Only question is, "Where to?"

Little background: Been a Ford tech for 6 1/2 years now in Michigan. No house, family, anything left here. Including money. I'm done. I started college this past fall for Criminal Justice and really liked it. Then I did an internship over the summer with the State Police, and loved it. OK, so now I know what I want to do. I declined spending the next year in college at the academy (There was no way I could afford it, and I know that I don't want to stay here, so why bother getting certified to work in state you're leaving?), so now I'm looking for departments (larger ones) that actually hire you when you start their academies.

Long story short(ish): I'm looking hard at a couple places. Lexington Kentucky (eh, went and visited it, not real excited.) Austin or San Antonio (maybe, but I don't know if I could handle the heat and lack of water. I'm on the west coast, I don't know if I could be without it.) Finally, the Seattle area. This one seems the most attractive to me. Climate is right, near a lot of outdoors opportunities. I'm wanting to go to a larger city after being rural now for all my life, just to try something different. I've done some research on city-data.com, but their forums seemed geared more towards upper-middle class professionals, not low-income grease monkeys like me looking for a new life. I'm just wanting to hear from someone who lives around these places. Anything you can tell me I'd appreciate, so I don't get (too) ambushed once I figure out where I'm heading. Right now, all I know is it's away from here. Thanks in advance.

 

MILITARY SECURITY

~It looks like you are perfectly suited for it.

Go talk to some recruiters, and see what they offer you...

I am 100% serious - it gets a roof over your head, food in your belly, and one of your concerns is to just go away - no matter where.

It checks, right down to nine decimal places.

You have the law background (Probable cause, etc...)

You may doubt that you can do it -

But you won't know until you kick yourself through that DOOR - WILL YOU?

And that is sometimes what it takes. There you find yourself:
"I dunno if I can do it. I know where I am sucks. I don't know if I can believe what they promise....What if I fail???"

Millions have done it, before you. And it worked...

They were successful, I WAS as an Electronics tech - and I was SURE I'd screw up. I doubted from the beginning that I could take orders well - it turned out I liked it better that way.

IT WORKED.

It doesn't cost you anything to at least go and ask the questions that you have.

It's an often overlooked career

The only thing you need to ask yourself, is if you have the GUTS to walk into a recruiters office...
(That's the hard part)

I'm not kidding even a little bit - it seems alien somehow. But it's a whole new world, and you know that you are leaving everything behind.

Sometimes though - you just have to do that, and I really think this is your best chance

If you stick it out - the "RETIREMENT" bennies can't be beat.

(Just an option - don't feel I am pushing you, but often the benefits of military life are not known to ordinary citizens)

I wish I could tell you how close military people are - long after our service is done. We all still take care of one another, and we can shop tax free....


We are a brother and sisterhood far beyond your imagining






COME!


Join us...

 

Never been to Kentucky or Texas (I'm not overly fond of deserts), but I did live in the Seattle area in the early 90's and loved it there... I'm not sure if much has changed since then (we left in '93), but I remember the area from Seattle down to Tacoma (which includes towns like Auburn, Kent, Federal Way, etc.) having all kinds of different job opportunities.

There are also a number of schools and colleges in that area. Auburn has the Green River Community College which seems like a decent college. There's Western Washington University - it's in Bellingham, but that's not too far from Seattle. If you look around in the smaller communities around that area, you can probably find pretty decently priced housing - I seem to remember prices getting lower the further south you went...

The public mass-transit system there is great. Just park in a park-n-ride and take a bus to wherever you need to go - actually, since there is no free parking of any kind in Seattle, riding the Metro can be a better way to get around anyway...

Like I said, I haven't been there since '93 so, I don't know how much of that has changed - I wouldn't think it would change all that much, though...

 

So what exactly are you doing in Blackfoot then?

The Seattle area is a great place to visit, but it's a trendy hole. All the faux-dives are turning into real dives, taxes are insane, and it's just plain expensive.
Pierce county (Tacoma area) is pretty crime ridden, great place to be if you're a cop but don't go to the coffee shops.
Kitsap county used to be nice, but then it became the trendy place to live, and it is no longer affordable. A two bedroom doublewide starts at $1000 a month there-
The whole Puget Sound area is getting really crowded.
Beautiful area still, though.

 

If my entire family didn't live in Michigan I would move. I like Michigan but I'm going to be done with college soon and the whole job outlook is pretty poor. I always thought it might be nice to move to North or South Carolina.

 

Have you considered the South East? It's growing, the economy has always been better than in many parts of the country and the cost of living is typically lower.

 

Not sure about San Antone or Austin but, there are over 20 lakes within 1 hour or so of Dallas. Some are of the best Striper and Hybrid bass fishing in the country. Lake Fork is one of the top 3 or 4 Black Bass lakes....in the world.

I live 300 yards from Lake Ray Hubbard (in eastern suburb of Dallas). I have a small 40 acre farm 5 minutes from the nearest boat launch on Lake Cooper and a "lake house" adjacent to Corp of Engineering land on Lake Texoma.

Yes, the heat can be a problem but, don't worry about the water.

 

A lot depends upon how much you'll miss the left coast. There are a lot of great up and coming departments in the southeast. VA Beach PD is a good department and last I checked, they had continuous recruitment. Myrtle Beach PD in SC is another good department and last I checked, they had the same recruitment situation. There are others further inland from the coast as well. I've got a buddy that works for Horry County, SC Sheriff's Office and loves it (Myrtle Beach, SC area).

There are a lot of LE jobs open right now so figure out where you want to be and go from there. Can't tell you much about the areas you're looking at but things are good here in SW VA.

 

I'd get a BS in leja , then look for an academy, the school I went to had a huge leja dept and had 2 huge career fairs with agency's from all over the us attending every year...

The School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration at Western Illinois University

 

I'd really rather not spend another two years in college if I can help it. I don't have the money, and I just don't want to lose those two years if I can help it. It'd be nice to have the degree, but I've already got an associates, so I'm gonna do the best I can with that for the time being. I've got a job for the time being, so I'm just gonna try to bank as much money as I can until I can get somewhere else I suppose.

 

Military law enforcement experience will give you an edge over other applicants for civilian law enforcement jobs. PM me if you want me to elaborate.

No, I'm not a recruiter.

 

Wolfie mentioned miltary- might be the exception, but around here, they hesitate to hire ex-military, due to "overly aggresive personalities". A lot of municipalities are laying off officers due to funding problems. Search for smaller towns- JMHO.


Pete