I am wondering if there are any individuals who are aware of how much access one police dept. has to a person's background packet which was submitted to another, unrelated, police deparmtnent. I know that they often claim that they will contact the other department, but how likely is it that a police dept., after disqualifying you because of a failed polygraph, will keep your information/background on file? 

I ask this b/c I applied to a couple of PD's about a year ago and admitted some minor infractions (shoplifting an item of about $10 several years ago, fake idea, etc.). I then failed my polygraph on questions that were completely unrelated to my admissions and to which i was NOT lying. Recently I have applied to a couple of other agencies and this time I actually DID omit my minor infractions on the background. My rationale for doing this being that the other dept's had used those VERY minor infractions as the excuse for not hiring me--their exact wording "judgement" (i did great, even by the officer's own admissions on the scenarios, so the "judgement" was unrelated to any error's in judgement I could have made during the oral board). Anyway, I am now worried that I will be excused of lying, which technically, I suppose, I did on the more recent backgrounds. But I only did so b/c of my previous experiences with the polygraph and how it completely DQed me, despite my qualifications. 

That's about it. So, again, my question is: Do police dept's usually actually follow up and contact other PD's you applied to? Do other dept's actually keep background packets on file? Or is it likely that those were destroyed and I won't be seen?

Most PD's do share info, what is looked at the most is what you told one and not another...just make sure all your info is the same for all of them...
Good Luck,
Dennis

Would it be worth adding the old background info that i had originally put at the two dept's i failed the polygraph at to the current dept's i'm appplying to and sending that information in? (even though i already sent them one background without that info) and simply admit that i made a mistake and explain why i did it? or am i just out of luck this time around pretty much?

dimas,

i understand that lying is no way to start a career in law enforcement. but why dont you tell me why the system is set up to screw over truthful people?...by using the polygraph. how about just doing a really really in depth background instead of relying on pseudoscience that ruins lives? i told the truth 100% with the first dept's I applied to and both times I got screwed on the polygraph when i was telling the truth. of course honesty is important, but i had to try something new when being honest wasn't working. simple as that.

I have pretty much the same problem you do. If it makes you feel any better I know about three cops who completely ommitted everything and had no problems. It made me mad because I lost out due to my honesty. The dept that hired them was a city dept in bad need for officers so maybe that was why they had no problems. I'm not saying that is what you should do...just throwing it out there. If you could let me know how it turns out for you. Good luck

I just honestly think you need to find a less hypocritical department.  When I sat on hiring boards, I always knew people were not perfect and that they could change for the better.  All I looked for was honesty.  Unfortunately, when someone claims they are honest and you are looking over their hiring packet or interviewing them and you find out that they omitted a job or failed to mention a ticket, it immediately sparks doubt in your mind that they are being truly honest with you.  Granted, they may have not mentioned it due to human error, but we do expect people to be thorough with their background packets.

Perhaps, some liars do get through the process, it is unfortunate and regretable.  But would you not rather get hired and not have to look over your back?  Remember, often times IA will run a background on an officer in the force 4 or 10 or 15 years after he was hired and crap that they omitted may come up and bite them in the ass.