Education is important in a law enforcement job. To work in law enforcement, you have to be a U.S. citizen with a high school diploma/GED. We prefer that you have your associate degree, and in a few years new hires will be expected to have an associate degree that's related to law enforcement. Even though an associate degree still isn't required in Anderson, people with an associate degree start out making more money than those who just have a high school diploma/GED.

I received my Associate Degree in Public Service with a major in Criminal Justice Technology from Tri-County Technical College.  Tri-County also has a Criminal Justice Technology certificate program for Public Service with a major in Law Enforcement and Corrective Services.  The certificate program takes a little less time to complete, but it really pays to go ahead and get the degree.  In that short amount of time you can become an expert on installation

If you meet the educational requirements for a job in law enforcement, you have to make it through a screening process. First, you take a written aptitude test. If you pass the test, a background check is run to see if you have a criminal record. People convicted of felonies can't work in law enforcement, and most law enforcement centers are reluctant to hire people convicted of misdemeanors.

Our office doesn't even like applicants to have more than four points against them on their drivers' licenses. Even being accused of a crime, whether or not you were convicted, can factor into a hiring decision. If you pass the background check, you're given a polygraph, or lie detector test. Finally, before you can be hired, you're sent to the Anderson County Health Department for a drug screening and a complete physical. We have standards for vision, hearing, strength, and agility that you must meet before being hired for certain positions.

If you're hired to work for the Sheriff's Office, you attend a 10-week Criminal Justice Academy in Columbia. There, you study constitutional law, civil rights, state laws, local ordinances, and accident investigation. Classes run all day, Monday through Friday, and every Friday you take an exam. You have to make a 75 or better on each of these exams to stay at the Academy. If you fail any exam, you're sent home. For those who make it through the Academy, education doesn't stop at graduation.

After graduating from the Academy, you return to your local law enforcement center to receive training and supervised experience in patrol, traffic control, use of firearms, self-defense, first aid, and emergency response. Our personnel are also expected to participate in continuing education in the area they specialize in. For instance, I just completed a training in negotiation techniques I might need in a hostage situation. Officers in uniform are expected to stay up-to-date on self-defense tactics, firearms, use-of-force policies, sensitivity and communications skills, crowd-control techniques, relevant legal developments, and advances in law enforcement equipment.