Educating a future police officer: HELP??

[sturmruger]

My wife works with a long time friend of our family. I grew up with this women’s oldest son and spent allot of time at their house in my teens. Her other two sons are 4-5 years younger then me. Her youngest son has decided to change his major to Criminal Science. He is looking forward to the course work and all the studies that it involves. His concern is that he has never shot a gun in his life. He is a little worried that he will be at a disadvantage since he has no firearm experience. He talked it over with his Mom and she suggested he get together with me to see if I can teach him some of the basics. I have been shooting since he was in diapers, but still feel this is a lot of responsibility. Other then some of the Basic Four Rules I need some recommendations on other topics to go over with him. I am hoping that after a few range sessions we will have a future LEO who feels strongly about the right to keep and bear arms. I am also going to help him pick out a good first gun. I look forward to your recommendations.

 

[Jeff White]

This is going to sound funny...

But encourage him to change his major back to anything else he's interested in. A criminal justice degree is almost useless when it comes to getting hired around here. Many of the classes, although they are interesting cover things that are taught in the acedemy and at in-service training sessions. A criminal justice degree won't help him get employment in another field if he decides he doesn't like police work. Most departments around here who require college in order to get hired look at the number of hours and not the subjects. If he decides to stay in police work, he can always go back for a masters in Criminology or a related subject. That will help him get promoted or hired into a management position.

As for shooting, it's good that he's interested, but just like the advice I give to people wanting to prepare or the military, don't concentrate on anything more then basic handling and safety. His department will teach him to shoot in the academy. I wouldn't treat him any differently then any other beginning shooter you want to introduce to the sport.

HTH

Jeff

 

[Josey]

I won't comment on the firearms training. Education in the academy and field will come. The best thing to do is take every science course possible. I even took astronomy. If you think about it, Sherlock Holmes was more scientist than detective.

 

[Erik]

"He is looking forward to the course work and all the studies that it involves."

A degree is a degree is a degree. That said, if he is excited about a particular one, and it happens to be criminal science, good for him. He'll likely attend classes, absorb more, and get better grades than if he coasts along in some major he could care less about. So I say encourage him.

Gun wise, if he is interested I recommend going over the basics involving pistosl, shotguns, and of course safety. That will do and will give him a leg up. (Not in the hiring process, but afterward.) More, for better or worse, isn't necessary these days.

 

[J Jones]

A degree is a degree is a degree.

If so, then why do humanities majors earn less than science majors? Somebody would beg to differ it seems.

I always thought of things like art, music, and business as strange subjects to get an entire degree in. All three would take some degree of natural talent, but this is especially so for art and music. Business is nice, but what is the marketable product you have in the end? It would seem better to cultivate a field in demand and add business courses as an adjunct.

Likewise, criminal justice would seem like a poor substitute for the sciences, political science, accounting, economics, or engineering as skills to build on for law enforcement, and adding specialized LE related courses as a minor. I believe the FBI seldom hires folks without degrees in fields such as these.

I think that many courses offered at the bachelor's level are really best suited for someone who would like to specialize in a certain direction after they get their undergraduate work finished and decide to pursue graduate studies.

The same goes for choice of schools. I doubt anyone doing the hiring would look down on someone who went to a state school as opposed to a big-money private institution to any great extent, but they will look down on those who went to the least-selective school around or any so-called "party school." As examples, if you're from Michigan, you should be headed to UM at Ann Arbor and if you're from Illinois, it would be best to go to UIUC if you didn't quite make the cut/or can't afford U. of Chicago or Northwestern.

 

[Kooter]

when i was in school i was majoring in criminal justice. my teacher was a recently retired FBI agent. he strongly urged us that if we wanted to actually become a police officer (especially FBI) that we change our major to accounting. he showed us some report that 60something% of all FBI recently hired were accounting majors. another good major is pshychology and sociology. he should consider a different major with criminal justice as a minor. that way if something comes up and he can't get a job as a police officer then he has something to fall back on. i know a guy that was in his last semester of his senior year and got a DUI, that pretty much negates any possibility of him becoming a police officer. i know a couple others that after graduating couldn't get on a department because of stuff that they did while they were younger. always have a back up plan if the police thing doesn't pan out.

 

[Morgan]

Jeff is right.

Get a degree outside of police work, which will serve well outside the criminal justice world.

Police work is one of the few lines of work where you've got the talent or you don't - and a degree shows dedication, but a degree outside of criminal justice will get you further outside and just as far inside.

Many go into police work, and find that is isn't for them, for whatever reason. A business or hard science degree will do one better wherever one goes.

 

[Matt G]

While I agree with Jeff about diversification, I have to say this: When I started actually taking upper division classes in my field of interest (yes, I went for the Criminal Justice degree), I suddenly was more interested in it all. Seeing the practical outlook makes a difference.

With regard to firearms, make sure he knows, breathes, LIVES the Four Rules. Want to put him ahead of the game? Put a duty rig together for him and have him shoot pistol matches from it. Have him practice smooth draws. Have him practice smooth magazine changes (speed and tactical reloads). Have him practice weak hand shooting (this was an area I was weak on in academy.). Have him practice a little shooting from the hip at 3 to 5 yards at silhouette targets. (Again, an area I was a little deficient in. I had spent so many years shooting Weaver, that point shooting from the hip felt very foreign. They DO go over this in Academy.)

Be sure he knows range etiquette, and believes in his heart of heart that The Word Of The Range Officer Must NOT Be Questioned On The Range.

Really, if his instructor's any good, he'll learn a lot then. But it's certainly nice to bone up on it, isn't it? So many here complain that many cops don't shoot; it would be nice to see some cops take it seriously, no?

Remind him that it's a perishible skill, and requires trigger time to keep proficiency.

Explain the importance of dry firing. (SAFE dry firing.) I like a 1:5 ratio of live fire to dry fire.

 

[Big_R]

It seems a lot of LE groups around here are looking for people with a computer science background also, which stands to reason.

Ryan

 

[Series 70]

I'm not sure what WI's rules are, but in MN, you must be certified by the Peace Officer Standards and Testing (POST) board to be hired as a LEO by pretty much any non-fed agency/dept in the state. Item one on the list of POST requirements is a degree in law-enforcement. Once upon a time, this could be a two-year degree; don't know if that's still the case.

A certain amount of time as a LEO in another state satisfies the education requirement, I believe.

I guess my point is to make sure that he comes away with a degree that will be accepted by WI's licensing process.

 

[J Jones]

I was just thinking that your friend should not only get a degree that has a basic employable skill inherent to it, but that he should join the Military to A) get experience, B) learn a useful skill and C) get college money. I'd recommend the navy, air force, coast guard or army, in the order of the technical training you might get. The marines are too combat oriented to necessarily be the best choice, while the coast guard and army would both be the best strictly for LE related training, in that order. I believe the navy has the best technical training of any service, then air force.

 

[Black92LX]

I am a current 3rd year CJ student and enjoy it very very much. i was an economics/accounting/bussiness administration major and secondary education minor for 2 years. i just didn't enjoy it. i felt like i was just floating thru it just to get the end. i made the decision to transfer schools and change degrees. i enjoy school much more and am getting much better grades. if it's what he likes i stay stick with it. i understand there is the possibility of not becoming an officer. and in the unfortunate case that would happen i would return to school so that i could teach at the university level. or even possibly attend UTI (Universal Technical Institue) so that i would become a mechanic for a dealership or maybe even start my own little speed shop.

anyway enough about me. i would say if he likes the CJ degree encourage him to do well and stay with it.

as with firearms i have found that it really doesn't matter at the college level what so ever. but it's always fun to add another RKBA person to your convert list.

And of course my first handgun suggestion would have to be the
Sig 226 or 228. I get mine one month from today Since i'll finally be 21