Expert: Jack Toomey - 1/27/2009

Question
I have wanted to get into Law Enforcement for a long time now.  I was able to make it all the way through a local big departments hiring process, however I was disqualified due to my background check after being in the running for 6 months.  At the time I had enough things that the department thought I was not fit for employment.  Since then I have never gained back my confidence when it comes to applying to departments.  This was about 2 years ago.  

I currently have a 2 year associates with state certifiability for law enforcement (I graduated after I was rejected by a local department).  I have approximately 8 months to get hired before my certifiabilty lapses, which means I have to take classes over again (which is not going to be cheap or easy).  The past year I haven’t done much as far as applying to departments because I have tried so hard to have a absolutely perfect record.  Something would always pop up (such as a new parking ticket) and I felt I was always back at square one.   

I have held a license for about 8 years now and this is what I have on my record:

Speeding ticket 21 over in a 65, over 5 years ago (I was 19)

Speeding ticket 2.5 years ago 14 over, I pled guilty and the judge reduced it to a defective speedometer.  

I have 4 tickets for driving with expired plates.  3 of them were within a short order (I couldn't get my registration taken care of), the newest one is over 2 years ago.  I could have had two of them dismissed because I got my registration taken care of in the timeframe given.  Instead I chose to pay the fine.

1 Ticket for an expired license.  I didn't realize my license was expired.  I took care of this right away (it was dismissed at court).  

The local department seemed to care about my parking tickets as well, as I had around 30 of them over a 3 year period.

Since the failed background check at the local department I have really taken care of things to the best of my ability.  I have received a total of 4 parking tickets in the past 2 years.  I have no additional tickets of any type since the last one I had 2.5 years ago.  I have done everything I could to pay bills on time, and pay off any debt I had (I have never really had any debt other then medical/student loans).  I currently have a 2K student loan that I am paying off (its on time never late) and just my rent/utilities.  I have no other debt, I have never had credit card debt.  I have never used drugs of any kind.  My work history is overall very good.  I have never been arrested, involved in criminal activities, etc.  

I realize my record is far from perfect.  If I could go back in time and change everything I would.  However that’s not possible, and since my failed background check I have done everything I could to make sure I am in better standing.  I realize I have to face my fear of rejection soon since I am running out of time.  I am getting to the point that I really need to know if I am just going to have to wait 2 to 3 years so that my record is clearer (Aka 3 more years of a clean record to go with my current 2) to stand a chance of getting hired.  

I feel I can offer any police department a lot. I am a hardworking person with a genuine desire to work with people.  I have around 60 hours of community service.  I have a skills list that would take pages to fill.  I have been trusted with delivery vehicles in a recent job (they had no problem with my background for hiring/insurance purposes), and I have security experience.  I currently do remodeling work in people’s houses, and I have a large list of people that trust me to work in their home by myself.  I have so many positive things that I really feel my driving history is going to ultimately let me down.  

I appreciate any insight/advice that can be given.  I absolutely want to go into law enforcement, I just need to really know if I stand a chance currently.  

Answer
Greg,

The problem is going to be when you apply for another department.  You will be asked if you had ever been rejected for a job in law enforcement and you will have to answer truthfully.  If you don't you will be tripped up on the polygraph and you will never work in law enforcement.

You seem to trivialize the parking tickets.  Thirty parking tickets in three years?  I have never received a parking ticket in my life.  Do you realize that is a huge red flag that tells a prospective employer that you have no respect for law and shows a trait of irresponsibility.

You have several tickets for driving with expired license plates or a suspended license.  That also would be an automatic disqualifer on my department.  It does not matter if they came in short order or not.  What it means is that you should have parked the car and dealt with the situation.

I have no idea whether you will get hired.  There are over a thousand police departments in this country and each has its own hiring standards.  But remember this.  A police officer has much higher expectations than a truck driver or a clerk at Walmart.  That is why the hiring standards are much higher.

Good luck to you but these things are pretty serious and I know that you would never get past the applicaton phase on my department.