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Expert: - 7/16/2006


Question
I am your average 19 year old middle class white male, with the exceptions of having considerable military experience from roaming short term with philippine and indonesian militas and having lived in China and being able to speak mandarin fairly well, continuing practice weekly. Backstory completed I wonder:

1. If I apply to a Police Department whose parent city has a chinatown precinct, may I request to be stationed there due to my linguistic skills?

2. If work hard in my duties, as well as keeping tactical skills and other (eg joining the army reserves), does that give me a good chance at quickly moving up to special duties like
a. narcotics/undercover
b. Special Response Teams (eg SWAT, HRT)
c. Detective
d. Possible Promotions?

3.Can you request your own personal sidearm or is it generally, "Issue Only" (In my opinion , a 9mm has no stopping power, so I would request a S&W .40 cal.

4. How do you get into INTERPOL?

5. Did you like your job?

Thanks, email it to me if you can!

Answer
Andy,

   1.  I assume that you live or at least are familar with big cities.  I guess that when you start out as a uniformed officer having a Chinese speaking officer would be an advantage.  But the only "Chinatown" that I am familar with is not a place where people speak Chinese.  Their ancestors might have but English is spoken now.  I guess in other cities it might be different.

 2.  Those things would work to your advantage on your departmental resume.  But it is not a free ticket into those specialized units.

 3.  the answer depends on the department.  Most departments give an officer ONE firearm and that is the one that is carried.

  4.  no idea but I would bet that prior experience in law enforcement and investigations is a requirement.

   5.  I am retired but yes I did like my job.

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Jack Toomey

Expertise

U.S.: I am an expert in this category for the purpose of giving young people an idea what the hiring process involves for the position of police officer. I am getting a flood of questions from young people who are being influenced by unrealistic television shows. I'd ask you to consider that when you watch police shows on television that they are NOT realistic and most of what you see does not happen in real life. Please do not ask me about potential jail sentences that you, your friends, or family might receive in court. There is no way for me to know that. I am NOT a probation officer so I cannot answer questions about probation and parole matters. I am a retired police officer with 26 years experience.I worked in a variety of assignments including investigations, homicide, sex crimes, runaway investigations, missing persons, and fraud.I also dealt with the general public during that time giving a wide range of advice on matters such as domestic disputes, problem solving, teenage problems, civil/criminal matters, and dealing with the mentally ill. I am available to give sound and reasonable advice which can solve most problems. Please do not ask me to do homework questions or online interviews. Young people should not rely on the Internet for interviews. Local police officers are normally very agreeable to assist students with interviews and surveys.

Experience

Worked as a police officer/detective for 26 years.

Graduate of the University of Maryland.B.S. in Law Enforcement.Attended numerous schools and training courses involving investigations, interviewing, interrogations, crime detection, domestic violence, and others. Recognized in court as an expert witness.

Received numerous awards during my police career for expert investigations. Handled the most sensitive and confidential investigations. In 1999 I won an award for my work with high school students while working in my new career in a large suburban high school.

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