Aspiring Cadet with Questions

[krush2112]

Hello Everyone,

I have just sent in my application to become a CHP cadet.

I served in the U.S. Air Force for 4 years, and I have missed it greatly. I am looking for the same sense of purpose, pride, comraderie, and accomplishment that I experienced in the military. I believe that the CHP can offer me these things, and I believe I have what it takes to be a CHP officer.

I do have a few questions though, and I hope that everyone here will be kind enough to answer them.

1. I have flat feet! The Air Force almost did not let me in due to this, but I assured them that they weren't a problem for me. (Which they are not). Does the CHP have issues with flat feet?

2. I have read in the CHP Cadet information packet that I should be prepared to be assigned to any duty station in California. I am a bit concerned about this. I have a family and a home, and my husband would not be able to relocate. Does the CHP take these types of issues into consideration and try to assign you to a location that is suitable to your situation?

I appreciate any insight that anyone can provide me. Thank you for your time.

[redhead]

1. I have flat feet! The Air Force almost did not let me in due to this, but I assured them that they weren't a problem for me. (Which they are not). Does the CHP have issues with flat feet?

I do not know the answer to this question, as I have not reached the medical portion of the testing yet.

2. I have read in the CHP Cadet information packet that I should be prepared to be assigned to any duty station in California. I am a bit concerned about this. I have a family and a home, and my husband would not be able to relocate. Does the CHP take these types of issues into consideration and try to assign you to a location that is suitable to your situation?

This is a great question, and I think something everyone is worried about. I have found that the Applicant study Guide, Found Here (http://www.chp.ca.gov/recruiting/html/studyguide.html) is a wealth of information. If you just go straight to Chapter 7, it helps explain the process of placement. The entire packet is well worth the time to download and read, as it provides a lot of insight to the different aspects of the hiring process. Good luck and hope this helps!

Red~

[carcop]

KRUSH

In regards to flat feet- No. It is not an automatic desqualifier. So long as you are able to function fully and complete law enforcemnt tasks, flat feet will not restrict you. This usually isn't a big problem. Most likely since you were allowed in the military, CHP will have no problem with it as the military is much more strict on these types of things. If you can run, and run a lot, you'll be fine.

Placement: Here is how the breakdown for areas goes out of the academy:

1st picks go to :Cadets that own a home and have school aged children

2nd : Cadets who own homes with children

3rd: Cadets with homes

4th: Everyone else, starting with the highest last four #'s of your SSN first. Example 9999 goes first.

Now the trump cards:

Needs of the service.
Humanitarian needs (very,very hard to get, almost impossible, but it can happen)
Oh, did I mention needs of the service.

Now when you get to the dream sheet list, you will be given a list of what offices are open throughout the state. You will pick your fisrt choice down to the last choice. If you fall into catagory 1 and there are no offices open in a 65 mile radius from your home (actual house address), you go down to cat-4. You only get preference if an office is open near you.

Many cadets go to the metro areas, LA, Bay area. Just the way that goes. You can commute and stick it out for a year until your able to transfer. If your trying for a certain office it may take a year or even 5 or more. Just depends where you are trying to get to. Everything is seniority based.

Don't get discouraged, if you want it bad enough, you'll find the way and it does eventually work out. Good luck.

[Your Mentor]

Most certainly take redhead's advice regarding the download.

Flat feet are NOT an issue for hiring so don't even give it another thought. As for relocation, I'm afraid only some partial good news. IF, and that's a big IF, your graduating class gets offered a slot to an area where you already own a home and have school age children enrolled, then yes, you will be given special consideration. And hope no one else in your class has the same circumstances in the same area; otherwise you both fall into carcop's rule number four to decide who gets it. That's the good news anyway. The bad news is you simply will not know if a slot is going to open in the office which services your county until you're close to graduating. Understand they will not create a slot near your home just to accomodate you. The rules carcop listed only apply in competition among your peers for areas offered to your cadet class.

With the hiring age limit getting bumped up a few years ago we are hiring more home owners with established families but the nature of the business simply doesn't allow the assignment process to change. Seniority is a huge issue among officers and everyone is expected to "pay your dues" so to speak. While you're going through the Academy, there are probationary officers waiting to leave areas they didn't initially want. So by the time you're about to graduate, they've already obtained transfers closer to where they'd like to be, and so on. As such, the past few years have really tightened up the offerings to cadets. Oh there are the occasional flukes that no one could ever see coming, but they are very rare. The last class just sent a proby to Death Valley (one of my favorite beats). That was unheard of and he was the first proby in the history of the Department to go to DEVA from the Academy. When I was a cadet, in the late 80's, Inland Division took a healthy sum of each class. My class sent groups of probys to Riverside, San Bernardino, and Barstow. Now you rarely see cadets getting offers to those areas. Of the classes I taught they were either weighted for Los Angeles/Orange Co. or the Bay Area. It almost seemed to go back and forth each class. Fortunately those respective divisions also recruit more cadets so it doesn't seem to disappoint a lot of folks.

If you don't make it near home right off the blocks just keep in mind that it's only for a year or so. It all depends on where you own a home though. If you live in a rural area which is serviced by a very senior office, there is very little chance you'd make it back there for some years. People who recruit out of Northern Division are pretty much accepting the fact they won't be back home for at least five or more years; sometimes ten or more. I didn't make the last transfer list and I have plenty of seniority. There simply were no slots to the three areas I requested. No movement, no slots.

I'm not familiar with Running Springs, CA. Let us know what county it's in and one of us probably knows what area office covers it and what kind of seniority you're looking at.

Don't let the assignment issue discourage you. Many families before you have dealt with this issue. You'll have plenty of time to prepare for it.

[krush2112]

Thank you everyone, very much, for responding to my post.

I'm glad to hear about the flat feet issue. No, my feet don't bother me, and I'm able to run and walk far distances with no issues from my arches. A good pair of shoes is all I need!

Running Springs, where we own our home, is in the San Bernardino Mountains (obviously just above San Bernardino). We actually have a CHP field office just up the street on HWY 18 from my home, and of course, that would be an absolute dream if I could make it there someday.

Los Angeles isn't too far from here, and I think I could handle the commute if I was going to a job that I liked and took pride in.

That brings me to another question...how are the weekly shifts scheduled? Is it similar to a civilian full time job in which you work 5 days and get two days off?

I believe I have it in me to be a great CHP officer. It's going to be a challenge, but that is exactly what I'm missing in my life. I need it and want it. I believe the hardest thing for me will be attending the academy for more than six months and being away from my husband and home.

Thank you again kindly, everyone, for your help on my questions.

[Nellie]

On the other forum you mentioned that you lived 1 1/2 hours from L.A. Even if you can deal with the commute, I believe you have to live within one hour of your station. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Your Mentor]

Help me out here folks. Is that the Arrowhead office? They took cadets there years ago. Haven't seen one go in there in a while. Getting to Berdoo is a short wait. Long commutes from those mountains though; and right into very heavy traffic. Save up for a hybrid car while you're in the Academy;)

Only very senior officers in seniority-sign-up offices manage to pull off a 5 day work week. That's on the road though. Special duty officers and those in staff positions work 8 to 5, five days a week with weekends off. With the FLSA laws the field schedule is really complicated. The good part is you can work long stretchs and then take several days off at a time. Some weeks you work six or seven days straight while others you work three. Remember what field you're getting into. Public safety is a 24 hour a day career. You won't get many holidays off because that's when commanders are required to field 80% of an Area's staffing. And all this public service requires teamwork within a squad. Cops pretty much never expect to have a straight schedule month to month. It just doesn't work in the field. They have always been toying with the idea of the alternate work week programs. The three-twelve program is popular with many allied agencies. I hate working twelve hour shifts but to each his or her own. Sometimes, if the whole squad is in synch and no one is on vacation, you might be able to establish a solid Monday and Tuesday off schedule. I did that on graveyards in Bishop. There were four of us in the office who preferred to work graves and everyone knew it. So no one ever bumped us on the rotation. I had the same partner for years which is great. The other couple (who was actually a married couple) like Wed. and Thur. off. So for a couple of years straight my partner and I managed to work Wed. through Sun. with Mon. and Tue. off. Of course we always got nervous when our names got to the bottom of the sign up list during the Summer. Guys would mess with us threatening to bump us so they could get out of the heat. Bishop did not have a seniority sign up like most large Area offices. As for vacation, that is entirely based on seniority, no matter where you work.

[Your Mentor]

Nellie,
That's entirely up to the Area commander or division sector chief. It's usually only an issue in rural areas. For example, I work in an R.P. and have to live within it's zip code. In contrast, some resident officers are allowed to live out of state (though that practice hasn't been accepted in my division). Many Border Division and Inland Division offices permit officers to live out of state.

I have friends who work in LA and the Bay Area who live ridiculous distances from their commands (and I never cease reminding of that). Yet they don't transfer and they don't complain about the commute. It's all relative I guess. They're happy to do it. I'd have to invest in an entire library of books on tape. Being a resident officer means I don't EVER commute to work. A totally sweet deal. Okay, I commute from my front door to my garage:cool:

[Mac]

On the other forum you mentioned that you lived 1 1/2 hours from L.A. Even if you can deal with the commute, I believe you have to live within one hour of your station. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Consider yourself corrected. :biggrin: There are many members of the CHP (at all ranks) who do not live within an hour of their Area Office. The only time you start getting into limitations like that are when you're working a resident post. Because of housing costs, there are many officers working in LA who live in the Inland Empire or Antelope Valley (Lancaster/Palmdale area), and have commutes substantially longer than an hour (even NOT counting traffic!) :shock:

YourMentor - yep, she's referring to the Arrowhead office....that's the one in Running Springs. It might take a while to get in there, but Riverside or San Bernardino might not be too long of a wait. Doesn't seem like a lot of movement in and out of Rancho Cucamonga lately, so I wouldn't count on that one. I don't see a lot of movement from Victorville either, which would probably be the next closest thing.

Krush - Prepare yourself for worst-case, which would be commuting into LA.....you shouldn't have any problem getting an LA office out of the Academy. As YourMentor said, there are occasional flukes such as a newbie going into Arrowhead or some such office, but there's no way to predict them and they're rare.

[Tom]

Motors is another limitation from area office. I think it was my class that sent someone to Arrowhead.....can't remember though.

Tom

[krush2112]

Thanks again everyone,

Very helpful information. Yes, my motto is, and always has been:

"Expect the worst, hope for the best."

I will pretty much expect to work in the Los Angeles area at first. Which is ok, because I'd like to get some "action" experience, if you will, which is something I'm sure the Arrowhead division doesn't see as much of as the Los Angeles area.

Thank you as well for shift info. I actually would rather not have a set schedule. I like the idea of changing shifts. I was a technician on the Minuteman III nuclear ICBM in the Air Force, and we never had a set schedule, so I am used to that. We had a monthly schedule, so I knew what days I was "up," but I never knew how long I was going to be in the field, and never knew what was going to happen. Sure, it could be a pain sometimes (especially when you were on your 15th hour and wanted to go home), but it was exciting! It certainly wasn't like sitting in this cube doing this monotonous job that I'm doing now. I realize that not everyday at the CHP will be exciting, but each day will have the potential for it.

[Your Mentor]

Well put Krush and welcome to the forum. Keep those questions coming because chances are there are others reading these posts who have the same questions and goals you do. Again, welcome.

[Nellie]

Consider yourself corrected. :biggrin: There are many members of the CHP (at all ranks) who do not live within an hour of their Area Office. The only time you start getting into limitations like that are when you're working a resident post. Because of housing costs, there are many officers working in LA who live in the Inland Empire or Antelope Valley (Lancaster/Palmdale area), and have commutes substantially longer than an hour (even NOT counting traffic!) :shock:


I went searching after you posted this and found out what I was referring to: it was the "Cadet Field Assignment Protocol" where if home ownership is taken into consideration for placement, you must own a home within one hour of where you are requesting being stationed. Sorry for the mix-up.

[Mac]

No big deal, Nellie - I was just pokin' fun at ya with the "consider yourself corrected" part. :smile:

[HwyChaser]

Just a side note on the 1hr from where your home is located, I got rolled out of the academy by this. They use mapquest to determine the distance now. If it takes you 35 min to drive to an office, mapquest may place you out as far as 70 min. They didn?t bend when I went through and I don?t think they do now. I believe several years ago they actually sent a unit to your home.