Expert: Jack Toomey - 10/18/2010

Question
Jack-
I was in the military from the years of '05 to '06 and after I got out of training I went to my assigned reserve unit. After attending drills for a few months. I stopped going because of marital and financial issues. You see, I got married and joined the army right out of high school, probably two of the worst things I ever did right out of high school. To make a long story short, I eventually had my discharge papers mailed to me a little over a year ago.
Things were tough for me during that time and I regret those actions I did. I am ashamed of myself..

The consequences of my marriage landed me a divorce and thankfully we had no children. The consequence of my military experience landed me a general discharge.

Since 2006 I have turned my life around. After working for almost 4 years I decided to take a turn and go to school for criminal justice. I have really enjoyed myself and all the classes I have gone through. I just recently got remarried and everything is looking bright once again. I know I have talked your ear off so let me get to my point.

When applying for a job with a police department, how bad will that discharge make me look?
I will also be attending a police academy through my college and they say that of the graduating class, close to 90% get placed in a police department. If I do well in the academy, even with my discharge, do you think they could still turn me away? Or can the academy turn me away because of it?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time and patience.
Eric

Answer
Eric,

I have no way of knowing what any particular police department is going to do and how they are going to weigh your general discharge vs your later life.

I can say this.  Your general discharge will surely not help you. But then again it might not hurt you.

I do have to add this.  I am very leery of these private academies that are in certain parts of the country.  Thank goodness we do not have any in my state.  The reason that I say this is because they will gladly take your tuition money but offer you no guarantee of employment in law enforcement.   If there was some kind of screening process before hand it would be a lot better for someone in your situation.