Deputy Detentions

[daertz]

Hey all,
I was hoping to get some advice from the wise sages of this board. A little background: I got out of the military a year ago and am a full time college student right now [with a wife and newborn]. I've applied for all the Sheriff and Police departments within an hour drive of where I live (Orange County) hoping to start my career in law enforcement. I'm currently going through the various recruiting stages with the different departments, but I recently got a job offer for Deputy Corrections/Detentions (not my first choice).
I was wondering if I should refuse this offer and keep looking at my other options? I don't want to shoot myself in the foot and turn down this offer but I also don't want to work corrections if I have the possibility of starting as an LEO. Should I keep the offer while still looking around [is this frowned upon] and if I do how long do I have until I can refuse this employment offer without burning any bridges.
Is there anyone with corrections/detentions work experience that can tell me more about this position? The day to day, LEO authority, or advantages/disadvantages? Will I be able to transfer or lateral move easier with a CO background to patrole? Is a deputy CO even considered an LEO by those of you in the know? I really don't see any positive aspect of this besides the possibility of getting a foot in the door with some LEO work experience. But from what I've read online it seems even harder to go from CO to LEO than to start fresh as LEO.
Please excuse my ignorance but I couldn't any of these answers online.

[Ron-Solo]

There is such a wide variety of such positions ithe SoCal area. Some can be a career path to deputy, some are not.

LASD uses Custody Assistants, which are non-sworn and are not considered safety employees. Riverside has Custody Deputies and while non-sworn, are considered safety employees. Riverside will issue their custody deputies a CCW, LASD will not.

I don't know about San Bernardino or Orange Counties.

[Watchur6]

Orange county has CSA's, non sworn. I have known many people who have gone from CSA to OC Deputy. IMO getting your foot in the door is key but if you have a goal and will except nothing less then you should go with that. In my experience, working corrections has been nothing but a positive experience. I speak to all different kinds of gang members everyday, have learned about gangs all throughout the county, and have resources available at anytime. Its a good opportunity to learn all you can about the gang culture and how to "speak their language" to help you in your day to day duties. So i wouldn't write off corrections completely. Also, if your going for a sheriff department you most likely will spend a few years working county jail learning "prison politics." It sounds like you have a lot of opportunities in front of you, good luck in your journey.

[RickD427]

Sir,

First of all, thank you for your service.

As to your question, the key point is to ensure that there is a promotional path from the custody deputy to a field (patrol) deputy position.

IMHO, if your goal is to to do the full range of police functions, you will not find satisfaction in the custody position. At the same time, having some custody experience is invaluable to developing the skills needed to do the full range of police work.

If there is such a path, I would strongly recommend that you take the opportunity, as a foot in the door, and then work toward a field position.

On the other hand, if there is no such path, and in this economy, I would reluctantly recommend that you start in the custody job, and then look to move on.

[daertz]

Thank you for the replies o' wise sages. I've had a chance to sleep this over and I don't think I can accept this offer as it feels like a cop out [get it?] of pursuing my dream to become an LEO. I understand that it would "give me a foot in the door" with invaluable experience, but it doesn't show any promise of evolving into a field deputy position. I don't want to accept this position for the learning experiences and find out in the next few years all the field positions are filled.
From what I've gathered off realpolice and officer.com is that a CO position won't further my goal to becoming an LEO and I'll have to restart the application process/academy all over again to become a field deputy. Also many posters actually claimed it's far easier to cold apply for field positions than to transfer from CO to LEO. This almost seems detrimental as while a few places are mass hiring, it won't be the same in a few years.
As for the guessing of which station, it's for the San Diego Sheriff Office that offered me a correctional position and it looks like they won't be mass hiring after this next year. I'm trying to stay positive about the offer, but it's just starting to look less and less like a move in the right direction.

[BoJackUSMC]

Correctional Deputy have better chance becoming full time sworn Deputy Sheriff than just average applicant. In addition, it is not bad idea to work in a jail for few years because you will learn a lot from those inmates. You will be surprise how much you can learn from them just by watching and talking with them.

[mikel7070]

BoJackUSMC is completely right. Working as a Correctional Deputy will heighten your chances if getting over to the other side much easier/faster. Definitely something to consider, seeing how swamped hiring agencies are at the minute and the amount of competition...

[mixicus]

Being a CSA or Correctional Deputy (not a deputy that is doing a jail rotation) cuts both ways in getting a Deputy or Officer position. It gives the agency a chance to get to know you. If you are a smart, hard worker that get's along with other CSA and Deputies, it's a plus over an unknown walk-in. If your reputation in the custody role puts you on the other end of the spectrum, it's a disadvantage at that agency.

If you have gone through a 'custody academy' for a CSA position, you would need to go through the full police academy if you got a deputy/officer job. Though you'd likely be a sponsored recruit and paid.

Being part of the team as a CSA helps put you on ever shorter stacks of applicants (just like military service, college degrees, language skills, etc). The exposure to deputies and/or officers, can help you decide if this career is right for you.

[K dog]

Just a heads up, that department is known for offering detentions/ correctional deputy first to most applicants. Yes you have to do the Academy all over again, but C. D.'s definitely have an inside track to become a L E deputy. I've been told that they even have their own recruiter/background investigator for those coming from correctional deputy to law enforcement deputy.

[retired]

When you say the SDCO position doesn't show any promise of evolving into a field deputy position, what exactly do you mean. Does it mean this position does not allow you to transition to the field because it is not set up for that or they have told you it would take a very long time in custody for that to occur.

As Ron-Solo said, LASD has CAs who work custody, but sworn full power deputies also work custody until their "number" comes up and they can go to the patrol station of their choice. I spent 4yrs. in custody and then went to patrol. I don't know what the time period is now since I've been retired for awhile. I also know the system might be changing in the near future, but might point was to show you how my former dept. has done it.

If San Diego is set up like that, then it might work for you. On the other hand, if you know from the beginning that a CO position there can never transition to patrol, then it would seem like you would reject the position based on what your stated goal is.

One more thing to consider, San Diego Sheriff and PD have, for a long time, had one of the lower salary schedules compared to other agencies. I don't if they have parity with other agencies now, but that might be something to consider also.

Good luck.

[veeklog]

Thank you for the replies o' wise sages. I've had a chance to sleep this over and I don't think I can accept this offer as it feels like a cop out [get it?] of pursuing my dream to become an LEO. I understand that it would "give me a foot in the door" with invaluable experience, but it doesn't show any promise of evolving into a field deputy position. I don't want to accept this position for the learning experiences and find out in the next few years all the field positions are filled.
From what I've gathered off realpolice and officer.com is that a CO position won't further my goal to becoming an LEO and I'll have to restart the application process/academy all over again to become a field deputy. Also many posters actually claimed it's far easier to cold apply for field positions than to transfer from CO to LEO. This almost seems detrimental as while a few places are mass hiring, it won't be the same in a few years.
As for the guessing of which station, it's for the San Diego Sheriff Office that offered me a correctional position and it looks like they won't be mass hiring after this next year. I'm trying to stay positive about the offer, but it's just starting to look less and less like a move in the right direction.

SDSO is actually a very good agency; yes, the pay isn't as great as other outside LEO's, but everyone is right: a lot of Correctional Depuites have been hired to be regular depuites later. I worked in San Diego for eleven years until my transfer, and I had daily interaction with both the SO and PD, even worked on a task force with the SO. Great group of guys/gals and not too many attitudes. Don't turn down too many offers because LE jobs are very difficult in today's job market.

Good luck

[Che762x39]

Thank you for the replies o' wise sages. I've had a chance to sleep this over and I don't think I can accept this offer as it feels like a cop out [get it?] of pursuing my dream to become an LEO. ...

Lots of people want to be LEOs but their aptitude put them in other postions like custody, park ranger, parking enforcement, etc, etc. Nothing wrong with those jobs and it is an honest living and they have civil service status.

I was a Field Training Officer for seven years and I terminated several trainees. My advice is try it out and see if you like it. The other thing is and my pet peeve. How you know you have any aptitude for police work?

Do the job you got an offer for and stay in college.

[422]

Large Sheriff's Department located between Orange County and the AZ border, just below San Bernadino Co, is going to be hiring alot of Deputies real soon. Check them out. Not necessarily a bad idea to start in corrections, only downfall is going through both academies.