MarineToCop, I am not sure whether or not you are even going to read this as the post is dated in October, however, I will reply anyway and perhaps some other LE hopefuls will read it. First, off I do not mean to be a spelling or word usage Nazi, however since you felt that you were more qualified than 95% of us doing this job then I have to point these things out. The words are as follows Advice NOT advise, Losing NOT Loosing and finally Than NOT Then. If in fact you do want to become a detective then you will need to work on this as any good defense attorney will rip apart your report and make you look like an idiot. Also, there is this great thing called "Paragraphs", you may want to look into it. Second, 40-50 times of use is quite a bit. It really is, unless of course you mean you puffed 40-50 times. But getting high 40-50 times means that over the course of high school you were getting high every 2-3 weeks. Not recreational, not experimental, just bad over all. If you lived LA when this happened it is even worse. Your credibility as a police officer on the stand may take a hit if one of the guys you had to arrest is one of the guys who saw you getting high every weekend. Third, on the plus side I really do not think that you have to disclose the psych history. I believe that since you were a juvenile that may be confidential and pretty much none of their business. This does vary from state to state, but in most I have worked it holds true. Also, if I am not mistaken you are also protected federally by the Americans with Disabilities Act, because mental health is classified as a disability. HIPPA also would prevent the police from accessing your prior mental health records without a warrant, which a judge would definitely not grant a background investigator. Finally, if in fact you were so successful in the military, then perhaps you should have just stayed in. Honestly, why risk it? Law Enforcement is NOT like it is in the movies. Lots of paperwork, law suits, complaints, crappy management, low morale, overworked DA's that ALWAYS drop cases and then you arrest the slime bag all over again as he laughs at you knowing he'll get a slap on the wrist. Don't get me wrong it is a great job, but in the decade I have worked in it, it has changed drastically for the worse. I have seen many people who led great careers in the military come to LE and suck at it and regret having left in the first place. Either way, good luck with whatever choice you make or made.
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