Expert: Jack Toomey - 9/20/2007

Question
Hi my name is Maria
I am 14 years old and i live in Sacramento. what i want to do is become a police officer and then try to get into the Swat team is there anything that i can start doing now like what classes should i take for highschool or what colleges should i apply for and what classes should i take in college. Was it hard becoming a police officer?

Answer
Maria,

   Trust me when I tell you that your selection of high school courses do not matter one bit when in seven years you will be old enough to apply for a police department.  However you could take any law courses that your high school offers to give you an idea about the law and how our system works.  The important thing is to get good grades, maintain perfect attendance (or close to it), not cut classes, and have a good disciplinary record because in your background investigation they will be checking.

   What college?  Its a little early for that.  I think that your counseler at high school will be able to help you with that in about two years depending on your SAT scores and your feelings at that time.

   I guess that you realize that before you apply for a SWAT position you will spend many years in uniform learning the necessary skills before you would be considered for SWAT.