After exploring this question for quite some time, I have come to the conclusion that you don’t need security experience to be a good candidate for the police. As a professional who has been in the security industry for almost a decade, I have had the opportunity to discuss many of the questions I had about becoming a police officer with many different officers. Many of these officers did not provide a direct response to me when I asked if security experience is relevant in the police arena.
The reason I did not receive any direct response to my question was because there is no direct correlation between security experience and having a better chance of being hired as a police officer. Over the years, I have met many people who had a security background and were hired because they met the criteria that recruiters were looking for in a candidate. On the other hand, I also know people who had no security experience but who possess the necessary skills to be a good officer and who are now serving in the local police department.
As long as an individual possesses the relevant skills that are highly valued by police recruiters, the field of work they are currently in has no impact on their candidacy. What are police recruiters looking for in a candidate? Whenever I ask any officer this question, the most common response is LIFE EXPERIENCE.
Life experience has always been a concept that has seemed vague to me and, for quite some time, I did not understand what it really means at the beginning of my career. After further exploration of the concept through interviews with police officers, I discovered that this concept is not as complicated as one would think. To gain more experience in life, one would simply have to go out and start living his life. Police recruiters find that people with more experience in life have the most to offer on the job. Some examples of what life experiences can include: having a child, experiencing the death of a loved one, experience in multiple career fields, and moving out of your parents’ home.
Police recruiters also value someone who has a lot of VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE. Candidates who dedicate their time and become involved within the community demonstrate a commitment to making a difference. The top priority of every police department is to make the community a safer place, and a person who participates in the community is someone who shares the same purpose and mission as law enforcement.
These are the two main experiences that police recruiters look for when hiring for the position of police officer. As long as you have life and volunteer experience and are of high moral character, you don’t need security experience as a stepping stone to a career in law enforcement. Although working in the security industry will provide the individual with effective communicative, organizational, and analytical thinking skills, these skills can also be acquired through other career fields. In fact, police recruiters are more likely to hire candidates who have no security experience. This creates a diversification of police officers from all walks of life.