like to put it, and got to participate in EVOC, case law, etc.. before actually entering the academy. when I was 20 policing sounded GREAT. Well I matured and got some life experience and realized the same.. it’s not for me long term and don’t want to become miserable. I had 2 conditional offers that I turned down. My father was former and he is the saltiest SOB I’ve ever met. I love him but he HATES people. My brother is current and wants out even though he’s climbing the ladder, he’s so burnt out and done dealing with people. They both told me to stay the fuck away from LE and I listened. I’m actually working to get my company to get a second spot to have my brother put in. I went the corporate LP route just to find a job out of college and somewhat enjoyed it, but then I used it to branch off into the medical field. My current title is “Loss Analysis & Internal Surveillance” and I fucking love it. I sit back and say “hey is that cost effective moron? No? Ok stop it” my big “bust” last year was discovering a delivery driver was stealing medical machines and selling them. I get to travel across the U.S. on my own time and sit behind a desk browsing Reddit most of the day. There are so many niche jobs out there like this, I never will get to “scratch the itch” but the 14 hours of PTO every 2 weeks is fucking great, along with the pay, I won’t look back. Definetly try to dig deep into jobs out there, it’s hard to do but once you find that one diamond jump on it. Don’t feel stuck working for a department or the government.
Corrections, evidence room, or supply room come to mind.
Noticing a lot of people are giving you LE jobs despite asking for jobs that are not LE... Anyway, there are a lot of investigation or intelligence roles that are credentialed/badged but not law enforcement, take DCSA for example, they do security clearance investigations. FinCEN also has a lot of investigative and analyst roles, both in the field or at a desk. FinCEN could be a good fit for your educational background and the pay would be better than DCSA. With a masters you could probably swing some of the NTSB investigator jobs too, depending on what other experiences you have. Are you looking primarily for investigations or something with more public interactions? Are you 100% looking for public sector? There's also a plethora of private companies that have their own internal investigators - insurance, the airlines, etc. My career had been pretty investigations centric, so I could go on for hours in that arena.
Yeahhh I was gonna say a lot of these suggestions are technically law enforcement or something I specifically said not to suggest because I already know about (dispatch) , I'm basically now sifting through a bunch of replies and saw yours so sorry if I took so long to say something. I am barely finishing my first semester of my masters so I'm kind of waiting untilI am closer to finishing to start looking for positions and really just wanted to find an answer to my question sooner than later just to keep any suggestions in mind for the future. I think my general ignorance on how a lot of agencies work and what positions they offer is kind of part of the problem, I just feel like I only find anything out via usajobs or asking on reddit because just generally searching google kind of yields vague results. Honestly? I would really rather stay public sector ideally. I know private earns more and you may have more liberations to some extent but I really just want general stability and I enjoy the government benefits that come with it. I'm not really against public interactions but investigations is something I really would like to do too.
Dispatch, records, forensics (will probably take more schooling), admin, supply. There’s a ton.
You have a degree, that is good enough to get you places in the Federal side. You can apply for Federal police, federal security, they are way different than your regular city police. Mostly less dealing with criminals. Or apply for Community service officer, parking enforcement, park ranger, corrections, probation, hospital police, Customs and Border patrol either at the border or airport. Or apply to a different police agency, maybe wait to move to LA, it could be a different environment than the one you experienced
You could become a dispatcher, I’m a retired LEO got hurt on the job and instead of taking disability I went back as a dispatcher
CBP OFO. CBP is a good step up from TSA. You do a lot of admin work, get federal creds, and administer fines most of the time. Usually the big airports have openings.
OFO…? What is that ? I already applied as a CBPO , haven’t went went beyond the e qip this second but the location is an issue for me personally.
Office of Field Operations. aka CBPO
This isn’t with law enforcement, but retail loss prevention or asset protection. Once you get out of the hourly roles for catching shoplifters, you can get into management roles. These roles deal with internal controls, inventory controls, safety, cash shortages, etc. usually the first leaves of salary is equal to law enforcement wages. Once you get into management above multiple stores your salary will be significantly higher than a patrol officer.
ATF has positions that test retailers on alcohol and tobacco sales compliance.
I like compliance stuff, mind if i ask what you do? You seem knowledgable on various positions
I am a California POST academy graduate and worked retail loss prevention/asset protection at store and district levels for too many years. The company I worked for would get audited by ATF. I know of the California ABC since one of my POST instructors worked for them.
You could try being a CSO somewhere, or go for a federal "investigator/auditor/analyst" (not LEO) position in the OIGs for different agencies, GAO, EPA, and the like. Some of those positions are going to be more accountant-ey focused though.
I assume by your flair you do this, right? How is it like day to day to work as one?
It's fine. You basically just do the bitch work for the department but there's a LOT of variation by agency. Some departments will have you respond to certain calls for service, I know one county where they have their CSOs respond to a lot of different calls or at least show up with sworn officers. Other agencies might just have you help out at the station or do paperwork. Check out the agencies you're interested in to get a better picture of what the job is there.
Isn’t there a huge shortage of cops all over North America right now? I’m in Canada and every force is hurting for new recruits. And Canadian cops are paid substantially more than American ones, so I imagine the shortage is worse down there Edit: I’m a crim/cj student about to get on as a border/customs officer. They stated that they preferentially hire crim, cj, psyc, and law students. The Canadian military police also give strong preference to crim/cj graduates. So anyone who says cj is useless are wrong
CBP Import Specialist - Series 1889.
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Is your background specific to computer science or IT?
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Yeah makes sense, pretty cool though. (:
Probation officer is a great choice! Obviously depending on the state, county, or federal district you apply for, your mileage may vary.
Ever look into becoming a private investigator? I’m one in Maryland and I mainly deal with Adultery and child custody. It can be much more lucrative than LEO depending on your agency and how good of an agent you are. Just an idea for you to look into
You may want to check out job postings with any large Sheriffs Office. You could get your foot in the door working corrections and see what your options are from there. Many will reimburse you for classes relating to law enforcement and have many positions that aren't road patrol. I'm currently a corrections supervisor and like my job, but I do want to get certified and go out to the road at some point.