Education/training | Making Connections | Personal Advancement | Self-employment | Career Options

Career Options

Police foundations programs give job seekers a leg up in the law enforcement and security field

The right stuff

It's not a job for the faint of heart. But for anyone with the right stuff, law enforcement and security offer many opportunities for well paid careers across the entire sector.

David Chilton

[ 2006-11-22 ]

Send to a friend

In what work environment would you thrive? To find out, take this test by eCareerFit, the career assessment experts.

Sukhjit Kang, a graduate of the Canadian Law Enforcement Training College's Mississauga campus, was recently hired by the Police.

Police services, of course, are the best known employers, but the military police, customs and immigration, hydro and nuclear security, forensic investigation, and numerous provincial and federal agencies are all potential places of employment. Yet irrespective of where a job seeker ends up, there's one constant: employers demand -- or look very favourably on -- applicants who have completed a police foundations course that teaches such subjects as the Canadian justice system, introductory psychology, computer skills and physical fitness.

PUBLIC OR PRIVATE SCHOOLING

In the GTA there are many police foundations programs, whether public or private. The oldest in the province is Seneca College's, which began in 1967, the same year the school opened its doors.

Jeff Agro, co-ordinator at Seneca, says there are two intakes at the college for the two-year full-time diploma program. Seneca accepts 220 students each September and another 80 in January.

The average age of students in first semester is 17 to 20, Agro says, and usually most of his students join Seneca straight from high school. However, "We're also seeing more university grads coming back," he says.

Sheridan College's police foundations program closely resembles Seneca's. Walter Greczko, co-ordinator of the two-year full-time program, gets lots of students right out of high school, but there are others in their mid-20s, he says. Sheridan takes 240 students every September and another 80 to 90 in January. Both colleges get applications from mature students, and the gender split is about the same in either place: about 70% male, 30% female.

Seneca also requires its students to work 150 paid hours in a career-related job -- in-store theft prevention, mall security -- or volunteer for 150 hours during their two years of studies, Agro says. Sheridan doesn't demand either option, Greczko says, but strongly advises its students to volunteer since police services routinely ask for such experience.

10-MONTH COURSE

The Canadian Law Enforcement Training College, with campuses in Toronto and Mississauga, differs from Seneca and Sheridan in that it's private rather than public and graduates students in 10 months instead of two years. Its students are a little older, too. Roberto Hausman, director of education and training, says the youngest are 19 and the oldest so far was 46, with the average age being 22 to 30.

Canadian Law Enforcement Training College offers applicants six intakes a year, Hausman says, four in Toronto and two in Mississauga. Tuition at Canadian Law Enforcement Training College is $13,000 a year. At Seneca and Sheridan it's about $2,100.

Beyond those differences, however, there's something else that sets Hausman's college apart from the public police foundations courses: Unlike other institutions, where students are rigged out in jeans, T-shirts and running shoes, Canadian Law Enforcement Training College insists its student wear a police-style uniform during their 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. campus day. "We are kind of the boot camp of police foundations," Hausman says.

HIGH PLACEMENT RATES

Boot camp or not, the college boasts an impressive employment track record. Hausman says it checks in at 90%, noting, "We have the highest placement rate in Canada in police foundations (studies)." Seneca, Sheridan and other colleges, whether public or private, also report similar high placement rates following graduation, so finding a job should be a snap -- especially for anyone who's been trained in how and where to look.

POLICE FOUNDATIONS

- Seneca, Sheridan and other public college's police foundations programs run for two years full time.
- Canadian Law Enforcement Training College graduates students in 10 months and teaches only police foundations programs.
- Applicants must have a high school diploma or be mature students.
- There are job opportunities across the law enforcement and security spectrum such as police services, including the RCMP, border security, provincial and federal investigations and corrections services.