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Careers: Police/general civil service question

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Expert: Eric Potts - 7/10/2008


Question
"I am looking at signing on with teh border patrol but I have a couple questions. I served in teh US navy back in 96 to 98 and was discharged section 8 with a personality disorder. it was an honorable discharge. I have never recieved medical treament nor am i on disability. IT was just a stupid thing when i was just a kid in the service and wanted out at the time. What are my chances of getting a top secret security clearence again and joining the civil service ?"

Answer
I would not be able to tell you how this would effect your Top Secret Clearance status as that is beyond my area of knowledge, however, your 'Section 8" will certainly come up in any background check and subsequent interview you go to. You will need to be prepared to explain the reasons for it, and the steps that you have taken to correct the situation.

Good Luck

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Eric Potts

Expertise

I am a Veteran of The United States Army where I served as a Military Police Officer for 6 years and have been a Municipal Police Officer for 20 years. I am a certified Arson Investigator, as well as a certified Community Police Officer. I am a DARE teacher in the local schools. I am a Defensive Driving Instructor and worked for years as a Detective specializing in White Collar Crime. I'm qualified to answer general law enforcement questions, general procedure questions (all departments have different rules and regulations. I can answer questions about how to become a law enforcement officer, and questions that might help someone understand why an officer acted a certain way. I am also a Police Suicide Awareness trainer and a member of the NJ Critical Incident Response Team. PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME ANY QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO SWAT-I AM NOT QUALIFIED TO ANSWER THEM AND WILL REJECT THOSE QUESTIONS.

Experience

I have 27 years total Law Enforcement experience in a wide range of areas. I have worked as a Detective and a Patrolman and have made well over 2,000 arrests in my career.

Education/Credentials
Graduated from the United States Army Military Police School Basic Law Enforcement Training Arson Investigators School DARE Officer Training Interview and Interrogation School Police Suicide and Awareness Trainer

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