montgomery cty pd/arlington/fairfax pd????

[gu65]

i am currently in the process for the secret service UD, but i have not heard to many positive things about this unit. would i be dumb to start looking at some of these agencies? i have a college degree in criminal justice with no LE experience now and i am 24. i am in the pittsburgh area and was wondering what you guys think?????

[Mongo]

I don't think it'd be 'dumb' to look at any other agencies. I know a good deal about fairfax county pd since I have a friend there that just graduated the academy. He really likes it and I can tell you that they are a very progressive, well funded PD. I lived in Fairfax for a year and can say they have a positive presence in the community and any officers I ever came in contact with was very professional.

Can't help you out with the other PD's. Do you want to move to that area? If you're looking for backup plans, isn't there anything in the burg that interests you? Anyway, good luck and keep us posted.

[JerseyBoy]

I can't really help you with the other departments either, however I just passed the written examination with Fairfax County. What I can tell you is that out of all of the departments that I have applied to thus far, Fairfax Co. is the department that I am most impressed with. They seem very organized, and will give you a heads up on what to expect through the hiring process before taking the exam. They show you a video of the physical agility so you know what you need to work on and it seems that they try to motivate you through the process. They say that they will work with out of state applicants, by testing more than one area within a span of a couple of days. However, I haven't seen much evidence of that. From what I understand, they are hiring a lot of officers for their upcoming academies due to a new budget. I'm keeping my hopes up.

[DC LD]

Montgomery County PD is a nice outfit from what I've heard. A friend of mine from colege is on the job. Very professional, well funded and progressive. Most areas are pretty nice, there a few if any "bad" neighborhoods. And they are hiring.

:alienfade

[BVG819]

GU65,

As you know from my PM, I have first-hand knowledge about one of those agencies, and have friends that work for the other two. I would say that you can't go wrong working for any of those departments. Each has positives and negatives, but if you were keeping score, I think you would end up with a three-way tie. All of them are well-funded and have a reputation for professionalism. I would recommend applying with all three, and see who offers you a job first. If you have specific questions, I will try and get you an answer.

[Cape804]

Originally posted by Mongo
If you're looking for backup plans, isn't there anything in the burg that interests you?

It is very hard to even get a part-time position here in the 'burgh if you don't happen to be related to the chief.

[Mongo]

Really? In the city? Wow, that's suprising...maybe western PA is more like central PA than I thought.