I am thinking of doing the application process for the police department, and I had a few questions about somethings that may disqualify me. I also listed my positive life achievements. I wanted to get some expert advice to see if I have a chance at making it into the academy.

1. I used Marijuana off and on to cope with some personal problems I was having after I left the Military for a year but have since quit a few months ago and have no urge to go back to it...i am getting too old for that stuff. And am quite frankly ashamed of myself for being weak minded and using it even though i knew it was wrong and illegal. I have since had help in dealing with those issues and  feel prepared to start again fresh.

2. My credit is bad but not appalling. I have had some financial trouble in the last couple of years based on the fact that after i left the air force i had a hard time adjusting financially. Just a few bounced checks that got paid for and some random small collections (Many are a few years old and ready to fall off of my credit anyway). If i needed to i could make payments on all of the collections to show i am taking care of it.

3. I have also have a spotty employment record. This is really due to the fact that I had an exceptionally hard time adjusting to civilian life after the fact, and holding a civilian job was difficult due to the fact that the air force was my first job and i really had no civilian job skills.

Now that I listed all of my screw ups...here are some of the things I have done right.

1. I served 2 years in the military during a time of war (Afghanistan/Iraq) and got good reviews along with an under honorable conditions discharge. I also received a good conduct and national defense service medal.

2. I have a clean criminal and driving record.

3. I have some college behind me.

4. Even though I had some difficulties in the civilian work world I did get good recommendations from previous employers.

5, I speak conversational spanish

I have read a lot of the posts on this website and have come to the consensus that lying on the written or verbal exam is a big no no. I want to be honest and give the reviewers a no BS picture of who I am. I was thinking of omitting the marijuana stuff because I no longer use or have the urge to. it is no longer in my urine or blood (I tested myself). And i only used sparingly for a short time due to some distress happening in my life. I also never used before the military or failed any drug tests in the past. Many departments want 5 years off pot and i am already 23 almost 24. I don't have 5 years to wait. I read on another post that lying isn't the way to get in. However I really think I  would make a good police officer I would be the 3rd generation in my family to do so and I really think it is my calling. Honestly my motivation to be an officer is to divert people from the path I saw myself going down. I have 1 question here. My decision on whether or not I will withhold the Marijuana stuff is relying on the answers you all hopefully provide.

1. Do law enforcement agencies do hair, blood, or urine tests primarily?

I really want to be totally honest but i think telling the interviewers about my small usage with pot is something that unless they can find it in a test I really don't even want to talk about it an move on with my life. I really need some good advice here and any help you can provide me would be appreciated.

Please comment on this topic and tell me what you think

dakath wrote on Sep 28^th, 2007 at 9:27am:


Well, being a cop/investigator Lets start with the weed thing, depending on the amount of time you have used it will determine you ability to be hired. Most dept. have a cut off on use/trying weed. Even if you only use it say 5 times, you are still going to have to wait a few years before any dept will even consider you. most dept. want a 3yr-5yr clean drug history and most narcotics/exotic drugs are an automatic disqualifier no matter how long ago you used them. 

the credit thing can also be an issue. if you have jacked up credit, dept. tend not to hire you because you are not stable money wise. but the credit thing can be repaired in a short amount of time. 

the employment history is also a big factor. If you have a history of jumping from job to job with out staying anywhere too long, doesn't look good for the potential applicant. 

now the things that make you shine are that you are prior military, most dept. like to hire prior military, you have some college, thats always a plus and you also have a second lanuage, spanish, which is becoming a requirement nowadays due the raise in the hispanic population.
the fact that you have no criminal/driving history is a good thing too. but you may be looking a t a few years before potenially getting hired by any LE dept. Best of luck!

rice

tbld wrote on Oct 9^th, 2007 at 5:11am:


True every dept. does have different hiring stardards. I was just going by the departments that surrond where I work and they don't allow any drug expermentation other then Marijuana. but good point T.

rice