Co-workers son (age 22) is itching to get out of his job of retail computer sales and has expressed an interest in applying for the SC Highway Patrol. Hasn't expressed an interest in getting on board with any other agency. I suggested he might consider broadening his search to include a career with the railroad police be it Amtrak or one of the freight carriers.

Are there any rail police on this forum that could chime in on this? Do the private freight carriers do hires of persons with no previous experience or do they prefer candidates with prior agency time?

I'll take a wild guess and assume that Amtrak provides training at a federal facility and that private freight carriers would probably have a candidate complete training at a state-level LE academy.

Freight (atleast UP) had been laying off their newer Special Agents and leaving enforcement to the locals. Not much job security. My dad was an SP/UP cop for 20 years and keeps in touch with guys that still work there.

ETA: The private companies typically only hire dudes with experience as well.

Amtrak hires for the DC metro area the most and sends the recruits to local academies from what I remember.

They used to send them to FLETC from what I was told.

I used to speak with some guys the worked for BNSF out of Ft Worth.  They were paid by the rr but were federally sworn so that they could go anywhere.  They mostly spent time protecting valuable freight cars from theft via gangs that would quick hit them.   They worked some vagabond/tagging stuff, but it’s not where their focus was.  They were mostly older guys that just wanted to stay active.

Know a few. It’s a decent job if you can get in. Not very exciting unless arresting feral humans for trespassing is your thing. You can be bounced around involuntarily from what I hear so be prepared to move. I wouldn’t do it but that doesn’t mean I’m not recommending it.

I have a friend who worked for CSX after retirement from a local agency. Interesting gig, multi state jurisdiction, mostly driving around and running off “trespassers”.

As others noted, they seem to hire experience.

He has since left and doing a PT thing.

Parents worked for CSX and my dad brought that up when I was early in my career. They work for the RR but are sworn federal officers through the NTSB but from what I have seen they get certified as law enforcement through the state PD academies. Our south florida metro rail guards are certified and can write NTAs but they only do it on the train. They call us when they have problems on their platforms. Had one call me the other day and wanted me to arrest a couple of bi-polar homeless sisters that had been previously trespassed. I brought up the whole you have arrest powers and she responded with...the governor only wants us working onboard the train. Long story short...I ran them off. Forget getting into a use of force for you an hour before I get off work....especially when the sisters were not causing any problems this day.


Anyway, it seems to be a real mix. I would go to the railroad employement pages and first check to see what the job descriptions are. Also....read up on railroad retirement which would figure into his decision making. I'd imagine the RR PD are covered under that retirement system also. It may or may not be as lucrative as a 20 and fedboi dog shooter position.

My dad mentioned a girl that worked for them in the Baltimore area, think they recognized her for catching a bunch of cargo thieves. So it could be more than just running of trespassers.

Make sure he looks into what the benefits and authorities are.  State police positions are typically very safe, and have good benefits.  Railroads all vary and the guys I’ve talked to have a lattice work of authority that baffles me.  Their list of responsibilities are generally a lot more narrow than most LE agencies, and especially with a state police agency that does patrol, and likely has other programs like SWAT, riot control, Capitol/executive protection, etc.  State pensions also tend to be very good as well.  And it’s been my observation that when budgets start getting cut, state patrol/police are rarely on the chopping block.

I've dealt with some of different railroad police over the years.  The SA's I spoke with enjoyed their jobs, but also understood that it is different than working for a traditional police/sheriff's department.  Their focus is on protecting company property and assets...theft from rail cars is a huge issue.  Of course they also deal with homeless and people trespassing on railroad property, but that is all far secondary to stopping the theft of cargo.  

Also there are no actual "federal" railroad police.  The closest you have to that is Amtrak, which is quasi-federal, but their officers aren't federal employees nor do they get fed retirement.  Even Amtrak police officers derive their legal authority from the railroad commissioning laws in each state.  The "fed" aspect is more of their ability to act as a railroad police officer across state lines.  However even then, there is a patchwork of different laws as to how much LE authority each STATE grants railroad police.  When an arrest is made by a RR police officer (i.e. BNSF Special Agent, etc.) it is for a state/local crime and not a federal crime.  Railroad police have no federal authority to lets say enforce federal drugs laws (Title 21) any more than a local police officer.  To do so they would need to be deputized by a federal agency.

Here is the federal law which grants the interstate jurisdiction, but so much of that ends up really depending on the actual state law itself.  Some states only grant RR police jurisdiction on railroad property itself, while other states grant you statewide jurisdiction.  
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/28101

And here is a breakdown by state as to the authority granted to railroad police
http://www.therailroadpolice.com/p-r-police-laws

One of my old retired Sgt.s does it out in AZ, he says the same.

He has no background. Those are not entry-level positions for people without some serious suction.

But you are on to something. There are a ton of law enforcement agencies; in this climate ones that don't have to, keep a low profile. There are a bunch of federal agencies, and probably a bunch at the state level where he lives.

Generally, all of those require an 'in'. With recruitment what it is right now, this is exactly like when the air marshals did their giant sweep: warm bodies and pulses. It would be a great time to get in before the pendulum swings back and the standards ramp up again.

The real question here is; why did he say that? What does he think is appealing about that particular position? Find that out and you can help him find where he needs to be, if in fact law enforcement is where he needs to be at all.

That 'itch' used to be something a constant stream of people filtering through police departments had. Make it maybe a year out of training, realize what they were doing was more rewarding in other arenas of their lives, then they'd split.

Used to be, a reserve slot was the best way for both employer and employee to decide if this was the path for them. Now, I'm not so certain.

Hope he finds what he's looking for. Going through life unfulfilled looks like a terrible way to be.

There was this brass knuckle collector I used to follow on Bladeforums years ago. His father was a railroad cop back in the 50's-80's.

Carried a set of knuckles, a Sap, and a Jframe on the job, and from descriptions of his dad's anecdotes, most of his job consisted of beating down hobos and people sneaking into the railyards. I believe they were known at the time as 'Railroad Bulls.'

I imagine the job has changed since then

While not railroad, some states have their own airport police. Might be something to look into.