Your child wants to go into law enforcement?
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Anonymous
It’s a decent plan but they may end up in the military more than a few years. There are colleges and universities that offer intelligence related degrees as well. That would help a student get their foot in the FBI door as an analyst. |
Anonymous
| I would redirect to Fire/EMT work instead. Teach them to get people out of trouble rather than get them into trouble. |
Anonymous
No heroes in your family, right? That’s a weird thing to try to think about when kids are small. |
Anonymous
The FBI recruited at my college almost 30 years ago looking for more women. I don’t know how much has changed but you didn’t have a choice what state you would work in. They also changed the employee’s job location every two years. The physical tests were tough. You had to be really good with a gun. I bet some of that changed, I know they got more women. |
Anonymous
1. There are lots of different ways of being a hero. 2. I'd rather them alive than a dead or disfigured/dismembered hero. |
Anonymous
DP. Me too. But isn’t there a difference here between what you would prefer for them to do and what you, as a parent who is ultimately not in control of adult children, can support and accept? |
Anonymous
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I would not dissuade my kid from going into law enforcement. Our family has a long history of serving our country and community in various ways, and I would be proud of them for wanting to take on such an important role. However, it is a risky and demanding job, so I would ask them to do two things first:
First, find out more about the profession. Talk to some people in law enforcement. Some places have outreach programs like ride along, though I don’t know if these are open to teens. If they are academically inclined, get a college degree first. While a degree isn’t necessary to be a cop, it is often a requirement for leadership positions, which are generally safer. Plus, four additional years of maturity and exposure to other experiences can only be a plus. We have a family member who is a police officer, and he has found it both rewarding and incredibly emotionally and physically draining. He has seen the worst and best of humanity. Sometimes the job is incredibly boring, like just sitting outside a Walmart on a holiday to dissuade looters, and sometimes he has chased down and wrestled criminals. He has been injured many times, including stabbed. It’s been tough on his wife, who has had to do a lot of childcare on her own as he deals with shifting schedules. It has been tough on his kids, who have a lot of anxiety about his safety. But he’s an action-oriented person who would not be satisfied with a desk job. We’re all just hoping he makes it through the next couple years unharmed, and then he can retire at 45 with a good pension. |
Anonymous
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DS is considering...he can start at 19 (1 yr of college) and will have his full pension at 39, then move into another role. Local LEO with OT earn $80k to start and go up to $200 at full 20. It's not a bad gig.
He'd consider too going in local and at 5 lateral to Fed, but pay isn't as good and most Fed LEO have mandatory relocation. |
Anonymous
Do you let them drive a car? |
Anonymous
I would highly recommend this strategy. Our son did it and that sealed the deal. The Virginia State Police offer an amazing week long experience in conjunction with the American Legion. I couldn’t find a VSP video on YouTube but Connecticut and Massachusetts both have good ones. https://valegion.org/programs/youth-cadet-law-enforcement-program/
Spot on again. Students DO NOT need to be Criminal Justice majors. Choose a major that interests you. In many departments the starting salary for recruits with college degrees is higher. Many people in command staff positions have graduate degrees in Public Policy.
Think about the bolded part above. Some departments have a minimum retirement age, like 50. Regardless, you can embark on a new career after 25 years with a pension already in hand. |
Anonymous
That is still mostly true - it’s like the military, you don’t really get a choice which field office you’re assigned to and there are frequent moves, at least at first. And also if you really want to move up and be in charge of a field office later in your career. |
Anonymous
If the FBI is your student’s goal they need to work as hard as possible to earn an internship with them. That significantly increases your prospects when the time comes to apply after college. Keep in mind that the minimum age of a Special Agent recruit is 23 and they require 2 years of work experience prior to applying. |
Anonymous
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Talk to your children about their goals if they’re serious about the law enforcement path. Most people here seem to live in urban, suburban and close proximity exurban areas. That means the law enforcement entities your children might choose are on the larger end of the spectrum. Inside larger departments there are a greater number of specialties available for officers to work towards. When most people think of law enforcement they picture patrol officers, but there’s so much more.
How could your child set themselves up for success in these units prior to applying to a department? Patrol K-9 Unit Criminal Investigation Division Dive Team Search & Rescue Motorcycle Unit Helicopter Air Wing Explosive Ordinance Disposal(EOD) Crisis Negotiation Unit Marine Unit Tactical Medicine Threat Assessment Unit Cybercrime Unit Major Crimes Division Organized Crime Intelligence Unit SWAT/ERT |
Anonymous
You know, if your children go to the FBI the required to serve somewhere other than where they grew up. So you would be encouraging your kids to get a career that would 100% ensure that they didn’t live near you at least for the first 10 years. |
Anonymous
Thankfully everyone is not as selfish as you appear to be |