Fed CO's?

[blueclaw]

Hey just a quick question. Are fed co's officially considered to be federal law enforcement officers?

[Joe159]

On paper federal COs may be titled as law enforcement officers although many do not consider corrections at the federal, state or county level as being law enforcement. They do have a heck of a tough job though. CO's get very little praise for the type of work they do.

Some(but few) corrections depts seem to have a very long academy. It seems almost on par with your typical police academy. California state corrections and NJ state corrections comes to mind. I believe they have a 4 month academy which is quite long for corrections. They obviously get some great training.

I think federal COs only get a few weeks of training down FLETC. I think the bulk of there training is in-service.

[nsedet]

Originally posted by blueclaw
Are fed co's officially considered to be federal law enforcement officers?

Depends how you define a federal law enforcement officer. They do not have any real enforcement authority, are not issued badges or firearms except as needed for certain activities (transporting prisoners, etc), and are not authorized to carry firearms off-duty. However, for purposes of retirement and under the definition of assault on (and murder of) a federal officer, BoP officers are considered 'law enforcement.'

[blueclaw]

I don't know if this helps but I was asking because I just graduated and got a job with the bop. I know that the Stafford Loan credits law enforcement officers with an annual decrease in repayment until the loan is completely gone. Just not sure if a CO fall under this requirement.

[stubrie]

hey blue- Do you mean perkins instead of stafford loan?
I get my perkins knocked down because of law enforcement but not stafford, Am I missing out on another possible loophole?

[blueclaw]

Hey how great would it be if both loans applied here!!! Anyway I'll check up on it and get back to ya

[copboy]

Hey, Blueclaw can you pm me on what the hiring process was like with the BOP. I would appreciate some information on the type of people you came into contact with during your application phase also. I really had been putting corrections as a last resort apon future graduation but think they could be an easy route into the federal system.