Officer and a DUI

[Triptolemus]

Hi.. Just looking for your thoughts on this if you don't mind commenting...

Short story short, a friend at work (not LE) has a good friend, call him Bob. Bob was an officer for more than 10 years. Bob "received" a DUI with bodily injury, which I imagine is a felony. Accordingly, he was terminated from his PD and is looking for work.

My friend asked me to contact Bob with any leads I may have in my field. I did give him what I had and wished hm the best...

I'm not looking to bad mouth the guy here or anywhere else. My question is how do other Officers view his offense? Is it something you may forgive or is it entirely inexcusable? Is this a "made your bed, now lie in it" type thing, or would you put your name on the line to help him with leads/reference?

Thanks.

[LaPlaca]

people **** up.....daily. some worse than others. while i MIGHT forgive his past transgressions, a municipalities insurance company wont. hes hosed. and if in fact his incident WAS a felony? forget about it...never a cop again. or an armed rent a cop, etc.
Im sure if your 'friend' was a cop for a decade, you....i mean 'Bob'..... already knows this.

[SgtScott31]

A personal injury accident involving DUI may not be a felony in my state, but it wouldn't matter. "Bob" is now a huge liability to any agency that would consider hiring him. "Bob's" DUI would come up every time he went to trial to testify about a suspect. There are probably some tiny podunk agencies out there that would hire him just to save money, but even that's a long shot. If he was convicted of a felony, by federal law he can't even own a handgun.

[Triptolemus]

Thanks... No, this post is not one of those "my friend..." things. I get what you're saying but, no, I couldn't make the cut.

[BigW]

As "the plate" mentioned yes people crap the bed all the time. However, I spend entirely too much time combatting drunk drivers to forgive that.

As the Sarge said the name of the game is liability. I don't even know if the podunk PDs would take a flier on the guy. It'd be a stretch. As for helping him with leads, etc in a civilian (read non LE) environment that is entirely up to you. I personally do not vouch for anyone in any situation unless I know them well......

[LawFowl]

people **** up.....daily. some worse than others. while i MIGHT forgive his past transgressions, a municipalities insurance company wont. hes hosed. and if in fact his incident WAS a felony? forget about it...never a cop again. or an armed rent a cop, etc.
Im sure if your 'friend' was a cop for a decade, you....i mean 'Bob'..... already knows this.

[/thread]

[Dingo990]

While I don't think DUI is the worst crime. Bob did something incredibly stupid. I might be inclined to give him a second chance (very few other careers are instantly ended by a DUI), but I would not blame PDs if they did not.

[11b101abn]

Good ol' Bob needs to demonstrate that he is seeking treatment or other corrective measures for his issues. Even then, it's not entirely likely that he will be re-hired. It might demonstrate that he manned up and handled his business, however.

[pujolsfan146]

Since it was an officer I do feel bad. But. I will say if a person was drunk and caused injury to my wife or son I would most likely pray for the opportunity to rip his head completely off his shoulders irregardless of his or her occupation. It is what it is.

[Michigan]

Since it was an officer I do feel bad. But. I will say if a person was drunk and caused injury to my wife or son I would most likely pray for the opportunity to rip his head completely off his shoulders irregardless of his or her occupation. It is what it is.

+1

[BayouCop]

It really depends on the department and on Bob. DUI is no joke in the modern law enforcement atmosphere. I do know of at least one officer who went to the Academy with me who had previously been in the hiring process with a major metropolitan police department when he got arrested for DUI and was immediately informed that he was no longer being considered for the position. He was given a PTI by the D.A.'s office, which expunged it from his records, but he still disclosed it on his pre-hire background check with a different department and was subsequently hired, which is why he was in the Academy with me. I still stay in touch with him, and he's been doing very well so far.

That said, alcoholism in a police officer is an acknowledged problem. A campus police officer working for a university in Louisiana recently died when he crashed at approximately 50 mph (twice the speed limit for the road he was on) into a brick building on his way to work with a blood alcohol level of .240g% (four times the legal limit). It's because of incidents like this that part of a pre-hire screening asks questions about the potential officer's use of alcohol; further, it's why many departments won't touch someone who has been arrested for DUI.

[Iowa #1603]

A friend of mine received a DUI while on probation at the department I worked for. He was terminated. He later was hired as a PD officer and went on to work as a FED , retiring as a Special Agent in Charge for NCIS.

A simple DUI isn't necessarily a career killer................as long as it is only one, and you are willing/able to make amends. Treatment, time out, demotion, or other measures might be used by the court, employer or licensing agency. I know in Texas you will loose your LEO license for 10 yrs for a DUI conviction.

It will many times be a termination and looking for a smaller agency........................

A DUI with injury is a bit more but as long as he stood up it would not have been a felony in most places...........

Whatever the end result ---------------it will not be a career enhancer.

[usmcrob]

A friend of mine received a DUI while on probation at the department I worked for. He was terminated. He later was hired as a PD officer and went on to work as a FED , retiring as a Special Agent in Charge for NCIS.

A simple DUI isn't necessarily a career killer................as long as it is only one, and you are willing/able to make amends. Treatment, time out, demotion, or other measures might be used by the court, employer or licensing agency. I know in Texas you will loose your LEO license for 10 yrs for a DUI conviction.
It will many times be a termination and looking for a smaller agency........................

A DUI with injury is a bit more but as long as he stood up it would not have been a felony in most places...........

Whatever the end result ---------------it will not be a career enhancer.

Not always the case. You can have your peace officer's license suspended for up to 10 years, but that rarely happens on a Class B Misdemeanor DWI. Now, if the person was seriously injured and we're dealing with an intox assault, Felony 3, then you're license can be suspended for up to 20 years.

Most first time DWI convictions are resulting in a 6 month license suspension. However, depending on the agency, once your license gets suspended you no longer meet the minimum requirements to be a peace officer (possessing a peace officer license) and therefore can be terminated.

Now if you are applying for a peace officer license through TCLEOSE and you have a DWI conviction, you will be denide a license for 10 years from conviction date.

[Iowa #1603]

Not always the case. You can have your peace officer's license suspended for up to 10 years, but that rarely happens on a Class B Misdemeanor DWI. Now, if the person was seriously injured and we're dealing with an intox assault, Felony 3, then you're license can be suspended for up to 20 years.

Most first time DWI convictions are resulting in a 6 month license suspension. However, depending on the agency, once your license gets suspended you no longer meet the minimum requirements to be a peace officer (possessing a peace officer license) and therefore can be terminated.

Now if you are applying for a peace officer license through TCLEOSE and you have a DWI conviction, you will be denide a license for 10 years from conviction date.

Thanks for the "assist".

I was only aware of the 10 yr suspension..........................which I always thought was a bit harsh. Your explanation makes a lot more sense.......................I never really looked it up personally.

[usmcrob]

Thanks for the "assist".

I was only aware of the 10 yr suspension..........................which I always thought was a bit harsh. Your explanation makes a lot more sense.......................I never really looked it up personally.

Sure thing....think we are all on the same page....in that an officer should know better, just wanted to let people know what is actually happening, even though you were correct in what you said, in that a license can be suspended for up to 10 years.