First, I took a bunch of interviews with police departments and one thing is usually the same" the interview.  First, you need a nice suit.  A dark color with a reddish, power tie.  Look sharp and chrisp.  Secondly, I know I get nervious and I found out that taking the herb Kava, helps relax me a lot.  It made me more confident, my speech clearer and I felt as though I could think better.  As far as the meat of the interview, try to remember the names of the interviews so that you can say, "Thank you, Mr. Stevens" or something like that when the interview is over.  Have an opening statement ready in case they ask for one.  Usually, they will start of the interview by saying "Tell us about yourself" or "Tell us a little about your past".  They may even hand the interview to you and ask "do you have an opening statement?"  They usually ask the following also:

Tell us about you past work experience and how it will help you as a police officer?

What activitives do you participate in and how will they help you as a police officer?

In what way are you involved in your community?

What is your greatest weakness and how have you attempted to overcome that weakness?

What is your greatest strength and how will that help you as a police officer?

What do you think is the idea behind "community oriented policeing" and in what ways do you think it helps the police interact with the community?

What do you think are the most important aspects of police work?

What areas of LAPD do you find interesting and what areas would you like to get involved with and why?

Tell us about your educational background and how it will help you as a police officer?

What area of police work do you think you will find the most challenging?

What makes you the best applicant for the job?

Tell us about a time when your behavior or perfomance at work was corrected and how you reacted to that correction.

And last and but not least....Do you have any questions you would like to ask us?

Have a few good, solid questions to ask so that you will come off looking like you are really interested in the job.   

Remember to make good eye contact and smile from time to time.  Do not be afraid to show a little humor and remember, you are there to sell yourself.  You are there because you are offering your services as a potential police offficer to the City of Los Angeles.  It is your job to "sell yourself" and make them want to hire you.  There are thousands and thousands of people that want the very job you are after.  You need to make yourself better than them in the eyes of the interviewers.   

Good luck.....

by the way, I am a Los Angeles Police Officer. 

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