Expert: Chris Wagoner - 5/20/2008

Question
hi,I have been wanting to become a police officer since I was about 5 and would like to go for the job. But when I was younger I made some immature and bad mistakes. I went down the wrong road for a short time in my adolescence. I had experimented with marijuana a few times, and when I was 16 I was with a wrong crowd which committed  a break-in and i was charged with a felony for my presence at the seen.I do not condone what I had done. I am not saying I was wrongfully accused.Just stating the facts as best as I can. It was a deferred charge and is now expunged because of the circumstances.My voting rights and all that have been fully restored. It was my only charge which is still the only charge I have ever had and that I did not have a direct hand in the base of the crime. I was charged with a felony but was underage and I believe that it does not make me a felon.I dont know for sure though. maybe you could say whether or not I am correct... which that would of course be grounds for disqualification.(if the law still sees me as a felon) I have learned alot for my wrong decisions and have been on the right road for a good amount of time now. I want to go to college and obtain a criminaljustice degree before I would become a police officer. But I do not wish to waste my time doing so, if I would be disqualified for having a some-what shady past.Any other information that may also help-such as things I may need to do in order to become an officer of the law. I would greatly appreciate any information you could send my way. thank you for your time, Andrew.

Answer
Hi Andrew,

Sorry it took so long to get back to you but I wanted to check with a few people about your question before I gave you an answer.

OK here is what I know and what they said. If your record is expunged as you said, and your record is now "clean" it is just that, clean. You can not be disqualified for something that has been expunged. You were never truly charged with a felony if it was deferred as you say, so you can clearly say your background was clean except for an incident where you were involved with the police and had early intervention that resulted in no charges and an expunged record.

Here is what Florida law says: not have been convicted of any felony or of a misdemeanor involving perjury or false statement.
Any person who, after July 1, 1981, pleads guilty or nolo contendere to, or is found guilty of a felony, or of a misdemeanor involving perjury or a false statement, shall not be eligible for employment or appointment as an officer, not-withstanding suspension of sentence or withholding of adjudication.

So even if you were charged back then you would still qualify.

NOW onto the chances of you being hired. I am not sure. I would give you a 50/50 chance of being hired somewhere with your background. There are some agencies and departments that would hire you, but some will not even look at you. Your best bet is to contact the Human Resources Department of the agencies you are thinking of applying to and explain your background to them and ask them point blank do you have any chance of being hired. Most will be honest with you. If they tell you to go ahead and put an application in, then you at least have a chance. It may take a while, but I think you could do it if you tried hard enough and found the right department. People make mistakes. We all do, and some agencies realize that and are willing to give those big enough to admit them a chance to redeem themselves.

Hope that helps. I wanted to talk to a couple of people before I answered you wrong.

Be Safe!!

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