Jim Cirillo Interview Questions

[sherman123]

For those familiar with Jim Cirillo I always found his interview questions that he'd use for hiring officers to be very interesting. Here are some things he looked for:
1. Are you a competitive shooter? 2. Have you competed in major matches and placed and won awards? 3. Can you perform well under pressure or fear ? 4. Are you a hunter? Have you shot big game? 5. Do you like outdoor physical sports? 6. Do you collect firearms? Do you reload ammo? 7. If you are over 28, are you married? Do you have children? 8. Do you like people? Do you attend civic affairs?
It was considered that the more questions one answered yes to the better. Out of pure curiosity though, does anyone know what the question 7 was looking for about being over 28 and married?

 

[g.willikers]

There might have been a couple of reasons for asking if a prospect was married and had children.
Maybe to see how civilized and cautious they were.
Or maybe to see which candidates were the most likely to throw caution to the wind and charge into the gunfire.

 

[pbearperry]

I knew Jim from shooting Police Combat matches in the 70's. Nice guy with plenty of stories.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Being married and having kids changes a man. You become more concerned about something other than yourself and I find I take even less risks. Not that I was ever a risk taker. Also, you care more about your community. I took a class from an author who wrote a book about being a new dad. Lots of this was derived from the research he did for the book.

 

[RustyShackelford]

Marriage.....

I always found the "marriage" question/psych eval point interesting.
Some use it to gauge a candidate-applicants suitability or stability but it's not a true metric.
With the national divorce rate around 50% it's highly unlikely a police cadet or civil service job applicant will not be either divorced or separated.
Also, in the US military special operations(SEALs, ACE, MARSOC, AFSOC, etc) divorce rates are closer to 90%.
Many cops, firefighters and chiefs-sheriffs have been married 2/3/4 times too.
Is that stable?

I would say marriage or inter-personal relationships or to base hiring/selection on these factors is a discrimatory practice.
Janet Reno, the former "top cop" & US Atty General was never married. She was single her entire adult life.

I'll close by saying some military & US intel agencies made hiring decisions or unit selections based on men being certain ages and being married. The rational was that a married man would be less likely to be compromised or bribed.
This logic too was later considered flawed and real events proved the theory wrong.

 

[Deaf Smith]

Janet Reno, the former "top cop" & US Atty General was never married. She was single her entire adult life.

And that explains alot about Janet 'baby killer' Reno.

As for Cirillo's questions he was looking for stable people who had handled guns most if their life, killed animals on the hunt, use to stress, etc.

Deaf

 

[lemaymiami]

Item number one.... I used to attend meetings chaired by Reno (before she went to D.C. to work for the Clintons). I always thought that they stepped a bit careful around her. That lady had a very strong sense of values (argue about them all you want...) and I'll bet some of the stuff that went down back then was a lot less because she wouldn't go along with it...

I actually did a few years worth of police recruiting in the late eighties and early nineties (I was actually in charge of the unit for three years....). Here's a snapshot of how much things changed since Cirillo's day.... The first question I always asked any police candidate was "What languages can you bring us?" We were looking for Chinese (any dialect), German, French,Russian, Creole, as well as the obvious Spanish (and the not so obvious Portuguese...). Can't emphasize enough how important language skills are for any young'un wanting to get hired onto a decent department in any big urban area. Anyone with real, fluent skills in a needed language went to the head of the line.... And if they also were service veterans - what else could you ask for?

 

[Aragon]

Stability...

It would also be an illegal question to ask during a job interview...

 

[RustyShackelford]

Cruiser ready....

I watched one YT video of guy who said he was a career LEP(law enforcement professional) and later a chief of a smaller PD in a metro suburban area.
He gave the advice of cadets/LE applicants having clean vehicles.
The retired police chief stated during board interviews, a staff member would check the applicants personal vehicle to see if it was dirty, garbage/fast food trash, cups, etc all thru it.
He said if police applicants were applying for limited openings that could be a factor.

If I offered any "career advice" to a new service veteran or recent college grad looking for a public safety career, Id say buy a good suit. Black, dark grey(charcoal) or navy blue. Keep your job interview look clean. Show up 10/15 min early & look professional.

Rusty

 

[Radagast]

“The family man … was even more superior, for he took fewer chances. He wanted to go home. He wasn’t about to let some beast of prey hurt him. He gave us safety and deliberation.” - Jim Cirillo.

His fame as a cop on the SOU was from a different era, when divorce was frowned upon, chemical birth control was fairly new and abortion was still illegal. A married man usually was a father, and for better or worse, was expected to maintain that condition.

As for over 28? I think I was 27 when I finally decided to grow up. Extended adolescence in the unmarried has always been a thing.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Its good to have a little bit of gun culture tied into a profession that carries guns as a part of it but all those questions related to firearms is kind of alarming. I sure hope a yes answer to ALL of them would raise a red flag. A PART of the job is carrying a dangerous tool. 99%+ of it is not though. Unfortunately many LEOs define their job by the fact that they carry a gun everyday as part of their job. These same folks have a tendency to let that very job define them as a person as well.

I suppose these were only part of the interview and more job specific questions were also asked. Then again, maybe participation in competition shooting and hunting showed that there was an ingrained discipline in that person that could help them with such employment.

 

[Kleanbore]

Regardless of Jim's reasons then, severeal of those quesions would provide grounds for lawsuits to anyone who was not selected today.

 

[Nom de Forum]

And that explains alot about Janet 'baby killer' Reno.

To so casually make such a hateful, damning, statement of some one you disagree with is an indication of intolerance that so compromises professionalism it should disqualify an applicant for employment in law enforcement.

 

[Kleanbore]

^^^

That would likely result in rejection from any goverment or corporate position.

 

[Deaf Smith]

To so casually make such a hateful, damning, statement of some one you disagree with is an indication of intolerance that so compromises professionalism it should disqualify an applicant for employment in law enforcement.

Disagree with? Clearly you are not familiar with Waco, the tragedy, nor the cover-up.

And not familiar with the consequences of the decisions she made.

She gave the go to that attack. She 'accepted' responsibility but did not resign.

She said the FBI lied but no one was fired.

I may not get a federal job but then considering the politicization of the FBI, DOJ, IRS, HHS, etc, what makes you think anyone here might get one?

Deaf

 

[Fred Fuller]

This thread was on shaky ground from the start, as THR isn't a LE board and there are plenty of those out there already.

And politicizing things here is never a good idea no matter how the veer into that direction gets started...