[Tone Loc]

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