Expert: Jack Toomey - 2/2/2007

Question
Okay, here is my dilemma:

I am a female who is 21 years of age and I've wanted a career in law enforcement since I was 13. My grandfather was a probation officer and my uncle is a state trooper so it only seems natural for me to follow in their footsteps...

However, I have contacted my local police academy which resides at a community college. They claim that with proper planning I could essentially graduate with both the police academy certificate and an AAS in Criminal Justice; in fact, that is what the director recommended when I contacted him since he said that he always recommends pursuing the degree prior to applying for the academy.

But my parents want me to attend a private college since they have both attended this community college and disliked it. I'm VERY concerned that if I attend this private college  that I'll have a hard time getting into the academy ( I've heard some horror stories about people never getting accepted), and instead of graduating with a certificate (and possibly a job) in hand, I'll be faced with student loans I must repay and have no job.

Do recruiters ever hire you before you graduate? If I attend the private college, do you think I would stand a chance of getting hired by a law enforcement agency before I graduate?

As far as my background is concerned, I'm a bit worried about that, too. I have no military experience (which is what worries me) and I'm a woman. I hope that neither of these facts will have a negative impact. As far as my record goes - it's flawless. I don't drink; I've never used drugs; and, so far, I have never had a traffic violation.

In any case, if I decide to attend the community college I'll have to fight my parents with tooth and nail, but it's worth it if that's the best choice for my future. Also, the private college is a university which offers a BA in CJ as well. If I attend that college, should I pursue the BA? My father insists that it will make a world of difference and that I'm an idiot if I stop with only an AA in Criminal Justice. What do you think?

Answer
   I come from an area where there are NO private police academies.  I never knew that they existed until I became an expert on this site.  In my entire area, and that is several states, each police department runs their own police academy and the smaller departments who cannot afford to build their own send their prospective officers to the larger academies.  So why am I telling you this?  Because I have no experience in all in how these private academies work.  I would be hesitant to give you advice about something that I don't know about.

  So my only advice would be to apply to a police department that has its own academy and if you get hired they won't care at all what college or university you went to.