MP to Civilian Law Enforcement; what do civilian departments think of hiring MPs?

Your MP credentials won't mean anything, at least that's what I'm discovering. You'll have to attend a police academy. Everything I've checked says that. It's like you've never been Police before; I'm in California. Not sure where you're headed, but definitely look into that aspect. You'll want to try to sign up for an academy spot prior to your ETS. Some agencies will pay for you to attend, and some will not, or you'll even have to pay to attend the academy. Best of luck!

Interestingly I got out in 1971 and only on the west coast were MP's shunned. Seems the West Coast had their own way of doing things and did not like being told by a 23 year old MP that their actions were unconstitutional. Well many Supreme Court decisions and retraining of the non prior MP's straightened that up...took about 20 years. By the late 90 MP's were in demand due to how violent crime had become and MP's had experience dealing with armed violent criminals and gangs. If your back ground and schooling are up to speed you will have no problem becoming a civilian in law enforcement. But if your file stinks you will not get hired. Good MP who are recognized as such inside are easy hire outside. My family goes back to 1932 in LE and its been the family business a long time.

When I applied at several departments I was told that they didn't count being an MP as experience. I eventually did get a job but it took a while.

The department I used to work for actually bumped me to the top of their hiring list because of my military LE training. Now, I came in before MO started recognizing military LE school as equivalent to POST training, so I had to go through civilian academy, but it was cake comparatively.

They viewed my prior experience as a bonus to the dept & to other officers. I made FTO in a year at my new dept based on prior experience.

A lot of it, I guess, has to do with the political environment the department is dealing with, unfortunately.

I had no problem. Granted that was in 1989 lol. That said, with recruitment as it is for law enforcement agencies….. they would be happy for applicants and over the moon for qualified applicants. I retired as part of the administration of a 150 person department. Former active military is generally always a plus.
Just remember that you still have to interview and test. Be confident and not cocky, admit your shortcomings and if your opinion is asked…. Give your opinion and not what you think they want to hear. If you believe what your saying you can defend it better.

Military service gets 10 points "veteran preference" so are usually hired

I would choose a federal agency, pay your 7% of the pay you received in the military so you can count your military time towards your federal civilian retirement. Feds have a far superior retirement than any civilian agency. When I first got out of the Army an officer with a suburban agency outside of Chicago told me the Chief would not hire Vietnam Vets cause he was afraid we would go up on a roof with an M-16 and go off! I was later hired into a federal agency and due to life situations went to work for a couple of County Sheriffs after that. I used my federal experience to over shadow my MP days. Then I got wise and went back into the federal side of thing and am now retired w/full benefits into retirement at the same rate I was paying when I was with DHS.

SPC (Join to see), Who cares what people think. Apply to an agency and find out. Honestly, I have had a few motorists on a traffic stops who thought MPs were not real LE and I schooled them up and down and issued them citations.