Expert: Jim Pastore - 4/16/2009

Question
I about to be 23 years old i want to be a police officer but i got in trouble  only one time when i was 18 years old and i was 20 when i was convicted of it and spend 4months in jail with no probation when i got out. and was charge for acessre to bodily harm because i was at the wrong place wrong time since it was my first time geting in to trouble they gave me a class a misdemeanor but the commuity knows me as a real good person. i just got done with a protection safety & investgation trade at job corps it took me a year to finish i was a captin in the trade. is there any chance of me to be able to go in to any kind of law enforcement.

Answer
Rafael,

    In most if not all Departments a felony conviction automatically will disqualify someone from ever being a law enforcement officer. Usually a misdemeanor will not. However a misdemeanor involving violence can, it depends on the circumstances behind the incident. All Departments will take into consideration the offender age at the time of the incident along with their prior and future record, including school, work ect. Without knowing and seeing the reports and details all I can advise is that you apply and see what happens. I wouldn't give up until I tried to apply and get hired. I hope this helped somewhat.

Jim