Meta: Diego Hargreeves and the Police Academy
I've ben threatening to write this meta for a while and here goes. The fact that Diego got kicked out of the Police Academy tells us some interesting things about his back story, not only because of what it says about his issues with authority, but also the hoops he had to go through to get in in the first place. Now, doing the research so you don’t have to, let me tell you just it takes to attend a police academy.
First, I’d like to clear up any confusion about what exactly the police academy is. I’ve seen several fic which treat it like college. It’s not. It is training for people who have already been hired to work for a particular police department. Attendees are being paid to be there so they can learn about police procedures, tactics, equipment, etc. A course of study for new recruits usually last 28 weeks followed by an in-field training period. By getting kicked out of police academy, Diego was not expelled from school. He was fired from a job. It would like being sacked from McDonalds while you’re still learning to flip burgers.
In order to even apply to become a police officer, Diego would have had to meet certain base-line qualifications. In Toronto, where the show is filmed, police recruits must be at least 18 years of age, have a high school diploma or equivalent, good vision, and no criminal record. This is fairly typical of most mid-sized cities in both the United States and Canada. Some stipulate that candidates have no points on their driver’s license or felony convictions or, in Atlanta, no history of acts which indicate a disrespect for the law. In New York City, where the comic is set, candidates have to be at least 21 years old and have either 60 credit hours of college or 2 years of military service with honorable discharge. Chicago, Washington D.C., and Tampa have similar requirements.
Personally, for my money, I like going for the New York qualifications in fic as it leaves you with so many more options to play with. Diego left home at age 17. What was he doing before he was old enough to apply? Did he go to college? What did he study? Criminal justice? Psychology? Basket weaving? Fun fact, the most successful detectives have degrees in Art History because it teaches them how to read a room. Picture art historian Diego. You could even try to picture him in the military, but I have a hard time seeing him lasting long enough get that honorable discharge given his issues with authority. Could make for a fun story though.
Once Diego met the baseline age and education qualifications, he would have to sit for and pass a written civil service exam. In New York, the test consists of three sections: cognitive questions testing memorization, reading comprehension, and writing skills; a work style questionnaire; and a life experience survey. Only those with the highest scores on the test would be considered for employment. After passing the civil service exam and being contacted by by the police department, Diego would have to take a comprehensive medical exam, a written and oral psychological exam, a physical fitness and agility test, a drug and alcohol test, and a background check.
About that background check, when my sister was applying to become a cop, the department called and interviewed every single member of our family and most of her known associates. They asked about her personality, if we knew about any crimes she’d committed for which she had never been charged, and how we felt about the idea of her becoming a police officer. Reginald was almost certainly interviewed when Diego applied to be a cop. Luther was probably interviewed, ditto Allison, Klaus, and possibly even Vanya. Just take a moment to think about that. If Vanya’s book in which she said some pretty unflattering things about him had already come out by then, it may have hurt his application process or maybe even have gotten him booted from the academy. As a side note, I’ve seen several fic where Diego applies to the academy under an assumed name. Not only would that be illegal as hell, it would also become blindingly obvious during the background check process.
I’ve also seen a couple of fic where, post apocalypse, Diego goes back and re-applies for the police academy to become a cop, or in one story, an FBI agent, and to that, I laugh hysterically. Diego has been arrested multiple times for interfering with police investigations. He’s been in lock up so many times, most of the people at the department know him by name. He’s been arrested and held on suspicion of murdering a cop and escaping from jail really didn’t help his case. It’s unclear wether he’s ever been formally charged, let alone prosecuted and convicted, of any of his vigilante bullshit, but there is no way in hell, baring time travel, that that or any other police department would ever consider hiring him again.
References:
https://www.how-to-become-a-police-officer.com/states/new-york/
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/careers/police-officers/po-hiring.page
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/careers/po-test-prep-tutorial.pdf
First, I’d like to clear up any confusion about what exactly the police academy is. I’ve seen several fic which treat it like college. It’s not. It is training for people who have already been hired to work for a particular police department. Attendees are being paid to be there so they can learn about police procedures, tactics, equipment, etc. A course of study for new recruits usually last 28 weeks followed by an in-field training period. By getting kicked out of police academy, Diego was not expelled from school. He was fired from a job. It would like being sacked from McDonalds while you’re still learning to flip burgers.
In order to even apply to become a police officer, Diego would have had to meet certain base-line qualifications. In Toronto, where the show is filmed, police recruits must be at least 18 years of age, have a high school diploma or equivalent, good vision, and no criminal record. This is fairly typical of most mid-sized cities in both the United States and Canada. Some stipulate that candidates have no points on their driver’s license or felony convictions or, in Atlanta, no history of acts which indicate a disrespect for the law. In New York City, where the comic is set, candidates have to be at least 21 years old and have either 60 credit hours of college or 2 years of military service with honorable discharge. Chicago, Washington D.C., and Tampa have similar requirements.
Personally, for my money, I like going for the New York qualifications in fic as it leaves you with so many more options to play with. Diego left home at age 17. What was he doing before he was old enough to apply? Did he go to college? What did he study? Criminal justice? Psychology? Basket weaving? Fun fact, the most successful detectives have degrees in Art History because it teaches them how to read a room. Picture art historian Diego. You could even try to picture him in the military, but I have a hard time seeing him lasting long enough get that honorable discharge given his issues with authority. Could make for a fun story though.
Once Diego met the baseline age and education qualifications, he would have to sit for and pass a written civil service exam. In New York, the test consists of three sections: cognitive questions testing memorization, reading comprehension, and writing skills; a work style questionnaire; and a life experience survey. Only those with the highest scores on the test would be considered for employment. After passing the civil service exam and being contacted by by the police department, Diego would have to take a comprehensive medical exam, a written and oral psychological exam, a physical fitness and agility test, a drug and alcohol test, and a background check.
About that background check, when my sister was applying to become a cop, the department called and interviewed every single member of our family and most of her known associates. They asked about her personality, if we knew about any crimes she’d committed for which she had never been charged, and how we felt about the idea of her becoming a police officer. Reginald was almost certainly interviewed when Diego applied to be a cop. Luther was probably interviewed, ditto Allison, Klaus, and possibly even Vanya. Just take a moment to think about that. If Vanya’s book in which she said some pretty unflattering things about him had already come out by then, it may have hurt his application process or maybe even have gotten him booted from the academy. As a side note, I’ve seen several fic where Diego applies to the academy under an assumed name. Not only would that be illegal as hell, it would also become blindingly obvious during the background check process.
I’ve also seen a couple of fic where, post apocalypse, Diego goes back and re-applies for the police academy to become a cop, or in one story, an FBI agent, and to that, I laugh hysterically. Diego has been arrested multiple times for interfering with police investigations. He’s been in lock up so many times, most of the people at the department know him by name. He’s been arrested and held on suspicion of murdering a cop and escaping from jail really didn’t help his case. It’s unclear wether he’s ever been formally charged, let alone prosecuted and convicted, of any of his vigilante bullshit, but there is no way in hell, baring time travel, that that or any other police department would ever consider hiring him again.
References:
https://www.how-to-become-a-police-officer.com/states/new-york/
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/careers/police-officers/po-hiring.page
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/careers/po-test-prep-tutorial.pdf