Expert: Chris Wagoner - 11/20/2008

Question
well Im 13 years old and at school we were talking about carears and ive known what i've wanted to do since third grade S.W.A.T. team I know it wont be a easy task but nothing ever is that could change someones life, "right" i've been learning as much as I can and I really think this is something I would enjoy spending my life doing. I was just wondering if you could just give me some guidelines on how to get there, like what school diplomas do I need and how much traing will it require.


Thanks Sincerly Andy k.

Answer
Hey Andy,

Well I am glad to hear you are thinking so far ahead. Thats great. And a lot more than a lot of your peers are doing, so good for you!!

There are a few things you can do that would help you out in a law enforcement career in the future.

Some schools offer courses in criminal justice, those would be helpful. Also check out the explorer Program. There may be a post in your area and they are a great way to get to know law enforcement and the job. I started out as a police explorer at the ripe old age of 13! And I have been doing law enforcement ever since. (http://www.learning-for-life.org/exploring/lawenforcement/)

Other than that there is not much you can do right now at your age. Getting a college degree is going to be very important, so start thinking about that. I have 2 in criminal justice and they are very helpful.

Keep a clean record, don't get traffic tickets when you start to drive and stay away from drug use, all of those can keep you from getting a job as a police officer. Even drug use as a juvenile can get you disqualified, so be careful.

As for SWAT. Many people are under the impression that being a SWAT team member is a full time position. In 99% of departments its not, it is what we call a secondary position. That means that you are a patrolman or detective or whatever position you are serving in and a SWAT member second. You carry all the SWAT gear in your assigned vehicle or its carried in the SWAT response vehicle, and when you are needed for a SWAT call out, they notify you and you respond to the location and become a SWAT team member.

That’s how secondary positions work. Other secondary positions in most places are teams like Dive team, Search and Rescue and others like these that are not needed all the time. SWAT teams require a lot of physical and mental discipline.

Here is a list of just some of the additional units available in the police department:

Aviation Unit
Bicycle Patrol
Bomb Squad
Canine Unit
Child Protective Investigations Section
Contractor Licensing and Fraud Unit
Crime Scene and Crime Lab
Crime Stoppers Unit
DUI Unit
Economic Crime Unit
Evidence Unit
Marine Unit and Dive Team
Mass Transit Unit
Motorcycle Unit
Mounted Patrol
Regional Investigations Division
School Resource Deputy Unit
SWAT Team
Victim Services Unit

So you see there are many other specialty units you can get into.

So even if you get on SWAT you will still have to do regular police work, which in my humble opinion (LOL) is not that bad, actually the best part of police work. I have worked most areas, road patrol, detective, traffic and others and they were all fun and interesting.

I hope that gives you some ideas and things you can look forward too and check out. Good luck!