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Expert: - 4/28/2011


Question
Good evening Mr. Wagoner,

First, thanks so much for taking the time to read this. My questions is in regards to past drug use. My husband will be 30 y/o in June, he is a honorably discharged vet (2003) he first applied to a County Sherf. in 2003 and was denied employment due to failure of the pysch test. (hard examiner, had just fought with his wife/partner before my husband came in to take to test. Very unprofessional) He was then denied the chance to retake the eval. Applied for state troopers in 2008 ,was denied , due  to the use of a hallucengenic (ectasy) [spelling?] one time in 1997. They said this was an automatic disqualification. He recently expressed the desire to go for employment again. This time with a different county in our area. He has the financial, and physical ability to attend the academy here on his own. My question is this: Are hallucengenics automatic disqualification for employment everywhere? Also, we recently had to give up our home to forclosure because of the economy (just as everyone else in our area) will this affect his chances? He had near perfect credit previously (720+) Please let me know as soon as possible what your thoughts are. We are attempting to 'turn things around' Thanks again!

Answer
Good morning Natalie,

I'm sorry you have gone through some of the issues you have in the recent past. The use of a hallucinogenic such as ecstasy is a automatic disqualifier for many agencies. The reason being that there is not enough research at the time to show that the effects of ecstasy are not permanent. This would be the same as if your husband had admitted to using LSD in the past. And the credit while being an issue, is not like it was two or three years ago before the economic downturn. With so many people having economic issues now the agencies are not putting as much weight on the credit issue.

I think his only choice is to find agencies that are not counting ecstasy one time use as automatic disqualifier and apply there. The best way to find out this information is to call the human resources division at each department and asked him about the specific issue of ecstasy.

Good luck and I hope it all works out for you!

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Chris Wagoner

Expertise

I have been a police officer for 30+ years! I am the Police Academy Commander at the Santa Fe College, Institute of Public Safety in Gainesville Florida It is a full service Law Enforcement and Corrections training facility. I can answer most questions concerning law enforcement procedures, law enforcement training and general questions about law enforcment. I can also answer questions about becoming a law enfocement officer. I have a booklet and web page I have written that answers many questions about how to become a police officer called "So you want to be a cop (police Officer) in Florida?", which is free, Google it.. All you have to do is ask. I teach the following subjects: RADAR/LASER, Law Enforcement Driving, Law Enforcement Firearms and Patrol Techniques, Officer Safety, WMD's for Patrol Officers, Application of Law, Communications skills, Dealing with the Mentally and physically handicapped, and many more subjects. I have worked as a subject matter expert for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and helped to write the police curriculum for the State of Florida. I like answering questions about how to become a police officer, and questions about why did an officer do this or that type questions. I also like answering any questions you may have about police work in general. I do not mind helping with homework questions or trying to answer your questions about legal subjects that I have knowledge of. You will never know the answer until you ask! If you do ask a question, PLEASE take the time to at least rate the answer. I do not get paid to answer these questions and do it on my own time. If you ask, please rate it when I answer. Thanks!!! If its a question about becoming a police officer, it may be answered here: http://sites.google.com/site/flaleohelp/ My "hobby" website - http://www.youtube.com/user/3rdID8487 Military Videos on YouTube and Facebook!!

Experience

I am a 30+ year veteran police officer, I am currently the Police Academy Commander of an Academy in North FLorida. I have been training police officers since 1993 and have trained them in all aspects of law enforcement, including firearms, Driving and legal subjects including patrol techniques and others and training all over the world. I have trained over 5000 officers worldwide in the last 16 years of training.

Publications
I am a published author in Accident Investigation from the University of North Florida, Institute of Police Technology and Management. Also have written and published on the Internet, "So You Want to be a Cop (Police Officer) in Florida?" you can Google it..

Education/Credentials
I have 2 degrees, in Criminal Justice.

Awards and Honors
Phi Theta Kappa, plus 50+ Departmental Awards over the years. FBI Directors award for assisting in a Nationwide investigation into Child pornography.

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