Why do recruiters tell you Civilian departments won't hire military police?

Well, he is somewhat right but, also wrong.
It does matter if you are a 11B, 13F, or 31B
I have researched numerous departments. Majority will hire a former Betersn because of the discipline and able to teach them some new because a veteran learns quicker and able to absorb and comprehend faster and better. Yes veterans have bad habits but, they know how to work as a team. Plus, any law enforcement agency when they hire, they will send you to an academy or school. Once you graduate you have a year probation with a Field Training Officer (FTO).
The only reason he made that statement to you is because there is an overage of Military Police and just before I retired last year as a Senior Military Policeman. I dome to a instructor who was a E-7 at the NG/Reserve Training Brigade told me that the Guard/Reserve was trying to phase of the MP's and just have Cage Shakers and Kickers.
And most important thing is:
Recruiters lie‼️
Most likely he needed recruits in another MOS more than any other. So, he was trying to recruit for those MOS.
If you have your heart on being in a law enforcement field, "GO FOR IT"‼️

1. Recruiters are notorious for inventing reasons to steer you towards a particular MOS that they are trying to fill. Go back on another day to a different recruiter and you'll probably get that MP entry you want. 2. There are indeed some civilian police departments that don't want to hire from the guard, but that usually has to do with employer discriminating against military. If you think this is not true, you have to realize there is a huge reason there are laws in place like USERRA trying to prevent such discrimination. I wouldn't let it stop you from pursuing a military police MOS or/and civilian law enforcement.

I don't think that's necessarily the case. I will mirror what SPC Jennings said and add that my former unit was LADEN with police officers. We deployed to Iraq in 2005 as MPs, and some took steps to keep their "new" second MOS (we were an artillery unit) after we got home. Around the time I left, just in my battalion we had 5 state troopers, 8 County Sheriff deputies, 2 Corrections Officers, 6 City officers, a US Marshal, and our former commander resigned so he could take a job as a Special Agent with the FBI. I don't really think we could have that happen with this bias in place. I think Jennings is correct in that it's more of a personal thing, meaning that the issue comes from the person not being prepared in some way, more so than a stigma or bias.

It is a myth for the most part. I was told the same thing even by police officers.
The basis being departments don't want to have to retrain you and break you of bad habits. Rules are different for some things on the civilian side. Things like needing a warant to search a vehicle or home in the civilian world.
But the truth is especially in the bigger cities they are more than happy to have a MP. Join the ranks, and the differences really are not that great and definitely not very hard to retrain.

Cody, not sure why a civilian department would not hire a veteran. Was my experience though that they did not care who I was. Being a vet did not matter. I was trying to get hired back in the days of affirmative action and it was tough. Also being a vet doesn't make you more qualified than anyone else. In fact you might be behind the 8 ball so to speak if you were military police. Civilian policing is way different. Also I had to put myself through an academy just to be more marketable. A lot of places won't put the time or money into you if someone is already qualified like an academy graduate or a lateral hire. This is not always the way it is, just my experience. A majority of it depends on budgets and job markets.

And anyone planning on joining as an MP/Reclass to take these responses as they are... I'd hate to see someone join with ambitions of becoming LEO and get turned down because they THOUGHT being an MP will help them