I can police other countries, but not my own?

[88m]

Ill try to be short with this but theres alot to say.. Please offer any advice or help as to keeping me on track here. thanks in advance for reading the novel.

1. i was 19 in 2001 and got a class A misd. in TX for poss. marijuana. upon hearing from the DA that it would be taken off my record upon completion of probation i took deferred adjudication. wrong. here i am in 2009, still on my record, and its a conviction.

so i am now barred from being employed by harris county sheriffs department for life, and also from the texas dept. of criminal justice as a jailer.

only other issues for me was getting pulled over and learning i had 2 fta's for traffic tickets i missed the court dates for (2 tickets on same traffic stop), ended up serving out my time instead of paying.

2. i joined the army in 06 and i am stationed in ny. squeaky clean record. several awards, more than enough training certificates, will be getting pinned e5 sergeant soon, and i get out in a year. i deployed and did hundreds of combat patrols, stopping oil tanker drivers and fingerprinting, photos, interrogating through interpreters to stop oil smuggling in northern iraq.

now that i am getting out, army wants me to stay. they have offered several enticements to get me to reenlist, including reclassification to military police officer.

also i have applied for a secret clearance, and upon talking with a few people, should get it.




so... now that i am getting out i am looking at options. my motivation in life is to become a leo. thats my first choice. and i usually dont stop until i get what i want. i am literally a few days from starting my quest by going to the civilian police department who patrol our military installation (military police still do but very sparingly, they are concentrating on training for deployment). i will be talking this over with them to look over my options.

a few years ago, the state police came to my unit to give some alcohol classes and to also recruit. i spoke with a recruiter who said my past was no problems as long as i had no felonies, and just like the army, i would just need a waiver to get in. he said military had priority as we are already trained to be the best, and that would more than make up for a few small mistakes in my younger years.

i dont know if that was recruiter talk or for real, and i have recently emailed my local state trooper recruiter and am waiting to hear back from them. unfortunately my state requires applicants to be within 6 months of completing army service contracts, so i cant apply for another 6 months.

im basically looking for any tips that i have a chance. ive already read all the threads on everything else and know what to expect, but i just find it hard to believe and accept that i can serve my country, even police my own military, and the state i was born in and lived in for 25 years does not want me to police it. just seems like there should be exceptions..

oh forgot to ad, i have a college degree as well.

what are your thoughts?

right now i think my best option would be to get hired on with the installation civilian police. i feel that being a army installation only police force, my odds are best with them. assuming it could work out, i would put in my time, maybe stay for a career, or put in enough time to have the experience for texas to finally overlook my shortcomings and let me serve my own state. this is a federal police force, and im already a federal employee, so im an inch in the door already.

if this becomes hopeless i can always use my post 911 gi bill and go back to school, or just become a DOD civilian and work on post here 8-4 for 20 bucks an hour, but my dream is really to become leo and make it a career.

you probably cannot tell from my typing (im used to outlook capitalizing and spell checking for me) but i am also very familiar with all sorts of office work doodads, excel, powerpoint, etc... so DOD office job is far from out of reach, i just dont want a cubicle.

[88m]

after seeing the "hiring and recruitment process questions" sub forum, mods please feel free to move this there for me.

[YankeeWhite]

I am disgusted. failure to appear before a court and wanton drug use. Believe me, you don't deserve to be a cop. Not to worry - you look like you enjoy the other side of the law more anyway.

[equinox137]

I'm wondering what chapters are missing from this novel.

You don't get "barred for life" from LE/Corrections for possession of (presumably) a little bit of weed and two, several years old, FTAs.

[88m]

I'm wondering what chapters are missing from this novel.

You don't get "barred for life" from LE/Corrections for possession of (presumably) a little bit of weed and two, several years old, FTAs.

well it says on the harris county sherrifs website, and the tdcj website that any drug convictions automatically disqualify someone from any position within either agency. im not saying i am barred from all positions in all states, i am just stating that i cannot serve in quite a few places due to my class A.

as far as "chapters missing" theres not much to report. i had no interactions with law enforcement other than the above mentioned. i went to school, went to work for a family business, and then joined the army.

as to an amount, class A in texas is 2-4oz if i remember correctly. i had over 3oz. no intent to distribute.

[88m]

I am disgusted. failure to appear before a court and wanton drug use. Believe me, you don't deserve to be a cop. Not to worry - you look like you enjoy the other side of the law more anyway.

?

not sure how my actions 8 years ago would reflect my feelings today? i was 19 at the time, im now 27 with a wife and 2 year old, and have completely different priorities in life.

first off, i hope you speak so encouraging to members of the military to their face. i assume you are able to pass such an extremely candid judgment upon me because you yourself are perfect, or at least your shortcomings are of a lesser extent than mine. although i appreciate everyones opinion 100% of the time, because i can never really fault another person for having an opinion on someone/something, i do have to say i disagree with your immediate generalization of my character based on my past. i only hope that law enforcement as a whole has the same standards you do, because if that was true, and my post "disgusts" you, then i can only imagine how intensly sickened you are by someone who is actually interested in breaking and not upholding laws. so in that light, i suppose i actually agree with you. but..


im not sure how that would mean i enjoy the wrong side of the law now?

i assume this is just a trolling to evoke a defensive response from me?

didnt come here to be judged, just want information on how the army can overlook these infractions and not only allow me to carry various weapons and defend and kill (weapons even a humble man like yourself is NOT authorized to carry on duty, with calibers you will never be allowed to kill someone with), serve and protect, in the name of my country, but my state will not allow me to do the same. army is fully ready to move me into a military police position, policing not only the fellow military members on my base, but also the civilians who work and travel through it.

im not saying police and military are parallel, i understand they are very different, but in essence carrying a weapon, making huge decisions that carry weight that will effect lives, and maintaining an extensive knowledge on rules, regulations, and escalation of force - and carrying out tasked based fully on all - are all large parts of both positions.

[TheKansan]

I was angry too after being dq'd at a couple of agencies, but I never gave up. One thing I had going for me was my patience. I am willing to wait for a long time to get what I want.

Here is my suggestion. Find out if you have your record expunged you would be eligible to be a CO for TDCJ. If so, get the conviction expunged and removed from your record. If not, stay in the military, gain some leo experience, distance yourself even more from the conviction and get it expunged anyway. It will only help when looking for employment outside the military.

[t150vsuptpr]

Not judging you, but when an agency posts disqualifiers and hold others to them, don't expect them to look over those same disqualifiers for you. You may be "all that and a bag of chips", but agencies rarely overlook such automatic disqualifiers.

Look at it from their perspective. People are what they are and pretty much set the pattern for how they'll deal with life early on in their formative years. It's why proper parenting is so crucial.

You take a guy in off the street, pin a badge on him, give him a gun, you take a big risk.
Just keep your expectations realistic, that's all.

[88m]

I'm wondering what chapters are missing from this novel.

You don't get "barred for life" from LE/Corrections for possession of (presumably) a little bit of weed and two, several years old, FTAs.

also just to add, i have been extemely busy working long days, and although i have had brief interactions with a few agencies recruiters via email, i have not began to aggressively persue my civilian career.

the army does a great job at transitioning soldiers to civilian life, but the process does not start until you are less than 12 months from exiting service.

so i am literally just starting.

[88m]

Not judging you, but when an agency posts disqualifiers and hold others to them, don't expect them to look over those same disqualifiers for you. You may be "all that and a bag of chips", but agencies rarely overlook such automatic disqualifiers.

Look at it from their perspective. People are what they are and pretty much set the pattern for how they'll deal with life early on in their formative years. It's why proper parenting is so crucial.

You take a guy in off the street, pin a badge on him, give him a gun, you take a big risk.
Just keep your expectations realistic, that's all.

understood. just i guess im asking if "insert forum member here"'s department has the same dis qualifiers.

i have looked into and found some in texas who do not have a strict "no tolerance" policy on class a drug misd., but they all require past leo experience.

plus like i said im still looking into it, so there might be more to be found.

i guess im just venting from the frustration of finding my main choice was taken (father in law just retired from harris county sheriffs office this year)

its frustrating as well to know that there are some of you out there who actually currently hold leo positions who really feel as yankeewhite does.

[88m]

Here is my suggestion. Find out if you have your record expunged

i looked into it. its a big negative there. apparently what screwed me was that deferred adjudication convictions cannot be expunged.

so its always going to be there.

its funny because that was the exact word the DA used on how it would not "stay on my record" i remember it perfectly because i had never heard the word before and thought he said "esponged"

as far as staying in to gain more experience, its a no-go. various reasons- mostly wife/son/gone every other year is what is keeping me from signing back on the dotted line.

the bigger my son gets the less i want to leave him again.

[Unit453]

Getting hired up at Drum isnt a bad idea. As you can see, MP do very little up there and the agency is 100% completely civilian controlled, from the top down. I used to be a supervisor up there in charge of one of the shifts before I moved onto bigger and better things.

Agencies like that arent really the type where you can walk in and walk out with a job. You gotta get on USA jobs and create a resume and then find an open position. If you want the low down, I dont think you can get hired with any conviction. That job requires a federal security clearance and I knew a few guys who had financial problems and their clearances got yanked and eventually let go. Your conviction is gonna kill you brother until you can make it go away.

If you're interested in the installation DA Police, go into the station and ask to speak with Chief Julian or Cpt Hughes. Hughes is the #2 guy I think and he'll guide you in the right direction. Julian is a down to earth guy as well who will help you out if he feels that you'd make a good candidate.

[88m]

10 character

[88m]

Getting hired up at Drum isnt a bad idea. As you can see, MP do very little up there and the agency is 100% completely civilian controlled, from the top down. I used to be a supervisor up there in charge of one of the shifts before I moved onto bigger and better things.

Agencies like that arent really the type where you can walk in and walk out with a job. You gotta get on USA jobs and create a resume and then find an open position. If you want the low down, I dont think you can get hired with any conviction. That job requires a federal security clearance and I knew a few guys who had financial problems and their clearances got yanked and eventually let go. Your conviction is gonna kill you brother until you can make it go away.

If you're interested in the installation DA Police, go into the station and ask to speak with Chief Julian or Cpt Hughes. Hughes is the #2 guy I think and he'll guide you in the right direction. Julian is a down to earth guy as well who will help you out if he feels that you'd make a good candidate.

sounds good. thanks for the insight.

security clearance was put in a few days ago.

also the ACAP program here on drum has a special program for filling out those resumes using the right "key words".. planning on taking that class in january.

[Unit453]

YankeeWhite is the Air Force's version of Army DA police. They just call them security forces but they are the same 0083's and GS civilian employees. I dont think he's active duty Air Force.

They're all under DoD and each branch has their own but other than the regulations, they're pretty much the same. Just the patches might look a little different.