CCW for Peace Officers

[Dannyr619]

I have a CCW packet on my desk for some bodyguard work that I had coming up. But just today I received a conditional letter of hire from the San Diego Police Dept.

So my question is what is needed to carry concealed in CA as a peace officer?

Should I even bother to apply for a CCW anymore?

[Quietpi]

Many/most Calif. LE agencies require off-duty officers to pack. No CCW required. Your badge & ID do the trick.

The fact that you don't already know that suggests that you haven't been through academy yet. They must think highly of you to hire you, then send you to the academy on their dime.

Take it from somebody who reads a lot of police reports: Spend a lot of time perfecting your report-writing skills. Far too many new officers seem to forget how to construct a sentence the moment they graduate from the academy.

[hygyliac]

Is the letter from SDPD referencing employment in LEO capacity? A little more information please.

[libertarian]

Quietpi is correct, if you're being hired for a sworn LEO position, your badge and ID are sufficient. If you're being hired in a non-sworn capacity, you'll very likely still need a CCW to carry off-duty.

[SierraNevadaCCW]

Congrats on your offer from SDPD. Once you are a peace officer, you will not need a civillian license to carry a firearm. Police officers carry firearms on and off duty. Most agencies require off duty carry.

If you plan on doing body guarding on the side...(I would NOT recommend it as a rookie on probation!!!)....you will need an "exposed" firearm permit from the bureau of investigative services BSIS.ca.gov because a "body guard" is really a "security guard" in plain clothes. Even Police officers need this permit for working security armed concealed or exposed....the permit is still required while working a private security job/assignment.

With the salary and all the hard work you will be doing in the academy and first year on probation, (if you make it)....you won't have time or inclination to pursue another career in unison.

I can tell you from personal experience....all your focus and concentration will need to be on your police job. That's 110% effort, motivation, focus, etc.
You're going to go from Joe Blow Citizen, to Sworn Peace Officer in a few months...it's a whole giant complicated world. You'll need to pay attention.

Good luck and keep your head high.

[hbliam]

A conditional letter of hire from a PD is an early part of the process. They have to give you one to perform a background, medical, and physc. exam. Once you are hired and pass the academy then you will have CCW rights in all 50 States.

Regarding being required to carry. I'm sure there are some agencies that do that but I wouldn't say most. None of the 20 or so that I am familiar with/have frriends working at require it.

[K-dog.v3]

Personally I would forgo the bodyguard work and focus on the PD job. My personal opinion... most bodyguard work will only jeopardize your chances.

Quietpi- What agencies require off-duty officers to pack? Must be a northern California thing...

[PHM]

Originally Posted by hbliam

A conditional letter of hire from a PD is an early part of the process. They have to give you one to perform a background, medical, and physc. exam. Once you are hired and pass the academy then you will have CCW rights in all 50 States.

Regarding being required to carry. I'm sure there are some agencies that do that but I wouldn't say most. None of the 20 or so that I am familiar with/have frriends working at require it.

Depends on the agency, many agencies have advised against CCW under HR 218 as many states have not adopted any formal guidelines to do so. I have never heard of an agency requiring an off duty leo to carry. In my opinion that would be ridiculous as it is not always feasible to do so.

[hbliam]

Originally Posted by PHM

Depends on the agency, many agencies have advised against CCW under HR 218 as many states have not adopted any formal guidelines to do so. I have never heard of an agency requiring an off duty leo to carry. In my opinion that would be ridiculous as it is not always feasible to do so.

There are no guidelines to adopt. HR 218 grants the right and there isn't anything a State can do to change it. I haven't heard of any agency with HR 218 "issues". CCWI?

[Hoser]

Originally Posted by Dannyr619

I have a CCW packet on my desk for some bodyguard work that I had coming up. But just today I received a conditional letter of hire from the San Diego Police Dept.

So my question is what is needed to carry concealed in CA as a peace officer?

Should I even bother to apply for a CCW anymore?

First of all, congrats!

As far as the simple question as to whether or not you should still apply for a CCW, I would say no. You've been offered a job that will allow you to carry off duty. Plus, one of the questions in the POST Personal History statement is if you have been ever denied a CCW. If you apply for the CCW and you are turned down, which is a likely possibility in SD county, you'll then need to put that on your Personal History Statement. It's just one more negative the PD will have to look into, plus it will make them wonder why you wanted to/needed to carry a gun if you're not a cop.

Just hang tight, get through the academy and you'll be good to go.

See the first question in Section 10 (page 24):

http://www.post.ca.gov/forms/2-251-phsPeaceOfficers.doc

.

[dbltap]

Originally Posted by Quietpi

Many/most Calif. LE agencies require off-duty officers to pack. No CCW required. Your badge & ID do the trick.

The fact that you don't already know that suggests that you haven't been through academy yet. They must think highly of you to hire you, then send you to the academy on their dime.

Take it from somebody who reads a lot of police reports: Spend a lot of time perfecting your report-writing skills. Far too many new officers seem to forget how to construct a sentence the moment they graduate from the academy.

How about California Correctional Officer, do they fall under HR-218 to conceal carry off-duty like regular Law Enforcment Officer or do they have to have a valid Current CCW?

[akulahawk]

Originally Posted by rvillador

How about California Correctional Officer, do they fall under HR-218 to conceal carry off-duty like regular Law Enforcment Officer or do they have to have a valid Current CCW?

If the Corrections Officer meets ALL of the requirements of the LEOSA, then under the LEOSA, that CO would be good to go. Big Caveat: Agency approval. The AG (Lockyer) published something similar to a FAQ that essentially says that if a peace officer has statutory authorization to carry, then that would suffice for agency OK...

My own personal guess is that if a CO has the ability to CCW under the PC, then they'd be OK under the LEOSA. Those CO's that can generally work for the CDCR.... AFAIK.

If a CO carried under the LEOSA, expect little to no support from the agency... and possibly disciplinary action from the agency.

I've yet to hear of any LEOSA specific case law that establishes a firm standard in the area of whether or not the LEOSA overrides agency policy.

[Quietpi]

Re: agency requirements -- I admit I haven't kept up with current agency practices. Also, the "requirement" was, I know, often more honored in the breech. Many an LE - type over the years has told me, "...I know I'm supposed to be armed at all times, but..." Also, there have always been restrictions, such as not carrying when imbibing, etc.

I retrospect, I think I over-emphasized my emphasis.

[PHM]

Originally Posted by hbliam

There are no guidelines to adopt. HR 218 grants the right and there isn't anything a State can do to change it. I haven't heard of any agency with HR 218 "issues". CCWI?

I'm talking about dept. policy, not whether it's legal or not. Legal Yes, against dept. policy; depends on the agency. I know have personally talked to officers that have told me their agency advises against it and they will not back them in an off duty incident out of state and it may cost them their job.

[PHM]

Just to add an additional note, this may have changed since the law has now been around for 4 years, so these departments may have since changed their policies.