I come here in hopes of gaining some insight and personal perspective from current and past law enforcement. I am considering going into law enforcement and either staying there long term, going federal or trying to find a position within the field of emergency management after a few years of service. These are current ideas that I am considering but in the short, it all starts off with law enforcement. My question is this:

Should I try and obtain a job working in a jail to learn some things or should I try and go directly to the road? The Sheriffs office I am currently looking at it is of decent size but their jail is very slow ( friend worked their for two years) and I almost worry that I will not actually gain much experience besides making connections there.

Any recommendations?

A guy I know got a position after being a volunteer county cop. He did sports game security and traffic stuff.  
I looked into it but I'm too busy. I think it also took a couple years of this to get on full time.

This agency has two options. A) Work in the jail until a road position opens and they pay for you to attend POST ect and then you go to the road. B) You apply for road, get hired and then they still pay for training ect. My friend worked in the jail for two years almost before he was eligible to make the transition to the road.

2 years isn't really a long time. I would be more opt to choose this as long as you can live on the wage they are offering.
Assuming this isn't a big city jail with gang issues.

I worked a jail for a few months and then was hired by an unrelated PD.

My SO pretty much requires you to put in your jail time until you get your road time.

I worked as a jailer for 3 years before I become a police officer elsewhere. There's no real big advantage from working in the jails IMO. It did make my resume look good though.

Besides getting experience with dealing with inmates and learning some new things, thats about the most I can see learning from working the jail. I would imagine the basics come from POST and then experience on the road.

Working in the jail is a good way of learning the in and outs of your local bad guys, also it's good experience on how to talk to and deal with people like that and carry yourself.





The experience helps.



ETA: Also, some folks do better working in a strict and controlled environment like a jail. I've seen guys transition to the road and crash and burn because it's simply out of their element and not what they're used too.

Apply to a bunch of departments and then accept the best offer.

most sheriff's offices around here require you to start in the jail.  

FIFY

The best Patrolmen come from the jail.

If you can't hack being surrounded by turds, unarmed, then the road may be hard.


You sound like a ticket puncher. Do the reserves while you finish college and see if you even like it.

you could always join the military if your young enough,, they pay for college etc to, if you wanted to do that then go police after military, post 9/11 Gi Bill pays your college plus i think it was a stipend of 1650 a month,,, i got $2230 a month though because I got a gi bill kicker.. just another idea if you wanted to advance in police etc with a degree, etc. you can also take classes while in the military for free depending on time/ mos

Thank you for the post everyone. I am strongly considering to apply for a jailer position at this time.

Military is something that I have always wanted to due but due to family related medical issues with my parents, I must stay within about an hour range from them. As much as I would like to join the military, it just isnt and option.

Around here, there's a few positions the local departments will consider as having given you valuable experience if you work at one of them first.

I'm in a similar boat; but I had the decision between jail and hospital security. I know a few people who work at a jail close to me, and at each of the prisons here. None of them recommended it to me. So, I chose hospital security. It's interesting, I'm still getting a TON of relevant experience, but at the same time I often hear local PD officers tell me they would never want to work my job. I love it, but I'm applying for a Sheriff's deputy position in another part of the country very very soon.

Can you retire in 20 from the hospital?



 

From fist hand, I will share my experience getting a job as a LEO

First off, I live in a very rural area.  The county is just over 300 square miles with a population of ~55k, consisted of the county SO and four local PD's

The PD's are so small and have such a low turnover rate, that trying to get hired from the "outside" is literally a waste of your time... Not going to happen unless you (1) Are a POST certified officer with another agency looking to relocate, or (2) Have reserved with the dept for a ridiculously long time and have been sucking the right dick under the right desk...  If you do not fit one of those categories you will not be hired, period...

The alternate method (which is the one I chose) was to apply for a corrections position at the Sheriff's Office (I did have ~1.5yrs reserve experience with a local PD) and busted my ass in the jail until I was sent to the academy and promoted to Patrol in just under 2 years.

If you live in a rural area, this will be your best bet... If you live in a large city or near a large city, then one of the PD's may have a higher turnover rate and be a more viable option.

Feel free to PM me with any questions, I would be more than happy to answer any questions you have (I work nights so replies will be 2300-0900)

Best of luck to you OP

Thank you for the replies everyone. I like the idea of starting in the jail to learn how things work, handling inmates ect but I really do not want to run the risk of getting stuck in the jail for a few years. I am 23 so I have time to think this over but I would like to start applying as soon as I can to get the ball rolling in the direction of possibly getting hired somewhere. As of this time, I have my choices down to the following:

Apply for a jailer position with the SO and try to get on the road within a year or so. This is a smaller county but I know a few of the Deputies on first name basis and have for years so this may help me to get on the road.

Apply for a position with the University of Georgia Police Department. They have a pretty high turn over rate and will hire without prior experience. This would consist of dealing with basically 18-25 year old drunk kids constantly.

Apply for Gwinnett County Police department, they also have a high turnover and will hire without experience. This county has 900,000 citizens with every walk of life and crime imaginable at it. Ranges anywhere from the country areas to right on the edge of Atlanta.

Lastly, applying with a local city police department. This department is rather large for the size of the city but they deal with a fair amount of drugs and gangs because the city is shit.

Funny because all of our rookie patrolmen (City PD) run circles around deputies (Who all started in the jail) in terms of work ethic, judgement calls, physical fitness, etc. Its probably different here then most places though. PD gets paid a lot more but probably averages about 40-50% more calls for service each shift. I'm buddies with a few deputies who've double my service time and I'm making 8$ more per hour. I hear S.O. at other states are drastically different in terms of pay/call volume however. I couldn't work a jail at all. I hate being stuck in one location doing the same thing for an entire shift. IMO its better to start in a jail and work your way to the road if you've no other alternative though.

Defiantly varies by location.

Where I work (County) we get paid more and have better training that all of the surrounding PD's, and we have much better equipment than all but one of them.

I have been to other states/counties where its is the polar opposite, and the deputies look like a shit sandwich compared to the PD's

It has a lot to do with leadership of the departments

I work for a SO.  Our pay isn't as good as the largest agency in the county but our equipment is WAY better.  Morale is generally higher too.

Skip the jail if possible, don't want to get stuck there if you can simply bypass it.  I rather stick needles in my eyes than work in a jail.  If I had to do such, I never would have become an LEO.  But hey, that is just me. YMMV and you might like the experience.

That wasn't my experience.


Is their pay still lower than everyone else's in the area other than Suwanee PD? I remember reading articles when I first moved here with their Chief saying morale was low and turnover high due to the low pay.

I worked up in Dawson County with the SO for two years in the jail and I'm now with Gainesville PD in the academy. From my experience at least one year in the jail is very beneficial especially if you plan to stay in the same jurisdiction. You learn how to deal with inmates and get to know all the regulars who will later be your informants out on the road.

There's nothing wrong with going straight to the road but it's not a controlled environment and I feel the learning curve is a bit sharp whereas a jail gives you time to learn the ins and outs of the legal process.

I will say, for me at least, after a year or two the walls of the jail starred to close in. I got to the point I couldn't stand being locked up with the same whiny inmates day in and day out but ymmv

QFT

The portion in red in one of the reasons I am really not considering going the route of a sheriffs office. I am very worried about getting stuck in the jail for a few years only to end up not making it to the road.

But at the end of those few years, you will know a TON about who is who in your area, criminal, public safety and the Big Wheels, you will have made friends, and the local agencies might hire you before some unknown.

Plus, working a pod is an invaluable experience. As a Patrolman, you'll need to show leadership, and it will be hard for you to relate to the corrections division if you've never spent any time there.

I'm not recommending you spend ten years in lockup.

I am saying that, at least in the Old Ages, being well rounded was valuable. I did every job they had. It made me a better Patrolman. Many people in here want to just play lead guitar, and that's also fine, but it depends on your aspirations. Wouldn't you prefer a Chief who actually knew your job?

And, as others have pointed out, the dynamic between agencies varies greatly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In some places, Sheriff's employees don't do any police work. In others, there are county police, or constables, or town marshals.

I get bored easily. So, having a wide range of experiences was more fun for me than just hire in, go patrol zone one on day shift for five years, then, for some real excitement, go patrol zone two. (shrugs) I looked at it as a calling, rather than a 9-5 government service job; I really did (and do still) buy into all the moto stuff. So, my picture is painted a little different than someone who knows to the day when they can pull the pin and go do what they really want.

I'd go back in a heartbeat, but have no interest in moving from where I live or doing it for free right now (too many irons in the fire to volunteer, if I could even worm my way in.)

Do what makes you happy, but try to plan for a marathon and not a sprint; things will become clearer.

Patently false.  One of last trainee failures was a jailer who couldn't deal with the worry of encountering armed, violent people in an uncontrolled environment.  He quit almost immediately.  There are also people who come from the jail and do fine.  I doubt being a jailer beforehand would make you a worse cop, but it's an entirely different job.

Jail is a good idea for starting officers. Your gaining people experience that is hard to replicate.  And honestly if you don't make it in jail service, youve wasted no one's time.

Disagree.

Working as a jailer, if you are a contact officer and not some admin or tower type, you *must* learn some verbal negotiation skills, how to work a room, gain and achieve compliance, on and on.

I can see how you might have run across a coward that didn't realize the amount of danger they were in working a correctional environment and having the illusion of control, but being a correctional officer first demonstrates they can achieve goals and maintain order without a bat belt full of tools.

Your second argument, that working the jail is entirely different than working the road; I'd have to think about that first before I spoke.

I've done both - 5:1 road time over jail, plus first line supervisor time. Is your opinion based on any jail time personally?

Sorry for stepping away from this thread for a while. Thank you to everyone for the input! I submitted an application today to one department and will be doing so again for another department tomorrow. Next step for me is to get some time with ride alongs in different areas. I am still very much so on the fence about applying to work in a jail or not. From the people Ive talked to, most people are in the jail a minimum of two years prior to being able to apply for the road.