Hey guys, I was hoping a few of you LE Gentlemen could give me a few pointers in the right direction.

I'll be graduating with about a 3.0 (I'll try my best to get my cumulative GPA to 3.0) with a Bachelors in Justice Studies.  I'm going to be looking at 50k loan debt he
I'm thinking mabye DHS Border Patrol.  I'm willing to work in the private industry, local, state and federal law enforcement.  I'm not too big on being a Patrol Officer but if I have to earn "street cred" by doing this for a year I will.  Not interested in DEA to be specific, but I'm very open on what are good/great career potential choices.  Give me some advice!  hsgot married a year ago and made some bad economic choices, I'm hoping to fix my credit around 2008 or 2009.

No political or family connections to grease me into a job, I'm pretty much on my own here.

Who will be hiring in 2007?

Thanks!

Well the money you would like to make, i wouldnt look at patrol work.  Doing something federal and you should do alrite.  Just realize starting out in CJ you arent gonna make much money

Depends on the area and what you've dreamed about.   Right above, not getting rich in this line of work.  

We (municipal) make as much as any Feds, however, higher cost of living in my area.  Love patrol work, but always think I'd have like Fed work for bigger jobs and investigations.  And always thought I would have liked working somewhere else with a better scene.

Good luck.  

Quoted: Well the money you would like to make, i wouldnt look at patrol work.  Doing something federal and you should do alrite.  Just realize starting out in CJ you arent gonna make much money

You sure about that??? Most major agencies pay pretty well and top out more than the feds.

I only made 80k last year.......and still have a couple of years before I top out.

New guys start at 45k+.......not including shift pay, OT, holiday pay, etc.

BTW, not every local agency requires a degree. We are HS diploma only.

Quoted: Sorry, not much money in cop work.   Officer.com has a pretty comprehensive job listing. Also you can browse: www.lawenforcementjob.com/ www.policeprep.com/ www.911hotjobs.com/ www.policeemployment.com/ www.jobs4police.com/ www1.policejobs.com/ www.officer.com/jobs/index.jsp www.publicsafetyrecruitment.com/ www.realpolice.net/ Good luck. NorCal

Thanks for the links NorCal.

Quoted: Quoted: Well the money you would like to make, i wouldnt look at patrol work.  Doing something federal and you should do alrite.  Just realize starting out in CJ you arent gonna make much money You sure about that??? Most major agencies pay pretty well and top out more than the feds. I only made 80k last year.......and still have a couple of years before I top out. New guys start at 45k+.......not including shift pay, OT, holiday pay, etc. BTW, not every local agency requires a degree. We are HS diploma only.

Agent8905 - I'm not really looking to make that much.  I'd personally be shocked if I can make 70-80k after 10-15 years.

RDP - I assume with major agencies you're talking about LAPD, NYPD?  I don't think I want Big City work, I've always enjoyed moderate sized cities such as Boise but prefer a rural environment.

80k is great.  

Your credit history is going to hurt you more than your degree will help you.
Get that fixed ASAP!


If I was your age with your degree, I'd probably go .fed.

Well, rural and good money rarely go together.

Boise is still a good size city, but ID isn't a real well paying state for LE jobs.

Any medium to large city should pay well......

Quoted:I'll be graduating with about a 3.0 (I'll try my best to get my cumulative GPA to 3.0) with a Bachelors in Justice Studies.  I'm going to be looking at 50k loan debt he Who will be hiring in 2007? Thanks!

I am from what I consider to be an underpaid part of southeast Texas (as much of the south although our cost of living is much lower) and our starting pay for a rookie out of the academy will be about $20 an hour by 2007. It is around $17 an hour now for an agency of about 100 officers. Other agencies around here pay more. I think that our current contract expires in 2008 and patrolmen will top out at about $25 an hour by then. With overtime and off-duty jobs, most patrol grade personnel make about $50k+ a year with many making quite a bit higher. Since I consider us a poor agency, I would bet that there are a lot higher paying jobs out there and not only at LAPD, NYPD, etc.

I think  that  most agencies will be hiring in 2007.

Quoted: I am from what I consider to be an underpaid part of southeast Texas (as much of the south although our cost of living is much lower) and our starting pay for a rookie out of the academy will be about $20 an hour by 2007. It is around $17 an hour now for an agency of about 100 officers. Other agencies around here pay more. I think that our current contract expires in 2008 and patrolmen will top out at about $25 an hour by then. With overtime and off-duty jobs, most patrol grade personnel make about $50k+ a year with many making quite a bit higher. Since I consider us a poor agency, I would bet that there are a lot higher paying jobs out there and not only at LAPD, NYPD, etc. I think  that  most agencies will be hiring in 2007.

Not bad at all, thanks for the information tvc184.

sixgunsblazing - I didn't think my financial history would hurt me that bad, thanks for letting me know though so I can plan to start working with an agency where this won't be an issue.  I'm pretty much screwed for the next 4 years regardless of what I do financially.