Expert: Jason Grabill - 5/1/2009

Question
QUESTION: Mr. Grabill,
My name is Andrea and I am a 25 year old female located in Maryland. I am interested in a career in law enforcement and would like to know the step by step process of looking into a career in law enforcement.
I signed up to volunteer with the Montgomery County PD in the fall. Would volunteering give me a good up front experience in learning about police work? Ultimately I want to get into the K9 Unit, but I know you have to work as a street officer first for a few years.

I am currently attending community college. I know that 60 credits are needed before joining the academy so I'm working on taking classes to get the credits.

In the meantime, whom can I meet with, what can I do/what do I need to do before applying/joining the academy?
I heard that I have to meet with a recruiter? What exams, if any, will I need to take first?

Are there any study books to refer to at this point for any exams I may have to take in the future?

Again, please advise me of the exact process needed in order to begin a career in law enforcement and whom I may need to speak with now to get started.

Thank you-
Andrea



ANSWER: Andrea:

  Contact a Montgomery County PD recruiter, they can walk you through the process.  Sounds like you are well on your way.  FYI, Montgomery County is the only county in MD that requires college credit to get hired, as far as I know.  Most others do not.  Volunteering will help you get a good idea of how law enforcement works, you'll get to meet and greet folks, do ride alongs, and help out at community events.  So, it's a good process.

 If you contact the recruiter, like I said, there job is to walk you through all of the questions (most are agency specific that they could answer far better than I) they'll be able to help you out.  

 There are no specific 'study' guides I'd advise at this point, since many agencies don't even use the same testing materials.  The generic 'ARCO' test books available in the library or at your local bookstore are a good place to start if you want to have a general idea of the type of test you may take.

 Best of luck!

Jason

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

QUESTION: Jason,
Thank you for replying. So PG County doesn't require credits? Might go with them. But I am already signed up to vol. in MC so I might just stay put with that.
I checked the library today and the Kaplan exam books are outdated and the recent one was checked out. I might just wait on looking at the exams.

Do you have a website/ contact info for the recruiter? Do I need college credit before meeting with them? Any tests I may need to take before hand?

Thanks again.

Andrea

Answer
Andrea:

 No, PG county doesn't require any credits as far as I know.  Montgomery is still the only county in Md that does require a degree/credits to get hired from what I've heard.  The exam books are also available at any good bookstore, and you can also try Amazon and/or Ebay for them.  

 No, there is no testing or anything else you need prior to meeting with the recruiter.  Here's the website though:
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/poltmpl.asp?url=/Content/POL/personnel/index.a

Good luck!
Jason