Most law enforcement officers for agencies of any size at all are chosen by competitive civil service test results (as well as other tests) or by lateral transfers from other law enforcement agencies. That means that unless an applicant takes civil service tests exceptionally well, it is unlikely that they will get hired. In general, larger agencies pay better than small ones; however starting in a small agency can allow an officer to "get his foot in the door" and might offer the opportunity to move to a large agency. You might want to try taking some civil service tests. But lots of people want the jobs, and unless you take tests well, it is pretty tough to ever get hired.
It used to be that military veterans and college graduates got "preference points" added to their civil service test raw scores, but I don't know if that is still the way it is. Vets were given 10% added to their scores and if I remember correctly 4 year college graduates got 5% added. So if an applicant who was a college graduate and a veteran, and their civil service test result was 90%, then their final civil service test result would be 105%. In that situation, even if your civil service test score was a perfect 100%, that score might not be at the top of the civil service list.
I do not think that 27 is too old to get started in law enforcement, in fact a few more years of maturity really helped, as compared to the 21 year old minimum aged rookies. Some agencies might require excellent vision, but most of the standards I read just required correction to about 20-20. Good night vision is important and good color vision would probably be required.
Police work is often stressful and some people handle the stress better than others. It can be hours and hours of boring sitting and waiting for something to happen, yet the next moment might require an instant life and death decision and action. Many of the cops I know have had marriages fail, at least partly from job stress. I have also known several officers or retirees who killed themselves.
Is it worth it? No one can answer that for you. Some law enforcement jobs are very interesting and rewarding. It makes a person feel good to be able to help someone through problems, and to feel that you have done a good job. There are other law enforcement jobs that are really lousy. There are always politics involved. And people can get mad at you, if they don't like the way you did something. Law enforcement work is also probably LOTS MORE DANGEROUS than it was 35 years ago when I started. Becoming a law enforcement officer would probably cause you to lose some of the friends you had before joining up, since the old friends might worry about your arresting them for one thing or another, like if they smoke a little pot. Most law enforcement jobs I have known about have paid fairly well, were extremely steady work, and the paychecks ALWAYS were good and on time.
It is my opinion that law enforcement officers are not thought of as highly these days as they were some years ago, and also that they are not treated with nearly as much respect as they used to be. What is seen on TV and the movies has little in common with what really happens.
While I have seen fairly small people become successful law enforcement officers, I believe that it is a great advantage to be larger and perhaps a bit imposing looking. Officers need to be pretty fit, but you probably are fine if you work construction. It is very important to be able to get along with people well, and to be able to talk to anyone.
It is probably better to live outside of your jurisdiction, if that is allowed by your agency. It is not fun to have to arrest your neighbors or to be involved in local problems. To be able to live fairly anonymously is a good thing.
As far as scheduling goes, you do what the brass tells you to do, and especially in the early parts of a career, you get pretty crappy assignments. Years ago, officers were on salary and were considered on duty and subject to call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But then that was challenged, and now I think that at least larger agencies are required to have regular schedules and to pay overtime for any time over 40 hours a week. In most places at least some law enforcement protection exists 24 hours a day, so you probably should plan on working graveyard and swing shifts.
Other things to consider: most agencies require a good driving record, a good criminal record with no felony convictions, the probability that you would be required to take a polygraph examination in which they would ask you every question you would ever think might embarrass you and many that you would never have even thought of (!!!), obviously drug tests, and probably psychological testing.
But the biggest trick to getting hired is to come out very high on the civil service list. If you can't do that, you probably don't have to worry about anything else, since you would never get hired. I have known a bunch of guys that wanted to be cops, and who I encouraged to test because I thought they would be good cops, but since they didn't score high enough on the lists, they never got hired. Just passing the civil service test isn't enough--you have to be at or near the absolute top.
To end this fairly long post, I would say that I am glad that none of my children ever showed any interest in being law enforcement officers. But good luck to you--take some tests!
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Today's Featured Article - Show Coverage: Journey to Ankeny - by Cindy Ladage. We left Illinois on the first day of July and headed north and west for Ankeny, Iowa. Minus two kids, we traveled light with only the youngest in tow. As long as a pool was at the end of our destination she was easy to please unlike the other two who have a multitude of requirements to travel with mom and dad. Amana Colonies served as a respite where we ate a family style lunch that sustained us with more food than could reasonably fit into our ample physiques. The show at Ankeny
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