Expert: Jack Toomey - 9/27/2008

Question
QUESTION: if i want to become a cop these days.. you have to have secondary education right? besdies high school? because i dont want to stay in school any longer but i ened to go to college. so im just thinking if i should go to a community or 4 year..

ANSWER: Brian,

   There are no national hiring standards for police officers.  There are thousands of departments from the smallest to the largest and each has its own standards which includes education.  So there is no way for me to say "yes" or "no" for those obvious reasons.

    MY department requires 60 hours of college credit.  That does not mean that the next county or one in Texas would require that.  Each one is different.

     But I can safely say that the more education you have the better chance you have of being hired.  After all you can't become a police officer until you are 21 so you might as well go to college and start earning credits.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: sorrry to bother you again,. but my dad is just pressuring me to get into a 4 year college. and all i want is like 2 yr college. like community and get over with it. but from your experience as a cop. what do you prefer? say you were the recruiter? would you recruit the guy wtih 4 yr? or 2 yr? and one more thing? what do i have to major in college? is it criminology or what? because i want to be the field agent and later on take the test and promote onto becoming a detective and i'm all set.

Answer
There is no guarantee that you are ever going to hired as a police officer.  Only about 25% of those who apply get hired and on my department it is about 10%.  So why would you settle on just two years of college when a degree is going to help you in the long run, either on the police department or in another job.

It does not matter what you major in.  All that matters is that you get a degree.  

I have no idea what you mean by "field agent".  That sounds like the FBI or something.  I've never heard that term in police work so you have me confused about what your goal is.  But keep in mind what I said first.  You are assuming that it is going to be an automatic thing. Fill out an application and the next day you are hired.  It doesn't work that way and you will be surprised about the length and rigor of your background check.