Expert: Jim Pastore - 3/7/2008

Question
thank you for taking my question, I'm 38 with military service and have seen combat duty i would like to get into a police unit in NE Ohio but everywhere i try the age limit is 35 is there a list of towns or cites that hire people my age?

Answer
Tim,

   I am not sure what Departments have age limits. That is something you would probably have to contact the individual Police Departments to inquire about. The bad news is that most Departments at least in NE Ohio have an age limit of 35. That has been upheld by the Federal courts. The good news is that when the Federal courts up held that they also made it illegal to discriminate to anyone 40 yrs of age or older. Which means once you turn 40 they cannot discriminate against you due to your age. Doesn't make sense to me, but what can I say. Have you tried looking outside of Ohio? I know that the many of the Departments in Florida don't have an age requirement. That is at least the Sheriff's Departments. Check with some of the Sheriff Departments in Ohio also. Being that the Sheriff is an elected position they may not all have an age requirement. Hope this helped somewhat.

Good Luck

Jim