I'm really starting to get desperate for some assistance here so I'm asking/begging for some info from the Florida crew.  After many years of trying to get hired on as a police officer in Massachusetts without success (since most of the jobs are granted on a "who you know, not what you know" basis) I decided to move down to Florida (Stuart, FL to be exact, Martin County) to try here.  That was about 7 months ago.

In that time I've applied to several departments (Stuart, Martin County, Port St. Lucie, Palm Beach, Orlando and Delray Beach) and not a single one of them has panned out.  Stuart and Martin County basically said they'll only hire certified.  Port St. Lucie told me they weren't interested in me at all.  Palm Beach has been sitting on my application with no word since October.  Orlando has been sitting on my application for 6 weeks now without so much as a "thanks for applying".

The clincher was today.  Delray Beach seemed very interested in me.  They almost immediately sent me out for a polygraph exam (which I figured was a good sign since an private company did the exam, meaning the department had to spend money on me for it).  I apparantly passed the polygraph since they had me back two weeks later for the psych and B-PAD test.  I took those and figured I did fine on them.  But then today, I get a letter telling me that I have "not been selected to continue in the process".

I'm just getting really sick of this.  I've spent the past 8 years of my life trying to get hired on.  I have an Associate's degree in Law Enforcement and a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice.  I have a squeeky clean background:  non-smoker, don't drink (never even been drunk), never tried drugs, no arrests, no moving violations, never caused a motor vehicle accident.  I've wanted to be nothing but a LEO since my first year of college.  Yet, I still can't get hired on anywhere.  I'm 31 years old now and I'm running out of time.  If I were younger, I'd probably enlist just to put that on my resume, but I'm too old even for that now.

So, now my question is as the title line says:  Does anyone know of any Florida Police Departments that are hiring non-certified?  Preferably within a 3 hour drive of Stuart, FL.  I'd be willing to move, but would still need to commute for the application process I'm sure.

Of course if someone can recommend something else to do with my college degrees (besides toilet paper which I already thought of, and Corrections which I've no interest in) then I'd appreciate that too.I'm just sick of being this old and not being in a "career" sort of job.

Anyway, I apologize for being so long-winded and bitchy about this.  It's just been bothering me and wanted to "vent" at little bit.

Last I knew of, Gainesville Police Department will hire you, send you to the Academy while being paid, and all they require is a "Contract" that you will give them a minimum of 2 years service (I think it was 2 years).

Your credentials are outstanding BUT most Florida agancies do require certification FIRST.  I used to have the recruiters name/phone # but I'm sure one quick call to GPD will get you in touch with him/her.

There are a few other agencies I have heard of that do the same but I don't remember who they were.

GOOD LUCK!!

You can try the school board and DOT, they don't get as high of an influx of applications, and usually aren't as picky, but you do get your Fla LEO cert, and can transfer later on once you fufill your contract(if any)

why not put yourself thru the academy , make them come to you...  then YOU can pick and choose..

I know we show recruit on our open positions at the palm beach county sheriffs office. It does take a long time though....my application process was 6 months. You can also try the city of West palm Beach...I know they have openings but im not sure if they are sponsering. If you are able i would put yourself through the academy, then you have a little more leverage.

The Tallahassee Police will pick you up with just College.

You could also try State Law Enforcement (Wildlife, Marine Patrol etc.)

I feel for you, I have tried with NO success

Pinecrest Polie Dept. They pay a lot too. Its  a small dept  for a well to do area. Its not a kock down dooors type action area. If thats what you are looking for this is not the Dept.

Check google they have apps on line. Check Metro-Dade too, they are hiring . If you get serious with Pinecresat send me an IM.

Tom

try daytona,,, every cop ive talked to has tried toget me to fill out an app,, and take the class's... hell they even tried to get me and my co-worker to join up to do the  citznes po po patrol. but dressing up like a cop,,driving a cop car , but only havening a flash light didnt really turn me on LOL

Try FHP as a reserve officer. Or try a small county SO corrections dept, than work your way to road patrol.

CFCC Central Florida Comm College, just had a thing in the paper about accepting apps for the academy, I believe you have to pay, not sure how much check them out

Like NonConformist said you could check out Florida Highway Patrol or Florida Wildlife Commission. They are the only two I know of right now that hire non-certified. DOT, DOA, Capital Police, etc have only been advertising for certfied personnel lately. Of course with those two state agencies mentioned above once you graduate from the academy they can assign you anywhere in the state but getting back to South Florida would be a good possibility.

Just go to this link and click on the region of the state you are interested in for openings. Might have to look at different counties to find the FHP announcement, they don't list it in all of the counties sometimes.
https://peoplefirst.myflorida.com/logon.htm

Even though you said you aren't interested in Corrections I know several people that have gotten hired as non-certified trainees with the Department of Corrections and went through the corrections courses on the state's dime while getting paid a salary. They then did that for a couple of years and took the LE cross-over courses to get their LE certification. A couple of them are now Sheriff's Deputies. That could be a route to consider, there are openings in Martin County according to the website mentioned above.

Might also want to look at the Probation Officer positions since you have a degree but I think they require a corrections certification, however they do hire people in a trainee status which may mean they will pay you to go through the corrections course.

Good Luck.  

 

Ok let's try this again... my last attempt at responding closed itself out while I was in the middle of typing.

Thanks a lot everyone for taking the time to respond to my post.  I do greatly appreciate it.  I'm jotting down the names of departments now and will check them all out and probably get applications sent out to all of them.  Since I'm still pretty new to the state, I don't know a lot of the towns and cities outside of the ones near me.  So, it's good to have other's suggest places that I might not think of.  Having lived most of my life in Massachusetts, this is a huge state to me.

I did check out WPB's website the other day and it looks like they're only hiring certified right now.

Self-sponsoring is sort of my eventual "Plan B".  I'm not considered a "resident" for tuition purposes until I've been here for one year.  If I tried to self-sponsor now I'd be looking at paying about $8k instead of about $3k for resident.  So, I have to wait on that until my one year "anniversary" in late July.

Again, thanks for the suggestions.  I've got a good-sized list here and I'll start banging out applications and will update this when I hear something.

Quoted: Pinecrest Polie Dept. They pay a lot too. Its  a small dept  for a well to do area. Its not a kock down dooors type action area. If thats what you are looking for this is not the Dept. Check google they have apps on line. Check Metro-Dade too, they are hiring . If you get serious with Pinecresat send me an IM. Tom

they didn't like me and my friends very much in HS

Quoted: The Tallahassee Police will pick you up with just College. You could also try State Law Enforcement (Wildlife, Marine Patrol etc.) I feel for you, I have tried with NO success

TPD requires a 2 year contract, but they'll put you through as a prehire. I have no interest in working with them (fuckers), but they pay decently for this area and will at least get your foot in the door. I have no personal experience with their hiring practices, but word on the street right now is, if you want a job, you better be a female or black. Take that for what it's worth.

I am giving thought myself to FHP or FWC, but I'm waiting to hear about my wife's potential job at FDLE first.

Well, that makes two of us; I tried to get with the Orange County Sheriff's Office without any luck. I am a 13 year US Army veteran with combat service in Iraq and MOS qualified as an MP; I figured they'd be fighting over me since I am an MP and a Vet, but no such luck. I am currently working with the FBOP (Federal Bureau Of Prisons) at the Federal US Penitentiary at Coleman, FL making around 37K a year as a GS-6 Step 1, in a month, I'll jump to GS-7 Step 2, which translates to 41K a year, which is not bad after all.

You can apply with the BOP since they are always hiring, specially now that we have a second USP operational in our complex (FCC Coleman); just drop by www.bop.gov and check the openings.

Good luck.

Quoted:  I'm 31 years old now and I'm running out of time.  If I were younger, I'd probably enlist just to put that on my resume, but I'm too old even for that now.

If you really wanted to go military, you still have a few years before your considered too old.  If I'm not mistaken the army just raised their max age to 42.  Food for thought... good luck whatever you do.

Palm Beach county SO and Boynton PD are almost always hiring CSOs

Greenacres, Lake Worth, Boynton beach, Delray beach and Riviera beach PDs are all very hard up on personell at the moment and are actively recruiting (will sponser to the academy).


Of course if you're in Martin co., then All but Riviera will be a bit of a drive for you..

Martin County is glad I left



Had 4 of them at my house to check out my AK, M4, and Cetme in high school for a vid of me bumping them off on the internet.

Quoted: If you really wanted to go military, you still have a few years before your considered too old.  If I'm not mistaken the army just raised their max age to 42.  Food for thought... good luck whatever you do.

42!!?? What in hell does the Army want with a bunch of (mostly) outta shape old farts?

Geez... are they THAT hard up for cannon fodder?

Quoted: Quoted: The Tallahassee Police will pick you up with just College. You could also try State Law Enforcement (Wildlife, Marine Patrol etc.) I feel for you, I have tried with NO success TPD requires a 2 year contract, but they'll put you through as a prehire. I have no interest in working with them (fuckers), but they pay decently for this area and will at least get your foot in the door. I have no personal experience with their hiring practices, but word on the street right now is, if you want a job, you better be a female or black. Take that for what it's worth. I am giving thought myself to FHP or FWC, but I'm waiting to hear about my wife's potential job at FDLE first.

You hit it on the nose. I keep in touch with a few guys from my Explorer days and thats the consensus. They used to be a really stand up agency IMO, but that seems to have changed. The Chief and the City Council seem to have an agenda, so your IMO you are dead right.

Next time im up there around the end of April we should get together and get some wings and a cold beverage or something, Seems like we would see eye to eye on a LOT