I am currently furloughed and in the process of applying to many different police departments. I have been doing this since November. A few problems I ran into:

1) Most departments are only establishing elgibility lists, which are valid for 2 years. (Varies department to department)

2) If there are vacancies, its for 1, possibly 2, and maybe if your lucky, at the most 3 Police Officers. At the most recent orientations I've seen anywhere from 300 people to 650. I'd say 20% are prior military and you'll always find 10 to 15 already state certified cops.

3) It is a long, drawn out process. The earliest you will hear anything back from the department will be in 3 months.I have to add, however, its funny watching all the trailor trash with tatoo's on the side of there head and 250 lb men trying to run 1.5 miles under 14 minutes, let alone bench there body weight.

I'm currently on one seniority list and in a pool at another airline. It's a matter of what comes first. If I get recalled before I get on the police force I'll stick to flying. If I get a police job I'll be more than happy to go do that and stick to general aviation.

At one of these police orientations (where there were 350 people) I recognized another pilot from the line doing the same exact thing.

Just a note to any furloughed brothers looking for a government job, the FBI went on a huge hiring spree 2 Monday's ago. There looking to hire 3100 agents, in all different areas.