AboutJack Toomey Expertise U.S.: Please do not ask me about potential jail sentences that you, your friends, or family might receive in court. There is no way for me to know that. I am a retired police officer with 26 years experience.I worked in a variety of assignments including investigations, homicide, sex crimes, runaway investigations, missing persons, and fraud.I also dealt with the general public during that time giving a wide range of advice on matters such as domestic disputes, problem solving, teenage problems, civil/criminal matters, and dealing with the mentally ill.I am currently teaching in a large public school system and frequently interact with teenagers who would rather speak with me than their own parents or counselors. I am available to give sound and resonable advice which can solve most problems.
Please do not ask me to do homework questions or online interviews. Young people should not rely on the Internet for interviews. Local police officers are normally very agreeable to assist students with interviews and surveys.
Experience Worked as a police officer/detective for 26 years. Now teaching at a large suburban high school.
Graduate of the University of Maryland.B.S. in Law Enforcement.Attended numerous schools and training courses involving investigations, interviewing, interrogations, crime detection, domestic violence, and others.Recognized as an expert court witness.
Received numerous awards during my police career for expert investigations.Handled the most sensitive and confidential investigations.Received "staff member of the year" award in my new career in 1999 for my work with youth.
Expert: Jack Toomey Date: 5/11/2008 Subject: Police sniper
Question I am 18 years old and would like to be a police officer for one year and then become a police sniper for SWAT team, I live in CT, and have a vision of 20/400 uncorrected, and 20/20 corrected, can you sugjest any large departments that I can join with that vision, or if you dont know the vision requirments off the top of your head can you just name some departments that maby I can join in becomeing a "police sniper"/SWAT member. Thanks allot!
Answer Clay,
It is not my function to keep track of police departments and know who they accept and who they dont. Each department in this country has its own hiring standards and one of the first things that they do is a physical to weed out the people who don't qualify. The only department that I know about is MY department and the decisions on eyesight are made by doctors and not by police officers.
Now on to your goal of becoming a a SWAT team member. The first thing that you need to know is that you are a police officer for the entire time that you are on the department. A detective is a police officer, a SWAT team member is a police officer, and a crime scene search officer is a police officer. Secondly SWAT, in real life, is nothing close to what you see on tv. Thirdly you would never be considered for a position in SWAT after one year. You will spend many years on the street as a uniformed police officer before you would ever be eligible or be considered for SWAT. It is also not the best idea to have a narrow goal such as "sniper" since each department might have one or two such positions on their teams. So if you are on a department with a thousand officers that would mean that you are battleing tremendous odds.
What you need to do now is graduate from high school if you haven't already. Go on to college, get good grades, stay in good physical condition, have a spotless criminal and traffic record, and don't abuse alcohol and of course stay away from drugs. When it is time for your background investigation in three years all of that will be considered and if you have a bad record then you won't be hired.
