REVscene Automotive Forum - Becoming a police officer

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Also you should be clean from any illegal activity(detected or undetected) for 3 years.

There are some good advice that has been posted, but at the end of the day, every application is looked at individually. Two applicants could have tried drugs in the past, and one might get through while the other gets deferred.

There are a lot of things even members and/or recruiters cannot answer. If you want to know whether you would be hired, the best way is to apply. There's really no point hesitating applying to the Police on the basis that you might not get hired. The worst that could happen is that you don't become a Police officer.

The fitness test is not "hard". If you find it hard to pass, you probably need to become healthier in general. Keep in mind, a lot of the benchmark times were created from the avg test times of inmates (at least with the POPAT).

If you want to become a cop because you think the pay is good and "it seems like a pretty alright job", I would not want to be your partner, nor do I think you should become a police officer. IMO, the stuff Police officers and other first responders have to deal with, the money really isn't the thing that keeps you going. You have to want to do it for more than the money. You won't survive if you are only doing it for the money. If you want a comfy government job, you can apply to civilian positions withing the city, province, or country.

Blueline forum is a great place to have questions answered. Please search before you post a question, to prevent getting grilled. As others have mentioned, go to an info session so you can obtain the most up to date info regarding the application process. Lastly, VPD and RCMP's websites are pretty thorough and self explanatory.

Go join the infantry

I've ran the PARE, its pretty easy i think.

Never done the POPAT

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gh0stRider (Post 8454365)

I've ran the PARE, its pretty easy i think.

Never done the POPAT

More or less the same.. The only thing that makes the POPAT a bit tougher is that you do it after the 1.5 mile run.

I'm almost done my degree and plan on applying once finished. I work in a related field already which will help, but I'm worried about a few other issues.. which I'm pretty worried about actually.

One of my best friends is a Sheriff, he's really got his life together (house, wife, financially stable, etc). He applied to New West PD recently and didnt get in. Its not an easy job to get, you really have to have your life together (financially, family, friends, work, life experience, etc) in order to successfully get in.

Also, each application process takes 1-2 years, so be prepared for that too. RCMP does have an accelerated process going on now for good candidates, but expect that to take 6 months to a year as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doubl3_H (Post 8454074)

Regarding the RCMP, running the laps for the PARE test was not a problem. I averaged 24seconds per lap, which according to the examiner was above par, but what almost killed me was the weights at the end, barely had any strength left.

Im still waiting for my interview.

did they change it up? I never did weights on my pare, just run over an obstacle course 6x in under 3 or 4 minutes (can't remember the exact time), I was above average too but I puked in the end because I ate quite a bit an hour before not thinking it would be too hard haha.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PARANOiA-R34 (Post 8454322)

Live like a monk for a couple of years, dis-associate yourself from friends/family members involved in illegal activities (yes, even those who smoke marijuana from time to time), and take a few courses or certificate in a criminology field.

I know several people who have been deferred for the smallest (IMO) things such as illegal downloading, speeding/traffic tickets, stealing from work (services-wise counts too, such as giving your buddy a discount if you work retail), and drug usage/underage drinking in high school. You also need really good references, as mentioned above. Don't even think about downplaying/lying about your previous involvements in illegal activity (if any) as they will go over your entire life with a fine-toothed comb and polygraph you when necessary.

That said, they want someone with relevant life experience. 99% of the time, an East Van/Whalley type of guy who grew up in a "rough" part of town will get a lot farther - despite SMALL amounts of illegal actions - than some pampered rich kid from the West Side who has never had any sort of life experience with a clean record. It's a fine balance; they want to see that your experiences in life show a familiarity with crime/illegality without actually dabbling in it. Does that make sense? Because how the f*ck are you going to detect crime when you have zero clue what to look for?

Obviously being physically fit helps too, but let's be cereal here: any reasonably fit person who puts in a month of solid training can easily ace either the POPAT or the PARE. That is important too, but it's the stuff you CAN'T change, i.e., your life experiences, previous criminality, friends/associates (even in the past) that are way more likely to screw you over.

As someone said above, do some volunteer work with VPD Community Safety or RCMP Auxiliary to see if you're really fit for the job. You'll also get invaluable training that will really help if you do decide to become a cop as you'll already be ahead of the curve in terms of knowledge/experience. Like someone else said above, you'll pretty much be exposed to the worst parts of society every single day you work. So think about it, I know a few people who just couldn't handle the type of work that policing involves and quit.

You may think the money is good, but honestly unless you REALLY want to be a police officer, you can find similarly-paying jobs with a lot less psychological/mental/emotional/physical impact. Just my $0.02

ya during the phone interview, they grilled me for having had illegal pirated software, and bringing back plant seeds from hawaii. Said that they can send someone over right now to arrest me lol. They didn't really care about me smoking weed in highschool which was almost 10 years before my interview. I just stayed calmed and accepted my faults and said that no one is perfect growing up but realizing and changing is crucial. They passed me.

lol at this thread. it's such a hard standard yet we see story after story of cops abusing their power.

beating folks, dui, illegal search and seizure. the list goes on and on and on. but ya know, those are just the bad ones right? the bad ones we see every day. fail away :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hot Karl (Post 8468992)

great contribution to the thread.

For those who are interested, check out the rcmp auxiliary program, or the reserve programs that the municipal forces offer. Great volunteer experience, and a brief insight on the role of a police officer. Delta police just hired two of their reserve constables, one of which who spent less than a year in the program.

I am reviving this thread.

Any recent hopefuls? Apparently the VPD is doing a big hiring this year and are hiring about 80 officers.

RCMP standards have also changed a little bit. With a degree, you no longer have to take the entrance exam.

^^

That's not much of a change the entrance exam is easy as fuck, any high school grad should be able to pass it easily and if not they probably should find a career that doesn't require the use of their brain.

Quote:

Originally Posted by quasi (Post 8846825)

Did you have extensive volunteering prior to you applying?

This is going back to late 90's and early 2000's but I had a few years of volunteer experience. I would recommend getting some volunteer experience, something that is going to set you apart from the next guy.

Another thing that's important that I didn't really have at the time is experience dealing with people. I always worked construction jobs but any job where you deal with customers or people in general would be more practical as far as relating back to experiences you've had in the past. If you get an interview you can reference things that happened in those situations and they would be more relevant and easier to draw from. That actually goes for most jobs you interview for.

As you get older I think you get less nervous and don't give a fuck. Any interview would be a lot easier now then it was then. Over the years you get so many more life experiences to draw from. I find even the way I deal now with clients and my bosses today is so much different then 10 or even 3 years ago, I'm so not worried about offending anyone I tell it like it is and if you don't like it that's your issue not mine.

My friend got some good advice from the chief before: go try a few things and apply before you hit 30. This way, you know what you like so you can branch off to something specific.

Thought that was legit advice.

I would say being multi lingual is huge too.

Yeah, that's what I heard myself. I remember going to the VPD information session 5 years ago when I was just a fresh graduate, and remember the chief saying, "If your mommy made you breakfast today and you have no life experience, don't apply and don't waste my time".

Even with a bunch of life experience and a decent education, the VPD is still extremely competitive. Someone told me that it is essentially the "holy grail" of policing. Getting in to any law enforcement agency is very hard, but the VPD seems like it's a notch above the others. With a 5% success rate, you better have your shit together.

Quote:

Originally Posted by neggo (Post 8846824)

The RCMP has also eliminated the PARE and interview from the application process... Apply locally if you don't have any interest to move and work outside of the Lower Mainland.

Plus municipal forces tend to offer better equipment, support, and higher wages than the RCMP.