Blog

Mar 26, 2024

Veterans in hot pursuit by law enforcement

Law-enforcement agencies up and down the East Coast were in full force Thursday for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Hiring Our Heroes Career Fair at The American Legion’s 104th National

Law-enforcement agencies up and down the East Coast were in full force Thursday for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Hiring Our Heroes Career Fair at The American Legion’s 104th National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

From the Raleigh, N.C., Police Department to the Fairfax County, Va., Sheriff’s Office – not to mention the U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and other agencies in need of disciplined, trained workers who are ready to switch uniforms – opportunities to enter careers in public protection were numerous at the event. Some employers trumpeted signing bonuses of $15,000; the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office displayed a banner that promoted starting salaries that ranged from $55,105 to $72,542 a year.

More than 70 job seekers registered to meet with some 60 employers at the event, arranged by the American Legion Veterans Employment & Education Commission.

Nationwide, there’s a shortage of law-enforcement officers,” Lt. Nehemiah Meeks of the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office said. “At one point in time – you look back 20-25 years ago – there was a big influx of people who joined law enforcement. Now, they are at the age where they can retire from law enforcement. The attrition – guys retiring and moving on – we are losing a lot of law enforcement. So now, we go out and try to recruit. And the military – what better place?”

North Carolina, with about 130,000 active-duty personnel at installations throughout the state, is a natural magnet for veteran recruiters.

“The bases make it a really good place,” said Bedford County, Va., Sheriff’s Office Investigator Chauncey Wilder, who served 26 years in the Navy before entering law enforcement to pursue a calling in the protection of children against sexual predators. The Bedford County Sheriff’s Office is the southern Virginia headquarters for Internet Crimes Against Children, and more sworn officers are needed to build on a staff of about 100 there.

Meeks said North Carolina is a definite target for recruitment, but the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office reaches out to other locations with large veteran populations, as well. “We travel all over up and down the East Coast. We travel as far as New York, and all the way to Tampa, Fla. Right now, we’ve got two different teams recruiting for Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office.”

Police experience in the military is not a prerequisite, he said. “They don’t have to be an MP … no experience required.”

Law enforcement agencies simply want veterans because they are uniquely qualified to make the transition to public protection. “We encourage military people because of their training and their background, and they’re easy to transition to our type of law enforcement and what we do every day,” Meeks said. “They’re used to wearing the uniform. They’re used to structure, and that’s what we promote … going to classes, doing the type of tactical training that we try to do, it’s easy for veterans to come in.”

What can law enforcement agencies tell veterans to attract them into careers in law enforcement?

“It’s all about the culture of the agency, to me,” Fairfax County Deputy Joseph Hugo said. “It’s all about the opportunity to do different things in the agency, to go out to the different task forces, to work the different divisions, to work the different shifts, and really get to see all sides of it. Having a supportive culture where they’re not just your coworkers, they’re your friends and you know you have each other’s backs… when you come into an agency like that, that’s what really sets you apart.”

Former detective Roy Choe, now a recruiter for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, says competition is tight for law enforcement agencies looking to fill vacancies. A veteran of the South Korean Army whose son is a captain in the U.S. Army National Guard, he understands that a good number of newly discharged veterans are now seeking jobs in information technology.

“But,” he said, “I have met a lot of military people who are looking for a law-enforcement job, too. They can be hard to find, actually. That’s why I come out here to try to talk to them in person.”

Two veterans roaming the booths of the job fair, Neker Faustin and Garrick White, fit the pattern of veterans seeking careers in I.T. American Legion-supported Task Force Movement has made cybersecurity a top priority to help fill more than 700,000 openings nationwide, some 70,000 of which are in government, with veterans.

Faustin, who discharged from the Army last February, is “going into I.T.,” he said. “Trying to see if I can find a help-desk position, cybersecurity. After the military, I did DoD SkillBridge (a Department of Defense on-the-job training program promoted by Task Force Movement) with Microsoft, and I got all the training to start my career in I.T.”

Marine Corps veteran Garrick White, 35, who worked in aviation supply while in the service, is now “specifically trying to get into the I.T. space. I just finished I.T. Boot Camp this year, a program I did through the VET-TEC (Veterans Technology Education Course, through VA) program. It’s fast-tracked. My curriculum was cybersecurity, but it’s not that simple. I thought it was more of a streamlined process. I realize now, you can’t just get in and go straight into cybersecurity. You’ve got to work your way.”

U.S. Infrastructure Co. – better known by its acronym USIC – is a nationwide employer that leans heavily on the veteran population to fill some 13,000 positions in 45 states. Army veteran T.J. Martin, senior manager for military recruiting programs at USIC and a member of American Legion Post 103 in Mooresville, Ind., chimes in with other veteran recruiters that it’s the intangibles that keep them coming to Hiring Our Heroes career events.

“We found that veterans are just a little bit higher-caliber of an employee,” he said. “Being in the infrastructure-protection industry, we have to have folks we can rely on, folks we can trust. Veterans bring the inherent values they learned from their military service. We can apply those in exactly what we do.”

In an industry like infrastructure protection, veterans not only are a good fit, they have opportunities to climb fast from entry-level jobs to leadership positions, he said.

“In New Mexico, our field manager for the entire state joined our company six years ago as a veteran from the Army, started as utility locator, and in two years he became a supervisor. Two and a half years after that, he’s managing an entire state. He’s been with the company six years. He is one of the senior leaders in our company. Great promotion opportunity within the company, especially with veterans, because they come with composite leadership and ability to understand and relate to people.”

“My experience,” said Hugo of the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, “is that they make very good deputies.”

And even though that was not the job Marine Corps veteran White was seeking, he learned from the experience. “I think it was worth it, as far as a networking experience goes,” he said. “I’m glad that I came.”