flbrit59

Same thing applies with Ottawa Police..you need to be either a permanent resident or Candian citizen before you can apply. Permanent residency or citizenship is going to be pretty much a standard requirement for all US and Canadian depts... you almost always have to be a citizen,although a few will take applications from permanent residents.

Rougesvp

Jamie,

Good luck with that too!

There are plenty of options open to you once you have your Permanent Residency. They are ALL civilian positions. As flbrit correctly states, you will not be able to get a "sworn" position.

If your long-term goal is to come over here, you need to identify a position you want to aim for; Criminalist, Investigative Asst., CSI etc and obtain as much experience/training as you can with your existing Constabulary.

My PD has a vacancy at present for a non-sworn position and we've had over 1500 applicants, many with degrees in Forensic Science or Criminalistics.

peacefulwarrior

Thanks for the info
pw

jamieamis

Cheers for the information.....yeah thats a lot of applicants and I dont have a degree :-(

So would it be worth going over to US and doing a degree of some kind crime related or getting a job as some kind of security guard?

Rougesvp

Jamie,

Several years of job experience will, in most cases, cover for the lack of a degree... even here in the U.S. where degrees are "two a penny".

It's picking your path and getting courses with your Force that pertain to that path that may be tough, more so with only a couple of years in.

Is your Force going to be making redundancies? I know are few are preparing to lay folk off.

billferns

I'm kind of in the same position as Jamie in that I'm a serving UK Police Officer (9 years service) who is looking to emigrate to the US. I earned a degree in Criminal Justice Studies a few years back with the sole intention of using it to help me get into the US. Rougesvp, what courses would you recommend I get on with my current force to increase my chances of getting a civvie job with a US Police Department?

Rougesvp

Bill,

What type of civvie job would you be aiming for? We have a multitude; Dispatchers, Animal Control, Jailers, CSIs, Criminalists, Records, Court Staff.

Dispatchers - Telecommunications specialists

Animal Control and Jail speaks for themselves

CSIs - Forensic Science, Biology, Chemistry, AFIS, DNA, CID

Criminalists - Crime Stats, AV specialists, Computer/cell phone forensics, CID

Records - Administration

Court - Law (Federal, State, Municipal)

Narrow it down for me and I'll try and help! The biggest hurdle is US residency... there are plenty of jobs out there!

dreadsoc

For you folks who are looking at 2 - 3 years before you move accross to the US, it may be worth taking a look at doing the policing studies degree at Portsmouth University.
Last I heard you spend 2 years doing the foundation degree with a follow on year to take it to a BSc. And it was FREE through government sponsorship.

Check out their department of criminology for details.
At least you would be on a par with those applying for civillian jobs who have a degree.

Dread - x

billferns

This is exactly how I got my degree. Not too sure how it works now, but the exams I took it regional training college as a probationer counted as credits toward a degree. The two years at the University of Portsmouth was focused on working towards a FDA (Foundation Degree in Arts) in Police Studies. Providing you're successful, which most people are, you are guaranteed entry onto the final year of a BSc (Hons) degree. Although studying for the foundation degree was funded by the Home Office, the last year of the Honours degree was not. I remember forking out between £6-£700 in tuition fees despite not being campus-based!
For anyone who is thinking of doing it it is by no means easy and takes up a large proportion of your time. You need to be quite self-motivated, is very often the last thing I wanted to do after a late turn was pick up a book and study.
You can't beat the reward when you graduate though!

billferns

I wouldn't mind trying my hand at the Criminalists jobs, particularly crime analyst. I confess to having no first-hand experience of these roles, and the only thing that I could bring to the table would be nine years of frontline uniformed policing. Does your department offer training, or would they expect applicants to hit the ground running?

Completely off subject, but how long did it take for your visa to get processed (I'm assuming that you entered the US on an H1B)?

dreadsoc

If you're still in the UK you could try getting a couple of months attachment in your force information bureau. That would stand you in good stead.

Dread - x

jamieamis

Thank you for all that extra information it is really useful

Do you know if this foundation degree is still funded?

And also is the foundation degree the equivalent of an "Associates" degree in the USA?

dreadsoc

Hi Jamie

Last I heard the foundation degree was still being funded but that was last year.

My advice would be to contact Portsmouth University direct and ask for their criminology department. They will be able to answer these queries for you.

Dread - x