How to Hire a Military Veteran as a Law Enforcement Officer

This is one part of a 3 part series of hiring a military veteran as your new law enforcement officer. Additional articles are linked to at the end.

Military veterans seem like a natural fit for the law enforcement community. In many ways, they are. Dedication, a sense of service, understanding the value of community, and a myriad of others are all ways that military veterans can, do, and will play a significant role in LE. The greatest advantage that the community possesses in the hiring of military veterans is that it extends the sense of purpose that military veterans held dear during their period of military service.

Military veterans from any branch of service during either wartime or peacetime describe how their sense of purpose from military service was one of the elements they missed the most from their transition to a civilian career from a military career. Law enforcement needs to highlight the sense of purpose that serving in a role that serves, protects, and defends the civilian community while at the same time taking advantage of military skills that can benefit the department.

Finding a military veteran (s) to apply to your department will not be very difficult. There are probably military veterans that you can find already in your community, and you may be close to local bases.

Tips on How to Hire Military Veterans for Law Enforcement Roles 

■ Do not be overly concerned with prior military occupation specialty (MOS).  

Do not place a great deal of unnecessary military criteria into your search for candidates for your department. For example, if you only want senior Special Forces Weapon Sergeant (MOS 18B), your pool of candidates will be very low. Instead, look for all military veteran candidates and screen them on their own experiences and criteria. You may discover a fuel truck driver that served as a military policeman as an additional duty in Baghdad. 

■ Look for signs of not adapting.

Each department has its own culture, community considerations, and unique style. Just because they are a military veteran, they may not be an ideal choice for your department. This screening is critical because you want to hire the best person for the role. Be aware of an excessive amount (3 or more) of non-judicial punishments (NJP) that the candidate may have. One or two infractions are not a big deal—everyone oversleeps, forgets their helmet in the car, or another small misdeed. Several NJP violations over a brief time may signal a lack of the close rule following needed in LE. 

■ Look locally.

Ideally, draw a circle with a 100-mile radius around your department; you should not have to look further than that for military veteran candidates. Look for military veteran career fairs from the US Chamber of Commerce, Reserve and National Guard centers, and some active duty military bases have their own career fairs and hiring events. Identify all the available hiring locations for military veterans in close proximity to your department. 

■ Be open to a department visit.

Most military veteran candidates will have no idea of what needs to be done, day-in-and-day-out. The department visit is a profound way to ensure an important level of interest and understanding what it takes to be successful in the position from day one. 

■ Over-communicate testing and hiring policies.

The extensive structure, requirements, and pace of hiring for military veteran candidates will be extremely confusing. Take more time than normal to create a complete sense of understanding, timeline for hiring, and testing involved for interested candidates. This will help convince candidates that a position is possible and not discourage from applying or turn them away with the lengthy application process. 

■ Refer candidates to other departments.

All departments get filled up or experience cut backs and hiring freezes. If you have situations like this, then refer candidates to other departments such as emergency medicine, fire departments, investigators, or other LE support roles. A candidate you refer may refer others to you or come back themselves.

Further Resources

Check out these additional articles here on Officer.com on hiring vets into law enforcement

• The Embedded Skills and Benefits of Hiring a Military Veteran — There are a variety of benefits that a LE department will gain when hiring a military veteran. This is a concise list, but is aptly demonstrates how well suited military veterans are for careers in LE. Military veterans bring skills in planning, intelligence, preparation, and reconnaissance that reinforce existing department LE skill sets. Military mission preparation skill sets are not superior to LE mission preparation skills. Military mission preparation skills serve in a reinforcing and supplementing role to existing LE practices.

• Additional Training Military Veterans May Require as a Law Enforcement Officer — Even with a background rich in skill sets for law enforcement, there are areas that a military veteran candidate will need additional training on and emphasis to be successful.