Experience Required?

[ItalianFX]

I'm not too concerned with the job market since I have a job lined up after I graduate from college, but I have been looking around at some ideas I've had and everywhere I look they always say that you need experience, 1 to 2 years, 3-5 years, blah blah blah. It seems even entry positions are like this. I have no internship experience in any field, I don't have any experience in any financial/economics field, and so I'm basically useless.

What's the deal and how can I do anything?

For anyone who doesn't know me, I am 24, police officer, military veteran, and will have an Economics degree in mid-December. I'm #1 on the list for the next full-time position in my department and will make around the $32k range. The problem is that I could get a job in the Economics field somewhere and make around $50k.

A guy in my Human Resources class did a presentation on the value of a bachelor's degree and the figures actually come out to be that a bachelor's degree is about $27k of more value to a high school diploma. My problem is that police work rarely requires a college education and so I am basically working below my potential. I am starting to feel like I am leaving a lot on the table if I don't use my economics degree in some way.

So how do I get around the "Experience Required" to be competitive?

I hope I made that clear.

Thanks.