“Recommendations For College Courses Before Applying/testing.”

I am in my mid twenties, have little driving experience and work experience. I've only ever held 3 REAL jobs and was recently laid off and I'm thinking about using the second career fund to aid me. I've done a bit of research so far and I am located the York Region/Toronto area. I am thinking of trying out for the Toronto police or the York Regional police. No criminal record or driving offences, and I still need to get my G.E.D certificate.

I've been looking around at colleges and universities and one of the things I found was the Police Foundations course with Seneca. From the information I gathered most people feel it's useless and would be of no benefit to become a constable. Apparently the police academy in Aylmer teaches everything that the Seneca course offers, and yes I know that the only way to attend is by passing all of the requirements/tests prior to recruitment. Also according to the recruitment information it is neither a benefit nor a drawback to have this education.

Would the police foundations course be a good choice?

Is there any courses that you guys would recommend?

Do the recruiters look down upon a G.E.D certificate opposed to a real diploma?

Thanks in advance guys.

I thought this was helpful: http://www.ehow.com/how_4449217_become- ... tario.html

Basically you need your COR and PREP. With that in hand you can apply to police forces. They won't look at you without these qualifications. Some police forces (Peel region) have made a strategic decision (blunder?) to only higher university grads. Keep this in mind as you approach different forces.

Bear can comment more on this...

I've heard the same about Police Foundations. There are a few good, useful courses, and the rest are filler. All the information will be taught at OPC. As almost anyone can get into these college courses, recruiters don't give you much credit for taking a "law enforcement" course over someone with any other degree. What seems to be most important is your life experience (work, volunteer, community) and how you can relate that to performing law enforcement duties and generally being a better person.

A degree of any sort does seem to be a plus for applicants, so in my case I might actually go the Police Foundations route (dropped out of an Engineering degree after two years as it wasn't the career path I wanted to take). As of right now, I plan to find a job with a good range of responsibilities to build character, then go for OPP Auxiliary. After a bit of that, either go for a year of Cadets or just go full constable. I'm hoping that this way I can get my foot in the door and 1) better understand what I'm getting into, and 2) help the recruiter see past what I now know they could interpret my dropping out as (can't finish what I start), instead of what my reasoning was at the time (why pay another $20,000 for a degree I wouldn't use?).

Good luck, and don't take my spot, eh?

Squishy wrote:(why pay another $20,000 for a degree I wouldn't use?).

I would tend to think a psych degree would be very nice as an officer......

PERNICIOUS wrote:. Apparently the police academy in Aylmer teaches everything that the Seneca course offers, and yes I know that the only way to attend is by passing all of the requirements/tests prior to recruitment..

Police Foundations (PF) attempts to give people more insight into the laws and briefly touch on certain aspects. In no way is it as in-depth as the OPC (Ontario Police College). PF will give a good base and might make OPC a little bit easier.

Twist....you can ace all of the PF, but if you can not pass the PREP or COR you will not be hired by anyone. Then you are stuck with a course that is useless. Might as well take a course that is useful, you can still do the COR & PREP and apply and you will be taught at OPC.

Many moons ago....I have my Drafting Technician and Business Accounting Diplomas both from College and was Auxiliary for 2 yrs.

Having said that, last group of "rooks" at our office had been out of school for about 6 plus years and working. They passed their COR and PREP. They went to OPC and learned what they needed to.

hwybear wrote:Many moons ago....I have my Drafting Technician and Business Accounting Diplomas both from College

and was Auxiliary for 2 yrs.

Accounting...........This is why 'Bear is such a good note taker.........It's all about traceability.....

Thanks for the advice guys. I suppose an IT degree might be better for me than PF, as I could always use it for the cyber crimes division. Or if I don't stand a chance use it for a different career path.

Again thanks for the insight.

Peel is now requiring a degree?

Jeeze at least before they had hard physical testing.

I thought police were to "Serve and Protect"

I always wondered in what way a degree makes you a better officer?

I can understand the need to pass tough physical testing and other tests such as driving ability, mutli tasking, awareness, how you react to various situations.

There is alot of things to test for police officer's but i am surprised how they pick graduates now.

TPS physical testing is a joke.

Peel used to have a very tough one. 1.5 mile in 10 mins, along with many other tests, push ups, sit ups, bench press, and many other.

Do the OPP still do the old school testing?

If you want to become an officer i know a few others who wanted to be. They were cadet's. A few of them found out it was not for them and others continued on.

I always wondered this.

Bear would that not be the best idea? To try being a cadet. Let's say you became a cadet and loved the job and the other officer's at the station or detachment also thought you would be a good cop and though you did a goodjob and had what it takes would this help you to become a full time cop?

Can officer's put in a good word to the recruiter. Let's say at your OPP detachment you had a rookie start out as a cadet to help around the station. He is 23, he finds out he loves policing and does a good job, is a good hand to the officers, and works very hard and decides he wants to become an officer.

Could or would your fellow officers at your detachment put in a good word for him to the recruiter basically saying you would want him to be part of your team?

Is this sorta how this works. If you guys had a cadet who you though would be very good in a way could you basically ask to have him become a full time officer there?

Random question, do cadets attend Ontario police college or would this only be for officers who are going to become full time?

Cadets assist the other officers correct? Are they allowed for instance with highway safety division to perform duties of regular officers, such as patrol, chases, driving the cruisers, speed traps, truck inspections....

Another random question, does highway safety division in some way at all test or have some kind of test you have to pass for high speed driving that would simulate a pursuit or chase?

Is there specially trained officers for this? Let's say you guys had to go after a drunk criminal trying to endanger someone. Would you have an officer who is trained or qualified or would be better for this kind of task you would send out?

Does the same goes for officers that deal with transports alot? Are certain officers trained to inspect transports or deal with them specifically?

I think Cadets get the training in Orillia, and maybe even a shortened course at OPC. They don't get full training. A Cadet application for constable gets fast-tracked through the system as the background checks and psych evaluations don't need to be done again. Letters of reference can come from people you worked with as a Cadet. I don't think Cadets can choose to stay at the same detachment once they are hired as a full constable. They do give consideration to families not wanting to be relocated, but there are no promises and you are expected to want a position anywhere in Ontario. I have heard of people not making it past the initial interview for requesting a specific detachment.

I don't think Cadets drive the cruisers, other than for late-night coffee runs. It's kind of like a full-time Auxiliary program.

Thanks neat to know.

Squishy like for example let's say you applied for OPP. But you were interested in working for a traffic detachment or Highway Safety Division?

Could you specify this in your application. Would they give you something close by, your in Orillia so maybe barrie,407 detachment, toronto one, etc or could they force you to go anywhere with the OPP and maybee not even a GTR Region Highway Safety Division.

I'm not sure as I haven't gone through the process yet, but I don't think you can. You are expected to go wherever they put you, be it a large urban centre or a small northern town of 50 guys. They consider allowing families to stay put if they have strong roots or children, but that's not up to you and you can still be relocated far away if the numbers are needed there. I think the single applicants are the most SOL.