I am considering a career change into law enforcement.  I have a local pd friend that I have been questioning on the ins and outs.

My dilemma is I now work part time from home.   I enjoy having time to spend with my family and the freedom to do whatever life brings me.   Unfortunetely, this may not jive with the requirements for a LEO.

My wife is a doctor.  She makes good money and I have medical/dental through her work.   I have three kids 10,8, and 5.   My wifes schedule is mostly clinic stuff, but she does have meeting and call sometime.  This has never been a problem for us,because I have had the flexibility in my work to handle the family concerns.

I know if I do this, my life will change.  But, I dont want to ruin the good things I have.
A part time situation seems to be a good compromise, if this is done for someone starting out in the world of law enforcement.

I am fully willing to do my BLET and academy training where required.  I am a hard worker and want to devote my attention where needed, but dont want to only focus on the job and not my family.

If it matters I am 37 and my background is in Architectural design.  I am in good shape and look like I am 10 years younger than I am.  

Do I have unrealistic expectations?  Any thoughts, advise, etc. is appreciated.

Absolutely.  Alot of PD's have a "Reserve" or "Auxilary" program.  Most are state certified, fully trained police officers, some are not.  It varies from agency to agency.

I just resigned today from my full time billet and effective in two weeks, I'll fill a Detective LT's slot in the Reserve Officer Program.  Still fully sworn, still with all state certifications, just on a volunteer, VERY part time basis.  Again, my agency has a Reserve Program, some do not, though.

Good luck.

Are most reserve positions on a volunteer basis?  I do want to get paid for my work.

As far as hiring freezes, I know the economy is rough.  I thought this might work for as a advantage for me.  There may be a need, but not necessarily enough budget for a full time position.  Enter ME.

The only local departments to me that I know of that have PAID part time officer positions open right now are campus police...Might not be what you want to do but it could be a way to get your foot in the door.

I started out right out of the academy working part time. $15 an hour no benny's less than 40 hours a week. Worked like that for a couple of months before I got hired on full time at another dept (where I am now) and have been there 13 years. When I was part time we had a guy that had been working part time for about ten years at the place and had no desire to go full time as he had another job but liked police work (wanta say he was a builder or something that he made his own hours at his other job).

We just started to hire part time guys at our place,. Think they are making 20-23 an hour based on experience with no benefits. We had to get to full staffing for full timers before the city could start hiring part timers.

Think they work 20 hours one week and up to 40 the next, as long as they are under 80 per pay period they are part time IIRC.

J-

That would work.   Any ideas on how I could suggest this if they werent currently doing it?

My city pd hires part time officers. I work EMS fulltime and Police part time. There are many departments around my area that hire PAID part time officers, there also many that have fully sworn volunteer reserve officers.

I plan on doing a "ride along" with each of the 3 local PD that are close by and with the sheriff's office.  I can use that time to see what the policies of each on this matter are.

I was a part time officer for a couple of years while I finished school and looked for a full time job.   I was eventually able to get a 2nd part time LEO job where I am now, and was hired full time after being there for six months.

There are a few other part timers that just like the work and help out when they can.

It just depends on the area... some of the smaller departments around are much more likely to depend on part time help.    However, most all of them are sworn and have all the same authority as the full time guys.

In PA the only difference between full and part-time officers is that the part-time officers get no benefits (usually) and work less than 40 hrs a week (usually).

A part-time officer has the same authority as a full-time officer.

Glad to see my idea is not a pipe dream.

We have two part time Deputies, but both were certified as full time back when they actually worked as full time LEOs. This means that their agency paid for their training.I would guess that most agencies would not want to pay for your academy if you only wanted part time. Most agencies like to use guys that are already state certified, due to the costs of training a new recruit.  I know that in this area, the guys that are already certified are the first hired. Also I believe that you have to be a fulltime officer in some states before you can receive certification.

a lot of small towns around only have a cheif.  They hire another officer to work two days a week so he gets days off.  You might look into that.

same here in michigan (expect part time can not carry off duty with out a permit, full time no need for permit for off duty carry, atleast thats how it was years ago).

In michigan Reserve officers are not certified and not paid and have ALOT less authority than even part timer's

J-