Specialized units

[Unregistered]

Question about getting into specialized units with the TPD- Is entry into one dictated by who you know, or what you know?

[Unregistered]

More like who u blo...

[Unregistered]

More like who u blo...

As much as I’d hate to admit, this statement is true for some people. But for most it’s definitely who you know. Most decisions are made from a pool of who puts in for the spot then a group of supervisors and brass sit around and look at the names and it’s basically “does anyone know this guy” and if someone knows you and liked you and vouches for you then you are in. If if you didn’t put in for it, if a certain supervisor likes you and is putting together a squad, he’ll call you and say hey you need to put in for this, because he wants you on his squad. Your whole shot can be ruined if someone in the deciding group says “no I don’t like that guy, he rubs me the wrong way” He May not even really know you and you probably have never worked for him but you pissed him off in a brief encounter at some point in your past and now he’s scuttling your chances of making the team.

No one actually takes the time to research your work product, read your reports, look at your file, check your stats, interview you, call your former supervisors who aren’t currently apart of the decision making process, test your knowledge, etc etc.

[Unregistered]

And you have to be on less than 5 years. Cause they know it all

[Unregistered]

I think you're going to find that the answer to your question depends upon which specialty team you mean. The ones that train their own candidates to do things cops don't pick up in the course of their work on the street get more say in who they select. Units like K9, TRT (SWAT), Air, Dive & a few others have some technical components to their work that tend to reduce (but unfortunately not eliminate) the tendency for folks with rank to shove their buddies to the head of the line. Those teams have each developed a try-out process that screens for the qualities & abilities they need.

When you're talking about units like SAC or some of the 411 specialty squads, there's probably a little more of the buddy-system in play. In the end you probably want to keep in mind that when you "ask around" -- on this board or on the street -- unless you're talking to someone on the specialty unit in question, you're asking folks who either weren't interested enough to apply (nothing wrong with that), or didn't get picked. Your best bet may be finding members of the unit in which you're interested and seeing what they can tell you.