central florida has one of the highest murder rates. Officers are doing all they can to combat it here. I've heard that city and county are hiring but current leo's I know said it is almost impossible to get hired with them without being straight out of the military and being sponsored for the "academy" or have previous experience for at least 5 years. Is there any truth to this. I also heard affimative action plays a role in this.

To be honest with you guys, I would think it would be easier for you to get in the LE than it would be for me. I have not even tried to apply at a police departments as a officer, I am going through the police academy as a self sponsor and have found that I’m getting farther by doing it this way than asking questions. I am also CSI certified and I can not use my degree here in my state. SO my suggestion is to ask a lot of questions to the police departments even if it means talking to more than one person and research the PD's as much as possible; go to their websites and read the articles look for things on hiring standards and so on. This is where I have got most of my information from. Also the more involve you become in your area the more you will learn… Good Luck to you...

I know a few guys that partied themselves right through their four years of service too. I believe every department should have a good balance of both prior military and college educated. The brass usually ends up having both for good reason.