Expert: William Payne - 12/4/2010

Question
Hi my name is Tim. I'm graduating from Clemson in May 2011 with a degree in Criminal Justice. On jobs.sc.gov I found a listing for the State Transport Police and I want to apply. How long does the training for this position take? Also, am I required to live at the academy during training?  I'm having trouble finding useful information. I would also like to know any helpful pointers you could give me to increase my chances of being hired. I would greatly appreciate any advice and/or help you could give me. Thanks

Tim Barfield

Answer
Mr. Barfield,

Thanks for the question.

Congratulations on your pending graduation. Your training will never be completed. Training is a career long endeavor, you never want to stop learning.

A good Website to visit is: SCCJA.org This is the Website for the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy. Every law enforcement officer that gets hired in South Carolina must attend this academy.

All officers are required to stay at the academy for the duration of their training. However, the academy is closed on the weekends, so this is home time for most and getting uniforms and etc. ready for the next week.

Physical Readiness: The academy has a bunch of information on their Website as well as a video presentation of some of the physical testing requirements.

Start doing a lot of stretching, running, and push-ups. These three exercises will put you at an advantage for the training academy.

Start doing some volunteer work at a local law enforcement agency near the Clemson campus. There are several agencies in that area that have a Reserve Officer program that you may want to pursue. These two will get you a foot in the door, and you can find out if this is something that you are going to be interested in committing yourself to.

Good luck and best wishes!