Game warden academy question.

[ChrisO]

I was going to apply for POST academy for this up coming January. Recently I have been thinking a game warden would be a job I would enjoy. I am going to school for criminal justice and my ideal job would be at the sheriff dept of calaveras county as I want to be near the mountains I grew up in.I need to make a decision so I can apply for the academy.

My questions are.
How do I take the test to apply for DFG Game Warden academy?
Does DFG have special units like SWAT?
If one has gone through DFG academy can one be a peace officer for a sheriff dept. later or will you have to go through POST academy? Thanks for taking the time fellas.

[socalblue]

Chris,

Might want to read this:

http://dfg.ca.gov/enforcement/academy.aspx

[ChrisO]

Thanks bud. So it seems to have much of a chance of getting in the academy you have to be affiliated. Got in contact with Lt. Jeff Longwell and will be calling him when I have some spare time.

[BigDogatPlay]

My questions are.
How do I take the test to apply for DFG Game Warden academy?

You have to go through the hiring process to become a Warden and get hired. They only train those they hire is my understanding. No non-affliated students in their course. IIRC you have to have at least a two year degree, preferably in a resource related field, to even get into the process.

Does DFG have special units like SWAT?

There are a number of specialized assignments in DFG, but not SWAT that I know of. I went to the academy with a guy who was a warden pilot, meaning he flew airplanes in addition to being a warden. Of course that was back in the day when DFG put their guys into what ever academy had room. Might want to contact a regional DFG office and talk to one of the wardens about what specialized opportunities there are.

DFG ran their course at Napa College's academy for many years, and I was told they were at the State Parks academy at Asilomar for a while. They are now at Butte College as noted in the link above.

If one has gone through DFG academy can one be a peace officer for a sheriff dept. later or will you have to go through POST academy? Thanks for taking the time fellas.

The DFG academy satisfies the minimum POST requirements for a peace officer, as well as providing specialized training specific to DFG warden tasking. A certificate of completion from their course has the same weight as any other academy certificate as far as mandatory training.

Some larger agencies do require lateral transfers to go through at least some of their own academy regardless of whatever academy training and experiencethey may have already done. CHP is a case in point as I believe their requirement even for a lateral is you have to do the entire CHP academy. LAPD, I think, used to be that way, don't know if they still are and I am sure one of the LA area guys can verify or refute.

FWIW... several of the wardens I knew personally or interacted with were laterals who had come from local agencies. Given their pay issues I'd wager there are a lot more lateraling out than in these days.

[KevinXT]

i have spoken with a Lt. Warden with DFG you no longer need a "degree" just college units.... to meet the requirements (which is equal to a degree basically anyways, this is from the DFG website)

"60 semester units of college with 18 semester units in police science or Criminal Justice, biological sciences, natural resources conservation, or related fields. Military service and/or work history will not substitute for college credits."

[Foriegn power]

My experience with several game wardens was a great interaction, they checked me out bull ****ted for like some 15-20 minutes! I'm actually considering a career as a warden sooner or later, I think it'll fit my lifestyle as a resource agency.

[ChrisO]

I grew up hunting and fishing and learned to love and respect all things in nature. I think the field would be ideal for me and I love being out in the mountains. I found out that they take non affiliates in the academy IF there are slots open. I'm going to school for criminal justice and it is what I am really interested in, I'm not sure if it would do me much better to change my degree? I emailed a Lt. and from what he said it seemed they would rather have a guy with a AS in criminal justice and a lifetime of hunting/fishing experience than a guy with a Bachelors and no experience in such things understand game wardens are not paid as highly as regular sheriff or pd's but I want to be in a field I enjoy and while I'm sure I will enjoy most LEO work I love nature and hunting and if I can keep poachers from ruining it for the rest of us that would be great. Also like someone said it meets minimum POST requirements so why not try to get on DFG and if I feel the need to lateral one day then so be it! Really I will get on anywhere that will take me in any dept. but I'm thinking game warden is what I really want to do.

Thanks guys!

[Foriegn power]

^ sounds like a studied interview response!

[hnoppenberger]

that sounds like a really cool job. All the wardens ive talked to really seem to be happy doing it.

[Foriegn power]

Exactly ^, they said it's such of an relaxing slower pace law enforcement job!