Expert: Jason Grabill - 10/24/2009

Question
hi,

I want to become a MP (military Police) in the Army. I am only 17 years old right now and a senior in high school, i graduate in june 2010.
Well I definitely want to become a police officer in civilian life after the army. But my dream is to be apart of an elite tactical team or something like Swat, but it doesn't necessarily have to be Swat. I am thinking of becoming a police sniper. I would be a sniper in the army but the army doesn't allow females to be snipers.
My main point is that I am not 100 percent sure on what career path to take in criminal justice. I definitely want to be on some kind of special unit or team that deals with, hostage negotiations or snipers.
I am just looking for advice and opinions from someone who knows what their talking about. Any info, advice, suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Christine

Answer
Christine:

 First, talk to a recruiter if you haven't done so already, they can give you some ideas of what you will be doing.  You don't have to be an MP to be a civilian police officer.  

 Take classes in language arts, writing, English, journalism, and things along those lines.  Police officers write far more than you think.  I recently completed a negotiation which took two hours, and the report and paperwork took over 8.  The report was seven pages long.  It was reviewed by several higher ranking officers, and will likely be used for the next several years in the courtroom.  Once it's done, you can't really go back and change it.  You get the idea.

 That's about the best advice I can give.  The rest is all training and keeping yourself physically fit so you can do the job.  Learn as much as you can in the military, and take some college courses if you are able;  you don't neccessarily have to focus on a CJ degree.  Remember, you won't be in law enforcement your entire life;  while there are careers after the Police department that can mirror it, it's always good to have something other than LE to fall back on.

Jason