Expert: Jim Pastore - 3/10/2009

Question
Hi Jim,
I'm 43 years old and presently live in NJ. I have a high school diploma, no college and work for a bank. My wife and I have a home in Ft. Myers FL and are planning to relocate. I'm extremely interested in becoming a Police Officer. As such, I applied for Ft Myers Police Dept, Lee County Sheriff and Port Authority, however, they all regrettably denied me because they prefer "certified" applicants, especially from applicants "out-of-state." Unfortunately, I am non-certified and have absolutely no law enforcement background whatsoever.

My question is; when I relocate to FL, can I become certified on my own without being sponsored?  If yes, how do I go about this? Who do I contact? Where do I go? What is the process? How long is the academy training? Can I take all the exact same required tests and enroll myself into the same actual police academy as those individuals who are sponsored? Or would I have to follow a different course to obtain certification since I would be doing this on my own without sponsorship? Or am I simply out of the box no matter what?

I am very committed and serious about becoming a police officer in Ft. Myers, so much so I am willing to put myself through the necessary training myself, but I just don't know how to go about this, or if it's really even an option.  This is all new to me.

Thank you.

Answer
Chris,

    Sorry it took so long for me to answer. My computer went down Sunday and I just got through fixing it. I'm not sure what the requirements are to getting certified. I would call either the Lee County Sheriff's Dept. at 239-477-1000 and ask for the training Department or Edison college at 239-489-9300. I hope this helps somewhat.

Jim