What is the best kind of cover letter for Law Enforcement jobs?

Steve I want to be honest with over the last 10+ years as a recruiter I have yet to look at a cover letter. Me personally I want the meat and potatoes to see what you have done and if you have enough experience to do my job. I will give you a perfect example true example of a job that I am recruiting for now. I have a 90 day timeline to have the person in seat from the day I post the job.

So i post for 2 weeks......I have about 700 applicants that have applied. I have to dwindle that down to about 200 to test of which I am doing tomorrow and Tuesday. So I have built questions into the posting so I can easily identify who has experience. You have to have a fair and equitable way of selecting the 200 to test in the event that you are audited.

Now once I receive the results of the people that passed I may have to view 150 or so that is probably who will pass and already have taken and passed. I am hiring around 7 positions. Because I am the expert and know what the Hiring manager want I am trying to make a short list of about 50 people to send to him so that we can schedule face to face interviews. I need to do all of that in a week or so I do not have time to look at cover letters personally it would be nice but I have a client I need to deliver so the new hires can start generating revenue......

So I would say focus more of you effort on the resume vs cover letter maybe 80%/20% because you will pull your hair out trying to zero a cover letter to qualify for an interview. Just my two cents based on real life experience.

Dylan

I've worked in LE for almost 20 years and have never seen a cover letter as a requirement for a job.

I am a 8-year military veteran and 12 year police veteran, currently as a patrol sergeant. I have sat on several hiring boards for our department, in different roles. My advice is this: the most important thing, use proper grammar and spell-check everything. I would suggest being professional, as a big part of police work is your ability to write clear, concise, professional police reports. If your cover letter is goofy and unprofessional, what will that say about you and your work ethic. Fair or not, the cover letter IS your first impression. What do you want it to say about you?