Check out the city departments in the area that you want to work and see what they require. If most of them require you to go to a police academy on your own, then go enroll and get your certificate. In a way, it is just like any other technical school. You get the degree/certificate but it does not make you a cop. You still have to apply but now you have the requirements to be an officer immediately. That way they can hire you and put you straight into patrol. I think that most smaller agencies would tend to put you on the street and into the FTO program immediately and larger agencies would more likely have some type of internal academy or orientation before you get into the training program. If you can find an agency that will hire you first and then send you to the academy, that would be the way to go but I think all but the larger agencies are getting away from that and opting for the cadets to put themselves through. It all depends on your area.
Agencies have their own way of hiring. You could be a 10 year veteran cop and then join a large department and they might send you back to the academy just like you were a rookie cadet. Others will be glad that you have experience and put you on patrol immediately. That is why you need to see what is common in your area.
If you already have a two year degree and speak spanish, I would think that you could get hired fairly easily if you do not have any issues. It just depends on whether you need you to put yourself through the academy or if you can find an agency that will do it for you. You will have to do the research on that in your area. The issues that will keep you from being hired are things like prior drug use, bad traffic record, criminal history, background check that shows you have a short temper, money problems, mental problems, not having the ability to read and write effectively, etc.
As far as SWAT or any other specialty (detectives, dog handler, supervisor, traffic units, narcotics, gang units, etc), each agency has their own rules for experience. I think that the most common time is two years minimum on patrol to gain experience. Some larger agencies that have enough manpower, it might be more like 5 years of experience. Basically everyone has to do their time on the streets gaining experience and learning how to be a cop. If you do a good job, then you can move on to other areas besides patrol.