Expert: Jack Toomey - 5/6/2009

Question
QUESTION: Ok, my background. Im 18 and am going to college to major in criminal justice and minor in ROTC. Im training to become a Ranger in the army and im set on doing that. After that im thinking of going into SWAT, the FBI, or CIA. How do i go about doing that and will i start at the bottom for long since i have a major in criminal justice and am ex special forces? Will i have a shot? Im strong, fast, able to run 5 miles in 37 min and extremely dedicated.

ANSWER: Chris,

Let me get this straight.  After college you are going into the army and hoping to be a ranger?  That would make you 25 - 26 when you get out because of the length of your enlistment.  Once you get out you will have the opportunity to apply for whatever police department is in your area.  You will take an apptitude test, have oral interviews, give writing exemplars, physical exams, a long background check, and if you get that far then a polygraph exam.  About 10 - 15% of those who apply for police departments are actually hired.  Assuming that your record is clean and that you are hired you will go to whatever police academy that the department owns or sends recruits to.  In some parts of the country there are private police academies and applicants pay their own tuition and then have to go look for a job. Not to burst your bubble but just because you were in the army does not automatically give you the apptitude to be a police officer and visa versa.

Assuming that you make it through the academy then you would be assigned to a district station where you would train with an experienced officer and after so many weeks you might be allowed to ride by yourself if your performance was satisfactory.  Depending on which police department you are on after five to ten years you might have enough experience to apply for SWAT when there is an opening.  

Let me tell you this since you are 18.  I hope that you are not getting your ideas from television. I am getting a ton of questions from 15 - 18 year olds who seem to be interested in SWAT.  NOTHING that you see on televison is realistic.  NOTHING.  If you are getting your ideas from tv then think just the opposite when it comes to what SWAT actually does.  In  fact on most departments SWAT officers are patrol officers who work on a shift and then when there is a SWAT call out they simply change clothes and go to the call.

So yes, you will start at the bottom just like everyone else.  Your background, if it does happen, will be in your favor but don't think that anything in the army is going to automatically make you a succesful police officer because it won't.

The FBI and CIA are two totally different situations.  The FBI is a federal plain clothes investigative orginization that investigates white collar crime, espionge, and terrorism threats.  The CIA is also a federal orginization that investigates threats to the United States overseas.  I am not a federal agent and know nothing about the qualifictions about those units except that very few people who apply are hired and that you need a college degree.

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

QUESTION: I'm Sorry but i find it hard that its that hard to become a cop considering you dont need a college degree to become one and that i've seen fat (unathletic) cops. You said only 10-15 percent are actually hired. There cops not secret service. I cant be that hard can it?

Answer
I said that 10 - 15% of those who initially apply to become police officers are actually hired.  The others either lose interest or are washed out along the way.  The background investigatoin and oral interviews usually eliminates a lot of applicants. Athleticsm has very little to do with it.