Expert: Jack Toomey - 12/4/2008

Question
My name is Chris I am 23 year old mechanic who is SERIOUSLY considering changing careers to try to become a police officer. I have been a mechanic since i was 19 and I like my line of work for the most part however I would really like to go to sleep every night knowing I have made a difference in peoples lives. I have several questions on my mind since this will be a serious change in pace for me.

First and formost the only thing that really really freightens me. My background.....the only criminal background is a few tickets i got years back one in may 2004 and jan 2006. I have excellent credit my score is 733 and I am very good with money. The only thing that scares me most is my mishap with the military. I know you are very fond of people that committed to people that have served our country and so am I. This is a long story so please hear me out.

in feb. 2004 i joined the army with best intentions on following through with my commitment I was 18 years old. My problem was that I had left for Basic Training was i had unresolved issues before i left i had some financial issues from some medical bills from a car wreck i was in and the motorists insurance company was not paying up so i had collection agencys threatening me for starters. I had some medical issues while i was in basic. while i was in my mother had serious surgery and it did not go well for her and she was unable to care for herself after it for a long time and my kid sister could not handle the responsibility. LOTS and LOTS of pressure was building up on me at 18 years old between training and my unresolved issues which all started to get noticed by other recruits and my NCOs. I got sent to a counselor and talked about it while i was in basic training and told him everything that was going on and he recommended me for "entry level seperation" from the army
under "chapter 11" which means "failure to adapt to military enviroment" that is not a dishonarable discharge and it is not an honorable discharge. it is classified as an "uncharacterized" discharge meaning since i was in less than 6 months that was not long enough to classify a discharge because i was still in initial training. will that come back to haunt me even with my extenuating circumstances in my background check? I am nervous because that is the only thing i have in my past i am nervous about it has been 5 years since then and my work history has been good and i have outstanding credit i am basicaly an upstanding citezen in my community. your imput would be most certainly appreciated. i have some other questions but i can wait until the main one has been answered. i apologize this letter was so long but that was an issue i wanted you to know ALL details as i would tell a background investigator. thank you for reading this



sincerely yours

chris


Answer
Chris,

  First of all you need to know that there are thousands of police departments in this country and every one of them have different hiring standards.  There are no two departments that operate the same.  What might be an automatic disualifier for one department might not be for another one.  So I cannot give you a definitive answer that would cover any particular department or a group of departments.

  I have a feeling that you are worrying yourself sick when you haven't even applied for a police department yet.  It would do you know good for me to tell you not to worry or for me to tell you the opposite.  I am not trying to dissuade you from applying for the position of police officer but only about 10% of those who apply get beyond the apptitude test.  It could be that you very suited to do this job or it could be that you are not.  You won't know until you apply and take the test.  At that time there will be a background investigation which you seem to know.  My advice would be to truthful.  It could be that this matter will never come up.  It also could be that it will come up and not be considered to be important.

  In the end the only thing that I can say with assurance is that your military situation certainly won't help you but it might not hurt you.