My 13 yr old son would like to be a police officer... What?

Question

are the requirements? Does he need to maintain a certain grade point average in school? How about college.
What steps do you recommend we take to prepare him for this line of work?

Answer 1

I'm surprised no one mentioned the Police Explorers!

I don't know how much it will help him become an actual police officer but it will sure give him the incentive to keep focused. It will also be one more thing to occupy his time to keep him out of trouble. (Think of it like Boy Scouts learning to be cops instead of campers!)

Sometimes they even get to help out with Search and Rescues, Crowd Control, Public Appearances, They get to do Ride Alongs, and there are even scholarships open to them. They can stay in the Explorers until they turn 21 (The legal age to be a cop.)

I'm having a hard time finding a main national site for it, I wasn't ever in it, but a friend of mine from school was. I chose to join Civil Air Patrol instead.

Call your local Police Departments and ask them about it.

Other than that, just the basics, make sure he stays active and stays AWAY from drugs. Some departments will turn you away for ANY past drug use while other understand people are human and have pasts. A martial art of some sort, perhaps a grappling art might be fun for him too.

If he chooses to go to college, he can study pretty much anything he wants, we have a lieutenant that studied English. Criminal Justice would be an obvious choice though.

I'm glad you're supporting him having goals at this young of an age. I'm 22 and my husband and parents are flipping out about my decision to become a cop.

Best of luck to your son!

Answer 2

Encourage him, as it is a very honorable job-to protect and serve. He needs to do well in school, stay in good physical shape, and stay out of trouble legally. Check with the local police about their police cadet program for teens. That will give him some insight into what police work is like and what the requirements are for becoming a police officer. As far as children not knowing what they really want to do at 13, many set their goals very early in life. I knew from age 5 that I wanted to be a nurse. It is those who reach high school graduation with no idea what they want to do with their lives that are more apt to get into trouble as teens. It is good to have goals at any age.

Answer 3

In high school, no special classes, he needs average or above grades, and some outside interests

To go to work for the better departments he will need a college degree, dispite what the adds say, any degree is about as good as another, And actually mangement degrees, and now esp computer science degrees are worth alot.

Answer 4

You don't say where you live. If you were here in Ontario I would suggest:

-that he stay out of trouble (obviously) and avoid negative police interactions
-that he volunteer his time in the community (coaching, old-age home, soup kitchen etc)
-that he complete high school and some kind of post secondary degree (police related is good, but not essential)
Good marks in the above schools is important too.
-We have an auxilliary police service here, once he is old enough he could apply to that.
-Police services often have student positions open in the summer (we have bike patrol students, boat patrol students, and many other helper positions in the police service). He could apply for these once he is old enough.
-He should try to keep active and maintain a good physical condition.

Answer 5

He's at the age where staying out of trouble gets hard. Just make sure he keeps his record clean and maintains a decent high school GPA. Then he just needs to sign up for police academy when he turns 18.

Answer 6

I wouldn't dwell on this to much. I doubt many 13 year olds know and follow through with what they want do be at such a young age. just tell him he has to go to college to be a police officer (that's not true unless you want to be a state cop) so its not a lie and it will get him on the right track for at least a couple more years

Answer 7

He needs to be 21 first. Graduate from high school Then he needs to go through his state P.O.S.T. Upon successful completion he can become a cop somewhere. That's basically it.