Expert: Jack Toomey - 10/9/2008

Question
i am currently a student at port charlotte high school in port charlotte,fl. i am interested in becoming a law enforcement officer and was wondering what the best choice for school would be for me. should i go to college and then attend an academy or should i jump straight into the academy after high school? thank you for your time.

Answer
Daniel,

  First of all I need to tell you that I cannot and will not tell you what to do because all I have is a three sentence inquiry and know nothing about you.  Your counseler at high school would be the best person to talk to since he/she knows you, your family situation, your grades, your intelligence, likely success in college, etc.

  But I can tell you how the system works.  I my area a person does not choose a police academy.  I understand that in some areas of the country a person pays to go a police academy and then is left to find his own job.  If that is the case in Florida then I am totally unfamiliar with the process there.  In my state you are first hired by a police department and then you are sent to their academy which they run and then upon graduation you are a police officer.  So if we are talking about two different systems then be careful with my advice.

  I don't know how you would jump straight from high school to a police academy.  You would only be eighteen years old and there is no place in the country (that I am aware of) where you can be a police officer at eighteen.  So why not go to college?  Only about 10 - 15% of people who apply to be police officers are actually hired because of the stringent hiring process so having a high school diploma and no police job means a job at Walmart.  If you are happy with that then go for it.  So go to college, and upon graduation, you will have a better idea what to do.  You will have your degree and your job possibilities will be much wider.  It does not matter where you go to college.  What does matter is that you get a degree.