A Career in Law Enforcement

I have been putting a lot of thought into joining up with a law enforcement agency, but it is hard to choose which one to pursue; local police department ie. LAPD, a sheriff department, CHP, etc. A month or so ago I put in an online application with the LAPD and SBPD (San Bernardino), but have been thinking about the other agencies more since then. Last week I spoke with Brother Badal from the Chino Heritage ward about the CHP. He works for the CHP and spoke highly of its benefits and great retirement plan. He offered to get me an application and I spoke with him about doing a ride along sometime. Since then I have looked online to find all the information I could about anything and everything CHP has to offer me. Reading about the Academy brought back some memories of the MTC... Intense training, heavy studying, Wednesday "pday", dress code, and much more. The CHP Academy is in Sacramento and would be my home for 27 weeks. Once there I will be paid monthly at an entering salary rate. They recommend running at least 3 miles 3 times a week at a pace of 9 min per mile. I have mapped out a route that takes me from my house to chino ave. where I will run a circle around Don Lugo High School and the block west of the school and from there return home. This route is about 3.5 miles and I am sure doing it under a half hour will not be an issue. The minimum required sit ups and push ups for an entering cadet is 50. I haven't done push ups regularly for some time now, but I pumped out 50 today... in two repetitions. I will work on all these exercises to be in top shape for when I enter the Academy. I hope to set some records in as many fields as possible. But there is much to be done before the academy can be realized for me. There is a series of tests that I must pass to be eligible for hire and placement into an academy program. The tests include a written test, physical ability test, a written psychological test, qualifications appraisal panel interview, background investigation, medical evaluation, and a psychological interview. All of these tests can take 6 months to a year to finish. I plan on going back to school to at least finish my AA and possibly a bachelors if time permits. Anyways I have much to do in preparation for this goal of mine. Pray for me :P