I know absolutely nothing about Miami's SWAT team. From everything I have heard about the department on the whole, they're not what they used to be. Back when I was looking into departments (94-95), Miami was pretty hot. But, for reasons unknown to me, they seem to have gotten a bit of a bad reputation in the last five or six years (a lot of that probably has to do with the amount of corruption cases coming out of South Florida on the whole). Just recently I have heard some good things about Miami-Dade though. They may have just gone thru a little purge cycle that all departments go thru from time to time.

 

I don't think I would like Miami-Dade myself. I know I wouldn't even consider a department that has a no pursuit policy. If you are considering Miami, put down that Arabic textbook and start Spanish immediately!

 

The main thing I hope you realize is that, while a SWAT assignment can definitely be exciting and rewarding, you have to be a standout in patrol first to ever make it. Maybe instead of focusing so much on just the SWAT side at this point, you should really be exploring the entry level assignments like uniformed patrol at the state/local level or field agent at the federal level. Those are the areas that you are going to have to truly master to see your ultimate goals come to fruition.  

 

I would also recommend you reread mough's post above several times, because he is dead on about the differences between the military and civilian law enforcement.

I was referring to MDHP (Miami-Dade), I believe I said Miami in another post though.

Really, I'm just looking for good departments. I'm from Alabama, and there's no departments around here I'm interested in honestly. I understand about the mastering uniformed patrol, etc...I guess I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm sort of used to the whole 'direct route to SOF' thing like in the military, but that isn't possible in law enforcement. 

 

How would you go about choosing a solid police department, what kind of qualities do you look for? Also, can you give some insight into what a normal day for a patrol officer is, and what kind of training you recieve?

GOP, I can kind of see your point. Many people feel that way. What comes to mind to me is Jim Furyk, after placing in 2nd in a tournament, was interviewed right after he recieved a very large check. This was right after Tiger's emotional win (he had lost his father a few months prior). After recieving the check Furyk said " Great, this is one allemony check". I had to laugh. I thought about all the poor bastards in the Army, E6 and above who probably said the exact same thing after they went to the bank for the first time after a deployment. I imagine it's even worse for SOF types.

 

Having said that, I know many guys (myself included) who's marriages were improved by deployments. You always hear about the negative side of being away from your wife/girlfriend for long periods of time, but when you have been together for 5+ years, that upcoming deployment is starting to look pretty good. And the truth is, 60% of all marriages (in this country) eventually fail. But if you have a good relationship, time spent apart will be immaterial. The military makes or breaks a marriage. It cannot break one that probably won't break eventually. This time away will give you a sense of independance not often found in relationships, and will often aid a good relationship.

"How would you go about choosing a solid police department..."GOP

 

I can't tell you how to choose a department for you. It really should come down to what interests you, and your career ambitions. Most of it comes down to your personality. For example ... I know, from your past posts, that you would love to work FBI counterintelligence etc. That would bore me to tears. There are so many career opportunities out there, that with a little research you can find the best department to fit your desires.

 

I can tell you how I made my decision, if it'll help a little. My first choices were all larger municipal PDs for one very simple reason. What I initially wanted to specialize in (Homicide), PDs are the only departments with original jurisdiction. I knew that I would have to go to a larger department, so that they'd have dedicated full time Homicide detectives. Working out from Dallas, I considered every place as far north as Kansas City, as far east as Miami, and as far west as LA. I called each and got packets and all the information I could sent. That was all in the pre-Internet days. All that should be much easier for you today.

 

I had three departments left when I finally narrowed them all down. I did all my LAPD testing offsight at Ft Polk, flew out to LA for my final oral ... and knew within an hour that I just really didn't want to live there (OK, my then fiance technically brought it up first, but I agreed). DPS wasn't going to run an academy for at least another 9 months. So really more by process of elimination than anything, I wound up with DPD. 

 

"... what kind of qualities do you look for?" GOP

My main consideration is whether or not they allow their officers to actually go out and work. By that, I mean a department that allows the individual officers to exercise their best judgment and discretion. Some departments have such strict and nonsensical policies and procedures that I don't see how they get anything done (and most of them don't). I mentioned that I would never choose a department with a no pursuit policy earlier ... and that's why. Some departments, like Miami-Dade for example, refuse to allow officers to pursue anything but violent felons. A good department allows the officer to consider all the factors, then decide the best course of action and whether they will pursue or not.

 

Why this is so important to me, I will get into further under your training question.

"Also, can you give some insight into what a normal day for a patrol officer is..." GOP

 

This will sound like a non-answer, but there really is no typical day for a patrol officer. Some nights you might handle a shots fired domestic, change the bulb in an old ladies porch light, light up a stolen car that takes you on a five city chase, fix the chain on some kid's bike, and wrestle down a couple of drunks before lunch. Other nights (especially those loooooong cold winter nights) you might run around in circles all night trying to find something to do, and wind up writing "348 miles, 22.6 gallons of fuel, no calls, no stops" in your daily.

 

Most people either love it or hate it. Personally, I love patrol. In my opinion, that's where real police work is done. That's where you have the opportunity to get involved, interact with people, help people, and maybe even make a difference on occasion. After a promotion a couple of months ago, I'm headed back to patrol in December after being away from it for about four years ... And I can't freakin wait!

 

"... and what kind of training you recieve?" GOP

For the most part, after you leave the academy and your FTOs, the training you receive will be the training you choose. Aside from mandatory training (mostly legal and procedural updates, requals, etc.) you are able to take the courses to further your professional development in the area that interests you. Some is good, some isn't worth the time. The only way to really guaranty yourself that you will get enough of the good ones is to hit as many classes and courses that you can, even if that means attending them on your own time.  An added advantage to that, is that you get your intermediate and advanced certifications a whole lot faster.

 

Back to the restrictive policies and procedures point;
Departments that provide good training to their officers (and demand performance that reflects that training) are more comfortable allowing the officers to put that training to use. Policies and procedures that allow for officer's discretion and individual judgment reflects confidence in that department's training. More restrictive departments are leery of allowing their officers too much leeway, because they kno

I am quite envious of you ChdNorm, maybe even a little jealous, but only a little. Still... i am very glad you are doing what you want to do.

 

Now, i have just one little simple question for you and i hope you can asnswer it. Is there any real hope for those 35 and up of ever joining a PD force in Texas? I had done my research on it back in the late 90's, but now... while i have the opportunity, i want to ask a professional. 

 

BTW... if or when you go back out on patrol, please stay safe.

It's kind of ironic, but it wasn't more than a month ago that I was asking that very same question on another forum about changing careers to flying commercial helicopters. I think we're both probably at that age where doing something different looks fun, just for the sake of being different. From my fairly recent research into career changes, it seems we are far from being alone in those thoughts. 

 

I can retire in about 7 years, so I have been trying to figure out what exactly I want to do then. I've got it narrowed down to flying EMS helicopters or finding me a Chief's job at a small little Mayberry kind of department. So, every three or four months I flip thru the open positions in Texas just to keep track of what comes open and how often. It's been a few months since I flipped thru them, but I don't seem to recall seeing age restrictions from many departments. It seems like Austin had 41 as an age restriction, and I believe I remember Brownsville having 45. Those seem to be about the norm, if they have any age restriction at all.

 

On a side note, and I'll see if I can find it again. Del Rio's job description is one of the funniest I've ever seen. It's something like "Job may expose hiree to gunfire and/or sharp objects, weather, hours of darkness, and communicable diseases". At least they're honest about it up front!

 

As far as getting into law enforcement, there are plenty of mid 30's thru early 40's career changers that go thru basic academies all over Texas. We usually have a fairly wide age range in most of the academy classes I've been around. Administrations tend to always view the 21 and 22 year olds as liabilities, till they can prove that they're mature enough to be trusted. There's definitely reasons for that. When you turn a 21 year old kid loose in a fast car with flashing lights, it takes quite a bit of maturity to be able to handle that responsibility without abusing it (like say ... doing 150+ on the North Dallas Tollway while trying to catch up to a chase doing 120. On a totally unrelated subject ... Damn I miss Caprices).

 

I think the maturity level between 21 and 35 is worlds apart. But it's not just that. By the time you're 35 you have a very well documented history. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to make it to 21 without being convicted of a felony, writing a bunch of bad checks or declaring bankruptcy, or piling up three pages worth of traffic. If you make it to 35 without any major stumbles, then you can at least show that you're at least capable of functioning in society, and therefor a little bit less of a risk.

 

What part of Texas are you from?

 

I was 35 when I went to the academy.  I didn't get married until I was 32, so I started hunting for a real job later in life.  I wish I'd found law enforcement years earlier.

I intend to stay to 55 and retire.  After that I hope to have a second career as a private investigator for about 10 years or so.

sorry longrifle, i vaguely remember a conversation we had a while back about heli's. you were saying you had flown in a TARHE, huey, etc. if i remember correctly?
just wondering what unit you were in doing that (surely military??) i can't remember where to look back (sorry, lazyness has caught me in my old(er) age.

also, are you still with a PD?

just curious

also, if it wasn't you i had the convo with, i apologise for the mistaken identity (god i hate bad memory) 

"sorry longrifle, i vaguely remember a conversation we had a while back about heli's. you were saying you had flown in a TARHE, huey, etc. if i remember correctly?
just wondering what unit you were in doing that (surely military??) i can't remember where to look back (sorry, lazyness has caught me in my old(er) age.

ha, my sister's a teacher in the UK, so i easily understand the ritirement/pension thingy. well, sounds as if you like the job though.
so was it a fun/informative four years or just a penny maker?