Any Hope for me?

[SETASC]

Am I wasting my time?

[just joe]

What do you actually do for a living, as your post is rather cryptic?

It appears that you did all of this drug use while in college studying CJ, correct?

I am sure that somewhere on this planet there is a dept. that will give you a chance. Unless you find that department you are wasting your time, as you are far outside the standards of most departments and a number of states.

[PhilipCal]

I have an AA in Criminal Justice and a BS in Criminal Justice. I have been working with the local parole offices for about 2 years, I have been to the DOC academy.

The bad

Smoked Pot 10-15 times last time was in 1999
Tried Mushrooms twice last time was in 2000
Tried inhalants 3 times in 2002

I have been fired from a job in 2007
Also in 2002 I have a misdemeanor for Contributing to the delinquency of a minor in 2002 at my 21st birthday party.


Am I wasting my time?

Assuming that you're serious,...........Yes. you're wasting your time. The use of Marijuana 10-15 times pushes the tolerance policy of even the most liberal agencies considerably.
The use of Mushrooms, even once, is a DQ with many agencies. Inhalants three times, in concert with the other admitted drug use indicates pretty serious drug use/abuse. Hope you were looking for an honest answer.

[vincelli]

To be blunt, good chance you'd be wasting your time.

The marijuana use is well over what is considered to be experimentation.
The shrooms and inhalants are an auto-DQ in the vast majority of agencies (if not all).
Being fired can be overcome, but the contributing charge is not only gonna raise red flags but set off a whole bunch of flashing lights and sirens. That is not a charge any PD wants to see on a recruits package, especially when they were 21 at the time.

Sorry, but not looking good.

-V

[Dingo990]

The inhalants are what concerns me, the other stuff seems pretty youthful, but the inhalants seem to be pushing it.

I can only assume the 2002 thing was someone under 21 at your party drinking, doesn't look great.

Being fired from a job, everyone has been fired from something so the circumstances will have to be looked at. Might be an issue, might not.

9 years since you've had any real black marks.... that might help to make a PD forget about any past mistakes. I wouldn't say you are totally wasting your time, but you might have somewhat of uphill battle.

You would be within my PDs standards for hiring (we DQ for a pattern of drug abuse and require seven years since anything hard), but you are going to be competing against people might have little or no drug history. That is often the killer.

Added:
And I disagree with some of my colleagues. Quite frankly, I know quite a few cops at a variety of agencies (big and small) who have used marijuana more than 10-15 times. I don't think someone should be punished 10 years later if they had one good weed smoking summer at the lake when they were 17.

[SETASC]

case Manger for Parolees.

[Iowa #1603]

I have an AA in Criminal Justice and a BS in Criminal Justice. I have been working with the local parole offices for about 2 years, I have been to the DOC academy.

The bad

Smoked Pot 10-15 times last time was in 1999
Tried Mushrooms twice last time was in 2000
Tried inhalants 3 times in 2002

I have been fired from a job in 2007
Also in 2002 I have a misdemeanor for Contributing to the delinquency of a minor in 2002 at my 21st birthday party.

Does your current employer know about all of the above.

I can't believe you could have been hired by the DOC (especially in Colorado) or the parole office .....with that record if you disclosed it.

Am I wasting my time?

Pretty much.

Smoked Pot 10-15 times last time was in 1999 EXCEEDS most larger department maximum limits
Tried Mushrooms twice last time was in 2000 FELONY
Tried inhalants 3 times in 2002 FELONY

I have been fired from a job in 2007


Also in 2002 I have a misdemeanor for Contributing to the delinquency of a minor in 2002 at my 21st birthday party.
Not smart but not a killer

Here are the guidelines for the Iowa Department of Public Safety. (Iowa State Patrol)

They are similar to most larger departments in the United States................

http://www.dps.state.ia.us/commis/prtb/qualifications.shtml

GOOD MORAL CHARACTER:


An applicant must be of good moral character, which means that he or she can be trusted and is considered by those who know him/her to be a person of good reputation and good standing in the community.

When conduct is of a nature, that, if known, would tend to discredit the applicant as a peace officer, the applicant will not be employed.

The character of a person is determined by past behavior. Many factors are relevant in this assessment. The Department seeks applicants whose histories show good judgment, maturity, a sense of responsibility, and the respect of others. Several factors will be considered:

1. Conviction or commission of a felony (as defined by Iowa law) will disqualify an applicant.
2. Conviction or commission of an aggravated misdemeanor (as defined by Iowa law), less than 5 years ago will disqualify an applicant. Conviction or commission of an aggravated misdemeanor more than 5 years ago will be evaluated.
3. Conviction or commission of a serious misdemeanor (as defined by Iowa law), less than 2 years ago will disqualify an applicant. Conviction or commission of a serious misdemeanor more than 2 years ago will be evaluated.
4. Conviction of domestic assault, child abuse, or other conviction resulting from domestic or child abuse will disqualify an applicant.
5. A consistent pattern of unexplained failures to meet debt obligations will be evaluated.
6. An applicant who gives false or misleading information to the Department at any time during the application process may be disqualified.
7. History of excessive use of alcohol will be evaluated.
8. Unlawful sale of ANY controlled substance will disqualify an applicant.
9. An applicant who has used any illegal drug while employed in any law enforcement or prosecutorial position, or while employed in a position which carries with it a high level of responsibility or public trust, will be found unsuitable for employment.
10. An applicant who is discovered to have misrepresented his/her drug history in completing the application will be found unsuitable for employment.
11. An applicant who has used any illegal drug (including anabolic steroids after February 27, 1991), other than marijuana, within the last ten years or more than five times in one's life will be found unsuitable for employment.
12. An applicant who has used marijuana within the past two years, or used marijuana more than a total of 15 times in one's life will be found unsuitable for employment.

To determine whether you meet the Department's drug policy, please answer the following questions:

1. Have you used marijuana at all within the last two years?
2. Have you used marijuana more than a total of 15 times in your life?
3. Have you used any other illegal drug (including anabolic steroids after February 27, 1991) at all in the past 10 years?
4. Have you used an other illegal drug (including anabolic steroids after February 27, 1991) more than a total of five times in your life?
5. Have you ever sold any illegal drug for profit?
6. Have you ever used an illegal drug (no matter how many times or how long ago) while in a law enforcement or prosecutorial position, or in a position which carries with it a high level of responsibility or public trust?

If you answered YES to any of the above six questions, you are immediately disqualified and should NOT apply for a peace officer position with the Department of Public Safety.

Other conduct not specified will be evaluated

I am the Gang unit case Manger for Parolees. I handle all drug and alcohol risk assessments for them on realse. No, most of the drug use was in High School. Early 2000 was my senior year....yeah I'm allmost 30. The inhalant use was on my 21st birthday I wasn't very good at it and kept getting a mouth full of wip cream but I did try it on 3 different times that night...

Sounds like quite the party................

[Bearcat357]

Smoked Pot 10-15 times last time was in 1999
Tried Mushrooms twice last time was in 2000
Tried inhalants 3 times in 2002

Wasting your time.... Pot can be excusable..... 'Shrooms and Inhalants....? No way.......No way in the world..... You committed felonies by doing so.....

[SETASC]

Yes they know about it all.

[SETASC]

Yeah I was in a bad frame of mind about that time.

[jk4963ncj]

You have to put yourself in their shoes. Would you hire you? Probably not. Take out all of the nice things you've done, and all of your hard work. The only thing an HR staffer is going to care about is what you put in black and white (on your application). Unfortunately, most agencies have a loooooooong line of qualified candidates to choose from that don't have a history of felony drug use. Good luck.

[Iowa #1603]

Yes they know about it all. Yes the background investigator knew about it all. You know Iowa.....nobody is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes. I think I have done quite a bit to right my wrongs all on or before on 21st birthday. I've posted on here twice looking for advice and both times you have been less than cordial. If I ask for advice on here again feel free you keep yours to yourself. Everyone else thank you very much I am very grateful for you feedback. I am looking for an honest answer and if you believe I am SOL I am thank full for the honest answer, but this guy you just rub me the wrong way.

You don't get to dictate how your question is answered on this forum.

I told you the same thing all the others did plus I included a reference point as to why I posted what I did.

My style may be more blunt than others but you got an honest answer.

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?161856-Looking-for-some-advice.&p=2678653&highlight=#post2678653

If you consider the above answers as LESS THAN CORDIAL I highly doubt you have the temperament for law enforcement.

[Bearcat357]

Yeah I was in a bad frame of mind about that time. I had just lost my Grandfather and he was the main male figure in my life so I took it pretty hard and started acting like an *** there for a while. Thats what led to the inhalant use. Don't really know why the hell I did that. Not an excuse but more of a background on me and what was going on at the time.

Funny....I lived with my Grandma for part of my life and she pretty much raised me from a child to a teenager.....and when she passed I, for some strange reason, didn't opt to smoke weed and do inhalants and 'shrooms......

I am sure there are a lot of others out there as well that opted not to do drugs when they were stressed out over somthing......which means most (if not all) agencies won't want to here BS excuses from you if you do apply.....

And if you opt to....as stated, you are just wasting their time and yours.....

[SETASC]

You have to put yourself in their shoes. Would you hire you? Probably not. Take out all of the nice things you've done, and all of your hard work. The only thing an HR staffer is going to care about is what you put in black and white (on your application). Unfortunately, most agencies have a loooooooong line of qualified candidates to choose from that don't have a history of felony drug use. Good luck.

Yeah, that is also my thinking. So I have become a volunteer with few agencies to help them put a face to a name a little bit.

[SETASC]

Funny....I lived with my Grandma for part of my life and she pretty much raised me from a child to a teenager.....and when she passed I, for some strange reason, didn't opt to smoke weed and do inhalants and 'shrooms......

I am sure there are a lot of others out there as well that opted not to do drugs when they were stressed out over somthing......which means most (if not all) agencies won't want to here BS excuses from you if you do apply.....

And if you opt to....as stated, you are just wasting their time and yours.....

If you would have read my post, I didn't do the weed and 'shrooms when he passed that was in high school. Not like its any better but I use the inhalants on the night on the 21st bithday party. I was in a I don't bad frame of mind. Its not an excuse it is what it is. Fist time a lost a family member and I was alone in Alaska so I freaked out. Everyone responds differently to stuff like that. I was young and dumb and made some bad choices. Dosen't make me a bad person.