Law Enforcement Specialties >> Military Law Enforcement >> What military branch has the best Law Enforcement job?
What military branch has the best Law Enforcement job?
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Posted 2 months ago What military branch has the best Law Enforcement job? I want to be a police officer however i want to join the military before i do so. Hence, my question is which brach offers the best carrerer and experience that will benifit me in the long run in becoming a police officer. Need help - i have got diffferent advice from recruiters that are of course bias to their brach. I need to know a unbias opinion. thanks for the help everyone. |
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| Posted 2 months ago I hear the Coast Guard is a good place to start.... |
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| Posted 2 months ago Right now I don't know what branch has the best law enforcement. I did my time with the Army MP Corp and since then things have changed. There is more field type support that an MP does now then when I was in. |
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| Posted 2 months ago Mike you should post an intro before jumping right in to the forums...kind of a site rule. To answer your question, I would say the Army will offer you the closest thing to "civilian" LE. But since the MP mission includes combat roles and support (convoy escort, prisoner detention, route recon, etc.) you may be doing things that have little in common with local LE. Your "patrol" vehicle might be an up-armored hummer with a 40mm grenade launcher...not too many of those rolling down Main St. Depends where you are posted. It won't make much of a difference what MOS you choose in the military when applying for a LE position. They really don't look at it that way. If you want to join the military, you don't have to limit yourself. Also, the way the military conducts LE can be very different from "civilian" LE. For example I know of a recent situation on a local AF base where the SPs basically walked away from a DV situation that would have had someone in cuffs in the non-military world. Procedures are different, laws are different, etc. Might I ask why you want to go into the military? I am a veteran myself so I am not discouraging you, but since you don't seem to care which service you go into, I have to ask what your goal is? Again, this is where an introduction is helpful. Good luck. |
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| Posted 2 months ago Good responses....damn good responses. Military LE and civilian LE are two different animals right now. Police Officers are not combat Soldiers, MPs are...with the majority of both our training and our jobs being combat oriented. And often, because of the nature of 4th Generation Warfare, that "combat support" (and that is truly what it is meant to be) can quickly become full on hositle engagement if you are doing mounted/dismounted combat patrols, combat logistics patrols, force protection/perimeter security, or as an advisor on an MiTT/Imbed/PTT unit that is tasked with training and taking into combat foreign military or police forces....ie, Iraqi and Afghan police deal with full on force on force combat, American police dont. I just got back from a deployment with an MP unit and the majority of our work was convoy security (convoy logistics patrols) in Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, up armored hummers, and M-1117 Amored Security Vehicles...with M240B, M-249SAW, M-2 .50BMG, and Mk-19 crew serve weapons and unless to get on as a federal agent with the Department of Energy protecting nuclear weapons movement, you wont be doing that as a civilian police officer. There are many things about being an MP that a civilian police officer will never have to deal with.
Like the man said, do anything in the military and it will translate to being a better cop. Your fitness, familiariarity with weapons and marksmanship, the discipline, the tactics (both small unit and combatives), knowledge of chain of command, and command presence will make it an easier transition to public/civilian law enforcement. For pure law enforcement with a civilian role, you may want to look into the US Coast Guard and furthermore, ask the recruiter as much as possible about the deployable groups within the USCG, Port Security, MSST...etc etc. Ask about the jobs within the Coast Guard that do have law enforcement credentials. The USCG has the benefit of being a military branch that has a civil role, unlike the other 4 branches. |
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| Posted about 1 month ago If your looking to get into Police work, the training you want to get from the military would be in SRT/SWAT, Sniper, Scuba Diver, Explosive Ordance Disposal (Bomb Tech), Helicopter Pilot, etc. Something that makes you more valuable to a police agency. The Military Law Enforcement gives you a general idea of the basic criminal law, but unless your assigned base duty your 1st priority is still going to be a leg, grunt, fly boy or swabbie. The Coast Guard would be the closest to civilian Law Enforcement. because they deal with search and rescue, drug interdiction and smuggling, etc. Good Luck deciding!!!!!!!! Don't forget that any active duty time will be credited as job experience with most Federal jobs and you will also get a extra 5% bump with your DD214 on your initial civilan Police hiring process by law .
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| Posted about 1 month ago Right, EOD is a good field to get into both military and civilian LE right now. That is a precious skill to have. Unfortunately, and this is what alot of those in the military dont understand about civilian police, no matter what training you get in the military....you still have to certify in civilian LE. I am qualified expert with my M4 rifle as a Soldier, but I still have to qualify with my AR15 for my police agency...which is a joke compared to the qual we do in the Army. But it still has to be done. Going through both SRT I and SRT II at Ft. Leonard Wood (which includes training as a police marksman) are damn good to have for your MP mos....but I still had to take a basic SWAT course as a deputy on my civilian gig....etc etc. Annoying yes....but the reasons are many, least of which is for legal matters in our ultra litigious society.....something you dont have to deal with in the military. |
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| Posted about 1 month ago Great Responses from all.. Just my 2 cents on the topic.. I think the CG and the Air Force would be great choices.. ANd i say that because the AF for one does more Garrison Law Enforcement where as the Army We are now more focused on Combat, therefore we deploy for 12-15 months where as the AF Security Forces i believe now only deploy for 6-9 months. The MP school is more focused on Combat training then the Traditional L&E role, which in turn has more civilans doing the L&E work on Army Posts, and of course the CG falls under the Dept. of Homeland Defense, but all in all you get out what you put in, The more schools you go to i.e. K9, Investigations, SRT, the more marketable you will be for the civilian world!
Hope this Helps
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