[rpoz-29]

For whatever reason my youngest son wants a career in law enforcement. He graduated from college on the Dean's List with a BA in criminal justice. Should be a slam-dunk, right? When filling out the mountain of paper work that goes with the application, he mentioned a night where he and a couple of friends were coming home from the gym. One of them found some paint balls in the floor of the car and they tossed them at some street signs as they drove past. He also told them of a couple of parties he had in college where there was booze and minors in attendance. He can not get a job. He was told that because he was almost 21 when he threw the paint balls, and over 21 when the parties were held, AND he had already declared his major, he showed poor judgement. I agree, it was stupid, but DAMN! He applied for a job in Chesterfield County where he had two ex officers and a circuit court judge, (who have known him since birth), all send letters recommending him for the job. The county never even contacted them as references. The county has held job fairs in New York, Ohio, Michigan that I know of pleading for officers, but won't hire someone born, raised, educated, in the same county. All the while they advise the citizens to "Keep your tax dollars" at home. I know of 3 other kids this has happened to, and all 3 eventually got jobs in Law Enforcement. Oddly enough, once they were out of the academy, 2 of them were contacted by Chesterfield for an interview. Neither went, and one is now in the Secret Service, and the other is a Detective with the city of Richmond. Sorry to be long winded, but this is the only forum where I think enough of the members opinions to write.

This post has been edited by rpoz-29: Dec 15 2007, 03:16 AM

[rpoz-29]

Being over educated is something I've wondered about. My oldest son graduated with a degree in finance. He had a job in DC working for an accounting firm that worked with the DIA. He had an FBI security clearance for the work he was doing, and he also tried to get on with Chesterfield. They asked questions in his panel interview that he had never heard before and told him that, "they doubted his interest is becoming a law-enforcement officer", because "all of that information is on our web-site". It isn't. Of course, they may have seen that he would be taking a 18,000 dollar a year cut. He now works as an accountant at at Blackwater Security. I still know some of Chesterfields patrolmen, and they've told me that they no longer have any real input in the selection process. Human resources handles virtually everything. But to answer the question, he wants to go into Federal law enforcement, but thought that he needed to start at a local level.