Knowing the Point of Contact Before Applying
Nothing could be worse than to go to all of the trouble of preparing a proper resume, verifying all of the dates and locations, and crafting an articulate cover letter only to send the entire package to the wrong person. Always keep in mind that the career field being applied to is law enforcement, and there are certain character traits common to all agents in the industry. One such ability involves deductive reasoning. Another is the ability to research basic information pertinent to the situation at hand. Knowing who specifically to address an application to takes into account both of these desired characteristics. If the applicant doesn't know who the specific hiring authority is, he needs to take it upon himself to find out. Many times this information is included in a job listing, but agencies that have an open and rolling application process often don't have to advertise when an opening occurs. For these agencies, the applicant needs to find out who the hiring authority is in advance.
In most cases it is possible to address the application to the head of the agency, but not in every situation. Larger agencies maintain personnel departments that deal exclusively with candidates until the final stages of the hiring process. In these cases, an application addressed to the chief or director would be tossed in the wastebasket, and rightly so. A simple telephone call to the agency (provided it is not prohibited in the job solicitation) can answer the question as to who is the hiring authority.
Once the appropriate individual, internal department, or office is established, all correspondence should be sent to that authority until you are instructed otherwise. Many departments have a specific office that acts as a clearinghouse for both incoming and outgoing matters.
Alert
Remember that law enforcement agencies and their members are not quick to forget someone who demands a lot of attention prior to an initial interview. Keep your contacts limited to only those necessary, obtain all of the information you can at the initial contact, and try to limit your contact to that single inquiry.
A number of phone calls to the chief's office, or regular disruptions of the communications center in order to glean a little more information that a candidate feels might be helpful, are sure ways to not get hired. Law enforcement agents need to be both resourceful and able to stand on their own two feet. Applicants who require more than the basic information that all applicants get in order to apply for the job are understood to need more handling if they're hired, so the likelihood of getting hired becomes smaller with each pre-application contact.
