Expert: Chris Wagoner - 11/19/2008

Question
I live in FL and recently  graduated from the academy and passed my state
exam. I am 32 years old and recently been divorced. Before I was divorced my
credit was excellent , since the divorce it is very bad. My driving record has
quite a few tickets on it, mostly seatbelt violations and the bulk of the tickets
were over ten years ago. I was told by one of my teachers i would never get
hired. I have never been in a accident , never had my license suspended, and
the worst thing I had was a speeding ticket not even fifteen over the limit. I
recently went on a ride along with a department and the guy I rode with
drove like a maniac all night. We were going to a lot of follow up calls during
the night, up to thirty miles per hour over the limit without lights and sirens.  
the ladies  bicycle was stolen I didnt think that was an emergency. I have
never done any drugs and I rarely drink. I have never been arrested. My
question is  Why can officers drive this way once they are hired? One guy in
my class had been arrested five times since 2000 , one was a misdemeanor
drug charge. One of our instructors walked into class and asked him where
his application was because they had been waiting on it. One week later he
was in uniform. He also had bad credit but he was black. Now before you
think i am racist I think he would make a great officer but that doesnt change
the fact that he had a lot of things going against him. And does a police
officer get fired if his credit goes bad while he is employed? Do they get fired
if they get a ticket or get into a accident while they are employed? I am a
good person with a past. I dont consider it a bad past just a past . I am
frustrated that the police departments wont give my application a second
glance. I made the deans list during class and have never been fired from a
job in my sixteen years of working. What can I do to help myself get hired?
Thank you

Answer
Hi Jim,

Sounds like your a little frustrated. I can understand. You have to be able to sell yourself to a department. You have to make them want you over someone else. The only way to do that is to present them with a person that is better in some way than the other applicants.

I do not know if you have any of these but education helps, a degree always is a plus. Military is a plus, and you generally get veterans preference points in a lot of places. Driving records are important because they are held liable for your driving. As for the officer that was driving like an idiot, I can guarantee you that he was breaking more than one departmental regulation and possible a couple of state laws. We are not allowed to drive like that, that officer was taking  it upon himself to drive like an idiot. Had he been observed by a supervisor that followed the rules, he would have been in some serious trouble.

You have a clean record for arrest, thats good, no drugs, alcohol, or other issues.

Credit is important, as police officers are tempted many times with large sums of money, and they must be financially sound to help preclude any wrongdoing. If you have good credit, and then your credit goes bad while you are on the job, no you don't get fired, but you may be made to work with a credit company to work your credit out.

Your background has a few things against it, but your not, in my opinion, unhirable. But it will take some time. Agencies like to have about 5 years of clean driving, good credit (not necessary to have great), and good references. Also you have to perform well on oral boards and look professional when you go.

If you go to www.officer.com and look in the forums, also here: http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94150 there are a few post about how to perform well in oral boards and about getting hired. You can even ask questions of other police officers there if you want.

Hope these things help.