Police careers for Army veterans? Is anybody from VAC listening???

[bossi]

Hmmm ... once upon a time, Army veterans were welcomed by police forces and the civil service ... (unfortunately, certain bureaucracies have become so civilianised they no longer recognise or understand the benefit of allowing "direct transfers" from the Army ... only in Canada, eh? Pity ... especially since I‘m now on unemployment insurance after serving in Afghanistan ...)


Hard to replace 900 officers: Inspector
By VIVIAN SONG, Toronto Sun
Thu, March 18, 2004


The "mass exodus" of 800-900 retiring Toronto Police officers would leave a lot of oversized shoes to fill and pose a serious problem for the city, says the employment unit boss. "It would certainly have a significantly detrimental effect on the well-being of Torontonians," said Insp. Len Faul.

Toronto Police Association president Rick McIntosh told The Sun at least 15% of Toronto officers could pack it in because of demographics, falling morale and the wave of gangster warfare and gunplay on city streets.

Training unit Staff-Sgt. Peter Button said the force would have a hard time recovering if it loses 900 officers.

"The (Ontario Police College) is not prepared to take that number of people. They don‘t have the infrastructure," he said.

Officers must attend a 12-week session at the OPG before serving on any police force in the province.

Bruce O‘Neill of the ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, said 342 recruits are enrolled at the college now and it can take up to 480 students at one time.

"If Toronto did lose 900 officers, it couldn‘t replace all the cadets in one intake," he said.

 

[kaspacanada]

That‘s interesting, I had thought about being a police officer, but opted for the military over it despite the often better paying salaries, and more stable working environment. (LOL what was I thinking? ? ? ?) I don‘t know about the Toronto Police Department but the Vancouver PD takes people with a college diploma, but it appears as though Toronto accepts highschool diploma‘s but prefer some post-secondary. Have you checked it out?
You‘ll find everything you need right here.

http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/careers/career.php

Good Luck

 

[Paul F]

I believe the Vancouver Police Department will take military experience as an equivalent to a college diploma.

 

[md200]

And people wonder why i am looking at a career in the CF instead of in Law Enforcement..
Its a shame that some Police Departments don‘t see CF experience as a post-secondary equivalent.

I know i speak for myself but i would rather hire a 24-25 year old with a few years with the military under his/her belt then a 20 year old fresh out of a 2 year college course.

Alot of Toronto Officers are transfering up to my neck of the woods ( 1hr north of T.O )due to the increasing dangers with gangs and violence. Aswell as cutbacks,low salary and prices of living in Toronto.If all these transfers and retirements continue i think the Police Forces will have to start looking at changing there entry requirments.

Just my opinion. But i think the Police Forces need to wake up and realize just because a 20 year old has a college degree in policing dosen‘t mean he has the life experience nor mental toughness to deal with a career in Law Enforcement.

Anybody else agree????

Mike.

 

[Danjanou]

Bossi, it gets worse. Case Oates was quoted as saying our beloved new Mayor Fidel... er excuse me David Miller and his anti-cop tirades are the reason most veteran cops are packing it in.

Councillor Kyle (have I shown you my nipple ring?)Rae claims that the retirment of some 900 cops is a "good thing" as it will now allow the city to recruit new officers that will better reflect the mulit-cultural diversity of the city. Trnaslation evil meanie soldier types need not apply.

The fact that previous attempts to actively recruit visible minorities has been less than successful has obviously not been noticed by Comrade, er excuse me again Councillor Rae. The Police Service is taking anyone who is interested and meets their criteria, but certain segements of our city are not exactly beating down the doors on College Street to join up. I guess the next step will be the time honoured city quota system and sliding standard scales.

Yeah that‘s what I want dealing with the upsurge of gang violence in Scarberia. Someone who they had to dumb down the tests for, as opposed to someone with a tour in Bosnia or some other place, who maybe just maybe can handle themselves in a high stress situation.

I wonder if it‘s too late to move to Brampton?

 

[Thompson_JM]

Its Sad really. I also feel that there are alot of Ex Military who would probabbly make excellent police officers. But it is also important to remember that was police was say 10-20 years ago is very different then what it is now. Is that a bad thing? it depends on who you ask. Im currently going to Humber College In Toronto (Etobicoke) for the 2 year Police Foundations Program. and i can tell you that even with a degree in police foundations there are alot of students who will not be hired by the police.

In Ontario the minimum requirements to be a police officer are:

All Applicants must meet the following basic requirements:


Possess an O.A.C.P. Certificate of Results be legally eligible to work in Canada
be 18 years of age or older
be of good moral character and habits
have successfully completed secondary school or the approved equivalent to the Ontario education system.

Official transcripts and diplomas are required; where education has been completed outside the province of Ontario, official proof of equivalency must be provided. Refer to Out of Province and Foreign Educational Document Assessment, which provides a list of private agencies that provide document assessments for a fee.


possess a valid driver‘s licence (minimum Class G)
possess a current Standard First Aid certificate and a current CPR certificate (Basic Rescuer Level C)
meet vision standards of uncorrected visual acuity of at least 20/40 binocularly, corrected visual acuity should be at least 20/20 binocularly, with normal colour vision. See Vision, Hearing and Speech Standards.
meet normal hearing standards. See Vision, Hearing and Speech Standards

Information taken from http://www.hrps.on.ca under the section "Careers"

so here you have it.. thats the bare minimum of what you need. Applicants to a police service are assesed on an individual basis. You do not require college to be a police constable in ontario. though some post secondary does help..

and I‘ll be perfectly honest with you. there are some things im learning in school that are not overly relevant. but 90% of what im taking is. 5 years of reg force military experiance will harden and mature you(hopefully) but it will not magically transform you into a supercop. though talking to alot of recruiters several from the TPS. they have told me that military service does go a long way... Remember. Its not Civies who are going to be asking you the tough questions in the interveiw room, its going to be members of the Police Service. most of whom have probabbly served for a minimum 7 years, and more like 10 or more.. these people know exactly what to look for in a future cop, and they also know the army does do a good job of at the very least giving individuals the drive and discipline to be able to handle the job.

anyways, ive gone of on a bit of a rant again. and i apologize. but the fact is, rather then look at a newspaper article, and a councilmans‘ statements, why not go down there and find out for yourself if you are good enough..

by the way, when I graduate and am applying, I will have about 6 or 7 years of PRes under my belt along with school, and the cops ive talked to have said that is going to look terrific.. so i can imagine that an individual with 10-15 years of relevant Military Experiance would look amazing.