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Careers: Police/Medical disqualifications to Law Enforcement careers

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Expert: - 9/28/2009


Question
I am looking for some information regarding my sons heart condition and his chance at a career in law enforcement. He is 19yrs old. Always been extremely active, played football,baseball,basketball throughout his school years. His #1 dream was always to join the military special forces as I am a retired Army Captain and my family is all military. His dream was shattered when they medically disqualified him because he had surgery at 16 to repair a bicuspid aortic valve. At Childrens Hospital in Boston they were able to repair the valve not replace it with a mechanical one! He continued to appeal the decision but got the same results and his dream shattered.  After surgery he got into Eclectic Martial Arts to condition himself. He is currently in the best shape of his life, a black belt in 2yrs! His condition has never slowed him down and he has even passed all his stress tests at his cardiologist at above average since he was 8yrs old! His only other interest would be in law enforcement as he has been around guns his whole life and has even attended the NRA Camp in Ratan NM. He is currently a sophomore at college with a criminal justice major. My question is this, do the police academies have strict entrance medical exams such as that in the military? At his age it is important that we find out as soon as possible if he is going to qualify for a career in law enforcement.  My son is an extremely dedicated, focused and talented young man. Any information or guidance you can give us would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Anna,

From what you tell me, there is no reason he can not be a police officer. The physical to be a police officer is not very different than your yearly physical with a few additions. From what it sounds like, your son should be just fine.

Here is a link to the form we use in Florida for Doctors to sign off on people. http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/Content/getdoc/3d902dc4-2323-4e02-a442-fa748c40ae46/...

and this one:

http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/Content/getdoc/3326bef8-7c10-4c00-96ed-998961d21963/...

I do not see why he could not get a doctor to complete both.

I hope this answers your question. Good luck.

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Chris Wagoner

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I have been a police officer for 30+ years! I am the Police Academy Commander at the Santa Fe College, Institute of Public Safety in Gainesville Florida It is a full service Law Enforcement and Corrections training facility. I can answer most questions concerning law enforcement procedures, law enforcement training and general questions about law enforcment. I can also answer questions about becoming a law enfocement officer. I have a booklet and web page I have written that answers many questions about how to become a police officer called "So you want to be a cop (police Officer) in Florida?", which is free, Google it.. All you have to do is ask. I teach the following subjects: RADAR/LASER, Law Enforcement Driving, Law Enforcement Firearms and Patrol Techniques, Officer Safety, WMD's for Patrol Officers, Application of Law, Communications skills, Dealing with the Mentally and physically handicapped, and many more subjects. I have worked as a subject matter expert for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and helped to write the police curriculum for the State of Florida. I like answering questions about how to become a police officer, and questions about why did an officer do this or that type questions. I also like answering any questions you may have about police work in general. I do not mind helping with homework questions or trying to answer your questions about legal subjects that I have knowledge of. You will never know the answer until you ask! If you do ask a question, PLEASE take the time to at least rate the answer. I do not get paid to answer these questions and do it on my own time. If you ask, please rate it when I answer. Thanks!!! If its a question about becoming a police officer, it may be answered here: http://sites.google.com/site/flaleohelp/ My "hobby" website - http://www.youtube.com/user/3rdID8487 Military Videos on YouTube and Facebook!!

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I am a 30+ year veteran police officer, I am currently the Police Academy Commander of an Academy in North FLorida. I have been training police officers since 1993 and have trained them in all aspects of law enforcement, including firearms, Driving and legal subjects including patrol techniques and others and training all over the world. I have trained over 5000 officers worldwide in the last 16 years of training.

Publications
I am a published author in Accident Investigation from the University of North Florida, Institute of Police Technology and Management. Also have written and published on the Internet, "So You Want to be a Cop (Police Officer) in Florida?" you can Google it..

Education/Credentials
I have 2 degrees, in Criminal Justice.

Awards and Honors
Phi Theta Kappa, plus 50+ Departmental Awards over the years. FBI Directors award for assisting in a Nationwide investigation into Child pornography.

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