MPs not allowed as civilian LEO?

[S. Hammer]

I am another one that slipped through the cracks. 4 years as an Air Force SP, 26 years and counting in civilian law enforcement. Florida did make us go through an academy here (16 weeks), they wouldn't accept the military police academy at Lackland AFB. The department that hired me paid me to go through it so it didn't bother me any.

 

[o3rugby1]

Wrong just plain wrong. First congrats on soon becoming a commisioned officer. Second if your going active duty you have a long while before you have to worry about it. Third and most important. They will be lined up to hire you!!!!!

 

[AZretired]

Most departments recruit prior military because they know they are familiar with chain of command etc. My dept hired several ex-MPs, myself included. Just don't think MP training is a substitute for the LE Academy, it's not.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

 

[safearm]

10 week state LE academy? Seriously? Our academy was 5 months not including 16 weeks of field training. Our training isn't even the longest in the state. There are agencies that are MUCH longer.

10 weeks? That's scary. You don't learn NEARLY enough about LE in 10 weeks.....wow.

When I went the academy in Illinois in 1978 it was 6 weeks, and it didn't seem to hinder my career.

 

[Springfeildkid585]

Wrong just plain wrong. First congrats on soon becoming a commisioned officer. Second if your going active duty you have a long while before you have to worry about it. Third and most important. They will be lined up to hire you!!!!!

Thank you sir, though there's still two years left in my schooling and OCS between me and the old butter bar. I am still just getting started down the path really. I certainly hope they will be.

 

[Springfeildkid585]

I asked said friend where he had gotten such bs info, apparently the enlisted recruiters are the source of this story.

 

[MaximumLawman]

Some departments will consider MP time as former law enforcement time and others won't for purposes of qualification, for example, their hiring guidelines may say: "Candidates must have a bachelor degree or 4 years of prior law enforcement experience." Some departments may consider state-certified police experience only and some may consider military police experience.

That's where the confusion may come from.

 

[pawncop]

Another "I call BS."

Nuff said.

 

[Lt JL]

YEP. Bull****.
BTW, you misspelled your screen name.

 

[imjin138]

When I went to the academy most of my classmates both men and women were military vets, some were college students some were of the street. 2 years later we went for reclassification/refresher training the instructor asked some questions one was how many military veterans are there most if not all raised our hands. He said that was typical because we had a good work ethic, pride and integrity instilled in us and we usually stuck around when others did not.

Or it could be we were just used to standing in line all the time.

 

[11B Lifer]

I'm working at the MP school-(Fort Leonard Wood, MO) and most of these Branch/MOS schools are "joint" institutions-so we have Marines, Coast Guard, Navy, Airforce personnel. The MP structure mirrors the civilian counterpart-they have MP investigators, Criminal Investigation Division (CID) they conduct traffic patrol, respond to calls in the military housing areas etc. The main difference is that there are MP elements assigned to combat divisions-so those MPs have a tactical role, in addition to their garrison functions. They work hand in hand with their civilian counterparts-and you can imagine the great experience gained by interacting with forces such as the German police.
Anyway-as far as hiring in the civilian world-veterans generally receive some preferrence-but all candidates must be given a fair shot.

Soldiering (or being a Marine) is soldiering regardless of Branch or speciality-Don't allow anyone to dissuade you from doing the honorable and right thing. You will develop leadership and team building skills that will be of value to the civilian employer.

 

[luangtom]

We hired veterans that had served as MP, SP or whatever their specific branch called them. It was a plus, as far as the Police Commission was concerned. They still had to meet state and local requirements, but they were generally at an advantage when it came to interaction and responses. So, by all means, go ahead with your plans and keep safe.

 

[ChuckS1]

So how many civilian police departments conduct convoy escorts and route security missions and operate POW enclosures? As far as I can tell at MCB Quantico, there seem to be more civilian rent-a-cops on the gate and traffic patrol than MPs. At FT Belvoir, all I see are rent-a-cops, since I'm guessing the real MPs are overseas doing real MP work.

The last time I got pulled over for a traffic stop by an MP was back in 1984 at FT Hood. I pulled away too fast, apparently, from a stop sign on Battalion Avenue in my 280ZX. There were two 1st Cav MPs in a jeep on traffic patrol in the division area behind me at the stop sign. I remember looking in my rear view mirror a couple of blocks later and seeing the lights on top of the jeep, so I pulled over and waited for them to catch up. I went to the Federal Magistrate Court to fight the ticket and won, with the magistrate saying that compared to an M151A2 jeep, anything pulled away too fast.

 

[4506517]

When I went the academy in Illinois in 1978 it was 6 weeks, and it didn't seem to hinder my career.

Okay, sorry if I offended you. I wasn't trying to suggest that your career or skillset was in anyway inferior.

However, lets think about how much law enforcement has grown since 1978.

*Change in communication: I'm fairly certain that there was no such thing as the MDT in 1978. Cadets now spend almost 3 days just learning our agency specific MDT and the related systems. NCIC/DCI is it's own block of instruction.

*Domestic Violence: My state has a "shall arrest" clause in the General Statute related to domestic violence. Even by some of our "old timers" volition, "back in the day, if she wasn't bleeding no one was arrested". Let's face it, the attitude towards DV has changed drastically.

*Mental Patients: Again, by out state's General Statute, the Sheriff is responsible for all transport and serving of papers on mental patients. Even municipal agencies get stuck transporting these folks. Attitudes have changed towards mental patients in 30+ years.

*Taser: Not even on the horizon 30+ years ago.

*Pepper Spray: This block takes one entire day. You get sprayed at the end (not EVEN fun).

*Riot Control: All I can say is CS gas is the worst thing EVER!

*Accidents: One entire day on how to fill out accident reports.

*Subject Control Arrest Techniques: This block is one full week.

*Range/Firearms: One week. Covers shotgun as well as pistol. Includes one classroom day on just the pistol.

*Driving: One entire week. Standardized testing. You must pass everything.

*Physical Fitness: Our state has a standardized PT test. You must pass in a set time. Believe me it is TOUGH as it should be.

*Officer Survival: Our agency mandates a week long Officer Survival course. Totally agency designed, it is tough. No slack is given whatsoever.

I could go on and on. My point was that there is no way that 10 weeks is ample time for someone to become proficient or even basically qualified to become a law enforcement officer.

I apologize if I offended. I didn't mean to suggest you or anyone was a below par officer. However, by today's standards, 10 weeks barely gets your feet wet.

 

[luangtom]

I do not think that length of the course or skills-training truly reflects on who will do well in real-life scenarios. I saw new personnel come to our department that literally "aced" their academy-training and were some of the worst real-life officers that truly needed extra probationary time on the job. It is just like the greatest target-shooters in the world may not be the best in a fire-fight when targets return fire.

Our department truly looked at records of those that came from military law-enforcement backgrounds and saw how they performed in those situations and it had a lot of credence in their being chosen for a position over someone that had strictly course-work at some college. Choosing a new candidate did not strictly rely upon test-scores. So, I would recommend doing the military-training and experience and coming out and applying it to civilian-life

 

[Malpasowildlifer]

super BS. Not allowed? Hmmmmm

However, due to the decreasing size of the military over the years, MP's are doing less garrison/LE duty and are doing more combat support.

Many military bases have civilian police departments. That is how I got my start in the feds.

However, Army CID and Air Force OSI both have special agents, and pretty much do criminal investigation work exclusively. That is what I'd do.

I'd go to the Air Force and be an OSI agent (officer).

 

[Hodgin]

I can't speak to the MP background but a cousin of mine has two sons who served in the Marines. Neither was an MP. One is now a Sheriff's deputy and the other is a state trooper. I was told their military background was a plus in their hiring.

 

[checkmyswag]

Generally the military can help you in your civilian career. However i would look into something more technical unless your real desire in life is to be an LEO.

 

[MaximumLawman]

I could go on and on. My point was that there is no way that 10 weeks is ample time for someone to become proficient or even basically qualified to become a law enforcement officer.

I disagree. Most of the training in most police academies is nothing more than CYA stuff. The relevancy of the old axiom that the rookies hear when they get to the precinct of: "Now you can just forget 90% of what you learned in the academy" still holds fairly true. Patrol work in law enforcement is one of those things that you primarily learn by doing, hopefully with as little trial and error as possible. Ten weeks is plenty to learn what you need to know before your OTJ training on the street starts.

 

[BJoe]

Not even close. A BIG majority of Police are former military.