Credit Card Fraud....

[aftermath]

Question for everyone. My friend from high school (been about 10 years since being there ) and I were bs'ing one day and he said he wanted to get into LEO. So he told me things he did and asked what I thought. One thing he brought up was CCF about 7 years ago. So I told him that he won't get accepted into the LEO profession because he commited a felony. He said he was never caught for it so how could it be an issue. So I told him about the poly, etc. He then goes on to tell me, "Well, it wasn't even $100 so I'm good, right?" I told him I didn't think so but if he wanted to apply to keep trying. Think I'm just not being serious enough with him? Opinions?

[Tim Dees]

If that comes out on the background investigation, and it probably will, he's done. A felony conviction is an automatic DQ because the felon can't possess a firearm, but a moral turpitude crime (theft of any kind, sex crimes, some violent crimes) is viewed in a similar light. Credit card fraud requires a certain amount of planning and scheming. It's not an impulse, bad decision kind of thing. In some jurisdictions, it is a felony regardless of the amount of loss.

One of the hardest messages to get across to police applicants these days is that everything counts. There are no make-ups, no do-overs, no "that doesn't count" issues. Everything you do and have done go into the equation that makes you what you are, and law enforcement is concerned with who and what you are, not what you don't think should matter or was too long ago.

If you want to be a cop, be single-minded about it. That means that every decision you make has that goal as a factor. When someone offers you the beer, or the phony ID, or the doobie, your decision has to take into account how it will affect your ability to reach your goal. If you can't keep that goal in mind, then you have to consider if that is the appropriate goal for you.

Many years ago, I was called to a club where security had a young man in custody for underage drinking and possession of a false ID. The ID was real, issued by the state DMV, but it bore his photo and someone else's name and pedigree. It turned out that he was a member of a fraternity, and had gone into a frat brother's room and stolen his National Guard ID card. The photo on the card was vague enough to be mistaken for him, so he used the ID card to get a phony driver's license under the frat brother's name. He was very cool in that "do you know who my father is?" way.

He skated on the charges, as we used him as an informant against yet another frat brother who was dealing dope out of the frat house. When we interviewed him to seal the deal after all was said and done, with his daddy-supplied attorney present, he was even cockier than before. It didn't seem to bother him at all that he had committed one crime by betraying the trust of one fraternity brother, and then escaped the consequences of it by betraying another. In fact, he justified this by telling us, "I'm going to be a doctor or a lawyer, and I can't let this kind of petty {expletive} get in my way." A doctor or a lawyer. I'm not real sure what kind of undergrad program prepares you for both. Anyway, my point is that this guy was not goal-focused on any level that I could perceive.

I also don't think he completed escaped the consequences of his little escapade. After this meeting, we drove up to the house where the National Guard-member frat brother lived, having since moved out of the frat house, and showed him the DL with his name and his frat brother's photo on it. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at their next encounter.

[PhilipCal]

Credit Card Fraud

In addition to Tim's post, let me offer this. We seem to live in a society where no one takes responsibility for their actions. No, this isn't across the board, but it's pervasive enough for a lot of young people to totally deny any responsibility for their actions. The current "saga" of Paris Hilton, well illustrates my point. This denial is learned behavior, and seems to be a recurring message heard in the home, the school, and of course, in the media. I further agree with Tim's advice to be focussed on your ambition. I'll take it one step further. If you have the desire to be in any profession that requires a decent background, be focussed on that. Let that focus guide you in any decision making process you employ. Realizing you made a mistake after you've dropped the ball, simply doesn't cut it. Neither does rationalizing, justifying,or making excuses. This is especially true where felony crime, or crimes of moral turpitude are concerned. The Civil Rights Movement had a slogan, that would seem to fit here, as in, it's darned good advice. "Keep your eye on the prize".