Acquitted St Louis cop a USMA grad ?!?

MidwestDad

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I was surprised to see this - Class of 2002 sounds like; served 5 years and then joins SLPD as a beat cop after being an Army officer ??? [rank of Captain upon leaving service.] Incident happened in 2011 BTW. Makes you wonder if something in his service record influenced that career choice. Also he was carrying his personal AK-47 pistol variant in the patrol car without authorization - didn't use it in this shooting but WTF ???

http://www.bnd.com/news/local/crime/article173477076.html

Stockley is a Belleville native, graduating from Althoff Catholic High School in 1998.. He later graduated from West Point and served in the U.S. Army in Iraq, earning a Bronze Star in combat. He joined the St. Louis Police Department in 2007.

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/news/local/crime/article173477076.html#storylink=cpy
 
His LinkedIn profile says USMA Bachelor of Sci in Philosophy and Nuclear Engineering????
He then is awarded a Bronze Star for combat, becomes an XO, and then he becomes a beat cop?

Curious.
 
I was surprised to see this - Class of 2002 sounds like; served 5 years and then joins SLPD as a beat cop after being an Army officer ??? [rank of Captain upon leaving service.] Incident happened in 2011 BTW. Makes you wonder if something in his service record influenced that career choice.

Contrary to what many believe, leaving the military as a Captain, even with the WP pedigree, does not always translate into that corner office. We hear and read a lot of success stories on this board of those that make a great transition from the military to civilian employment, but that isn't always the case. Law enforcement is a common transition for ex military, even officers. The current economic climate at the time they leave the service is always a factor. When you read about the high unemployment rate among vets it's not exclusively among the enlisted.

EDIT:

One struggle these O-3's have when they leave the service is finding a job that matches their current pay. When you figure in the BAH and BAS they receive tax free as well as the full medical, they need to find a job that pays a good deal higher then their current pay just to break even. Depending on where they live, that can sometimes be a struggle and if they have financial obligations such as a house or family, they need to find something that pays at least enough to make their obligations as well as good benefits. A job such as law enforcement can be an easy transition. Not sure about the pay for the St. Louis area but here in the Seattle area, law enforcement is paid well and even better if you have a degree, it's on par with an O-3 salary.

As far as WP being part of the resume opening doors, a lot will depend on the company and the geographical location. A good friend of our family's son, WP grad, left the Army about 6 months ago. When talking to him about his job search he told us that during his first two interviews, when they looked at his resume they said he listed West Point but then asked if he had gone to college as well. As good of a network they have, it doesn't reach every corner of the business world. As a disclaimer, we do live in the Pacific NW.

Just as a side note, Who in God's name would carry an AK-47 Pistol in their patrol car?
 
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I have tons of friends who entered police work after leaving service. They all started as beat cops and many progressed quickly through the ranks. It's actually a path I nearly went down. I had a former MGySgt who worked for me who became a beat cop after he retired at 42. Made Sgt in about 3 years. I also had many friends enter federal law enforcement or the Secret Service.
 
Sure, I get the cop part (not the AK-47). It is the Nuclear Engineering degree that struck me as aberrant.
 
It is the Nuclear Engineering degree that struck me as aberrant.

If you notice, his linkedin resume under education just says "BS in Philosophy and Nuclear Engineering. It would be interesting to actually see that diploma, I don't think I have seen many that have a dual degree in both of those, Sounds more like a BS degree where he took some Nuclear Engineering classes along with his Philosophy degree, he does list Philosophy first after all.

If I had a Nuclear Engineering degree, I wouldn't even bother listing Philosophy, if I did I certainly wouldn't lead with it.

I think carrying an AK-47 in your patrol car would have been, at the least, Philosophically wrong.
 
With his academic background I would expect to see interest in grad school with GI Bill assistance.

As for law enforcement career I would expect an Army Captain with combat experience to look at FBI etc. He had the perfect resume for that.
Makes more sense for enlisted transition but I just don't see why an experienced officer would want to be a street cop.

2007 was before the economic crisis; times were actually quite good still then.

And keeping the AK pistol in his car is a HUGE red flag.
 
when they looked at his resume they said he listed West Point but then asked if he had gone to college as well. As good of a network they have, it doesn't reach every corner of the business world. As a disclaimer, we do live in the Pacific NW.

Riiiigghhht - I get it on the Left Coast. But didn't he have his degree and major listed on his resume?
 
According to the articles, he did 5 years. Not eligible for GI Bill out of USMA with that time. He may have applied for the FBI... not a short process. He may have decided to do this while waiting it out, or he wanted to live in a specific area. The perfect FBI applicant is a forensic accountant who speaks Farsi, Arabic and Spanish. Officers with combat experience are actually pretty common applicants. Grad school... not everyone wants to go, nor is it all that amazing. Many combat vets don't want a desk job and see being a cop as a great way to continue to serve and push paper only some of the time. Most move on in the ranks very quickly from what I have seen of my classmates, fellow Marines and friends.
 
perfect FBI applicant is a forensic accountant who speaks Farsi, Arabic and Spanish.

Ain't that the truth.

I swear I can't count how many times I've read comments from future cadets asking what branch will give them the best shot at joining the FBI when they complete their service obligation. I agree with Hoops, the FBI application process is long when coming from a non law enforcement career. The acceptance rate is pretty low for those without certain skills. I recently took the FBI's Citizen Academy Program, (Great program if you get the opportunity). Had a chance to talk a lot with the Agent in Charge of the Seattle Office. I asked him about recruitment from the military and he said about the same as NavyHoops, he mentioned that of the three new agents he had that were from the military one spoke Russian, One was from AF Finance, and one was from Army Civil Affairs, all skill sets they were looking for. As far as Infantry officers, he said they were a dime a dozen when it came to applications, not knocking them he said, just that there were quite a few that applied but didn't have any further skill sets that made them stand out. They would take applicants that were currently employed in in various law enforcement jobs before an Infantry officer.

You need an extra 3 years beyond your initial service obligation, if you went to WP or were on a ROTC scholarship, to be eligible for the GI Bill that would pay enough toward grad school.
 
I have a classmate, who was a SEAL officer, and is now a police officer. Some people like keeping it more active.
 
I wonder if he was from that area. Some folks, not uncommon after serving far from home, develop or seemingly discover a very strong sense of loyalty or desire to serve their hometown area. Drives many to become a town/municipal police officer.

I also know, quite personally, people who served (not just retired, which is different) as military officers who have gotten out and cut grass for a living or worked for the local DNR or Parks and Recreation just running the local public shooting range. Some people it's very much just what makes them happy.
 
As a academy grad who has spent lots of time at Service Academy Career Conferences, I can tell you he has a degree in Philosophy. At the time he was at West Point all humanities majors were required to take an engineer track of 4 or 5 classes. He took the nuclear engineering track. I recruit looking for STEM majors and see this all the time on West Point resumes. We may be able to place in a plant shift supervisor job or a supply quality engineer, but I would not hire him as a nuclear engineer. Grads, especially non-STEM majors, find mostly entry level type jobs. The hope is that their quality will allow them to move quickly up the chain.
 
I wonder if he was from that area. Some folks, not uncommon after serving far from home, develop or seemingly discover a very strong sense of loyalty or desire to serve their hometown area. Drives many to become a town/municipal police officer.

I also know, quite personally, people who served (not just retired, which is different) as military officers who have gotten out and cut grass for a living or worked for the local DNR or Parks and Recreation just running the local public shooting range. Some people it's very much just what makes them happy.

I'm chuckling as I'm reading all of the comments above about the career path chosen by this WP grad and former officer. I think Full Metal Bulldog may be right in that some people are simply not driven to follow the path of high power/high paying civilian job with their WP pedigree. My WP old grad DH was a perfect example. When he left the Army he had a dream to become a {gasp} middle-school math teacher. He loved feeling like he was making a difference in his impressionable students' lives. He is now "retired" from teaching and I can attest that it didn't pay very much!
 
USCGA graduate and SEAL? Even Marines can not become SEALS. Seals are all NAVY. Change of service? Those out of USNA who take Marine track can not go BUDS and SEAL.
 
I stand corrected with a lot of humble pie. Still love those Coasties. When everyone is going in they are going out
 
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