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I had been a field training sergeant for several years when we hired a new recruit who sat down with my boss and told him that she really didn’t have the time or the inclination to go through all that silly police academy and patrol officer stuff. She asked to be immediately assigned to our Investigations Division as a detective, and ...

So you want to be a SWAT Officer, huh? Many individuals can put together an article about theories and research from their respective fields of training and tactical experiences. Many can also quote statements from books that have been written from many of the so called modern day warriors in years past. However, looking at today’s modern times and current threats ...

Many aspiring federal agents think they can just take the entrance exam, get through the interviews, and breeze through the polygraph. That mindset couldn’t be farther from the truth. [widget:368] Like with any professional career, you need to position yourself to ensure you are the best qualified candidate. For college-age individuals, one of the best opportunities you can take advantage of ...

You don’t really want to be a cop, do you? Fighting crime, saving lives, big guns, fast cars, a cool uniform, hot calls; that stuff’s not for you. The hours are long, the gratitude is short-lived, and there may occasionally be people trying to kill you when you’re just trying to make a living and do a little good. Take some ...

PoliceLink has partnered with Informed, the premier publisher for public safety field guides, to provide our members with exclusive downloadable versions of the new 3rd Edition Law Enforcement Field Guide, free of charge. The new 3rd edition Law Enforcement Field Guide™ offers instant access to vital information for all law enforcement, corrections, and reserve officers, including supervisors & commanders. It puts ...

Twelve years ago I got my first departmental email address and thought it was the coolest and most comprehensive electronic communication tool that I would ever use or need. I also assumed it was completely private, belonged only to me and that when I hit “delete” it went away forever. For an oldster who was born prior to 1960, I’ve learned ...

*“Forget everything you learned in the academy”* At least one veteran officer is going to say this to you as you begin your FTO program. And you know what? They’re probably right! All those weeks you spent learning about tactics, law, procedure, ethics, human behavior, report writing, firearms and traffic stop procedures from that dedicated cadre of police trainers? Forget it ...

Most of us start the academy with a servant’s heart. Remember the old LAPD motto “To Serve and Protect?” That’s all of us, that’s supposed to be what cops are all about, but pretty quickly into your law enforcement career, it becomes less about “them” and more about “us.” We separate ourselves from the rest of society, even from our family ...

A polygraph exam is often a “make or break” part of the police testing process, but it’s often difficult to prepare for and even understand. As Richard Nixon said “I don’t know anything about lie detectors other than they scare the hell out of people!” Polygraph testing is used far more in government pre-employment processes than in the private sector. In ...

One of the most popular workshops we teach is titled “What Did You Just Say?!” We call it that because if we called it “Organizational Communication for Professional Police Agencies” no one would hire us. Attending classes on how to communicate with each other is right up there with sexual harassment prevention, cultural diversity training, and learning CPR; its stuff we ...

People always ask me, “Why did you become a cop?” I’d love to have a great philosophical answer like, “I wanted to have the opportunity to give back to my community” or a really cool answer like “I wanted to drive fast cars, shoot big guns and put evil men behind bars” or even the standard oral board interview answer everyone ...

You’ve decided to go back to college. You figured how to pay for it (or have your agency do so). You’ve set up a place in your home to study for exams and do papers. But here’s the question that many people ask…what should you study? Picking a major has never been harder than it is now. With the explosion of ...

You’re out of the academy, done with field training and out on your own. You may be just off probation, ten years into the job, a detective, a supervisor, a manager; you may even be the chief, but chances are, you’re hoping to _never_ have to sit in a classroom again. After all, isn’t most of what we learn in law ...

As a former member of my department’s recruitment team, I’ve seen it all. The best and the worst of potential candidates approach us at career fairs, drop in at the department for a tour or stop by for an application. There are always certain candidates that make us look at our fellow recruiters and say “wow!” There are others that make ...

In any officer survival training class worth attending there will be lots of talk about your “mindset” and being mentally prepared for any encounter or confrontation you may face on the street. Every cop is aware that that police work can be a dangerous job, but a true survival mindset involves not merely being _aware_ that something bad can happen, but ...

You’ve filled out the endless applications, taken the tests, sailed through the interviews, rocked the physical agility test, and chosen your police department; now you’re finally in the academy. Whether you find yourself at the local junior college or at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, there’s no doubt this is going to be tough, and its just going to get ...

So now that you’ve found your way to PoliceLink, what exactly is there do? There are many ways to be interactive and if you need some ideas, this guide will show you exactly what there is to do in each section. *News* You can rate every news article that you read. Go to the box that says “Rate.” Hover over the ...

Imagine a police department's roll-call room at noon, where 30 homicide detectives have gathered for in-service training on crime scene evidence. As the detectives watch, a leading forensic scientist at a university 200 miles away discusses the details of a recently concluded murder investigation. "_Find a school that will get you ready for a career in law enforcement._":http://edu.policelink.com/?referral=pl_org A detective in ...

Getting a college degree requires time, effort and money. These three things are as precious to you as sleep -- and like sleep, they are often in short supply. As a result, if you're thinking about getting your degree, you might be tempted to go through a mail-order or online program that saves you the hassle of taking classes and offers ...

Once you’ve passed the written test, the oral interview, the physical agility test, and you’ve successfully jumped through a few other hoops, you’re probably ready for the background investigation. How ironic that part of the process to become a crime fighter is to be investigated by one! In this competitive job market, the background investigation is becoming even more important to ...