You are here:
Careers: Police/depression
Advertisement
Question
Hello Mr. Potts,
Depression is considered a mental illness. If someone has depression that causes some disruptions in life without medication but, on meds, the person is completely stable and able to handle stress well, can he still become a police officer if he meets all other requirements?
It is not likely a Police Department will hire someone that is taking medication for depression, there is too much liability there. Certainly, Police Officers get depressed and have to go on medication, however, for a first time employee, a department would not want to take on that burden.
My suggestion would be to address the issues, get the depression under control through counseling and resolve the issue before attempting to get hired.
Related Articles
Answers by Expert:
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
©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.