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Good evening guys. First off, i just wanted to say what a wonderful place this forum is. I am elated a resource like this exists, and i look forward to learning as much as i can from the big brains on the board as i possibly can. I also must apologize in advance for the long read.
My name is Jake. I am Twenty Five years old and have long been interested in law enforcement, and have always admired and respected those that work in the field.
I am currently enrolled in College and will be finishing in May of 2015. I have studied an array of subjects, but most prominently US Government, Spanish, and just about any History class i can get my hands on.
After finishing school (Age 26), i plan to put in my application with Texas DPS for the position of State Trooper. I can honestly say, it's my dream job. I can't and haven't been able to get it off my mind for years. When i see DPS on the Interstate, or highway i get the biggest grin i could imagine anyone getting. Heck, i even have dreams about the job as silly as that sounds.
Before starting school again one year ago, my father had intended and offered to hand over the very lucrative family business to me, the eldest son. As much as i sometimes enjoy his line of work, i personally cannot see myself being happy doing what he does for the rest of my career. I honestly don't care how much less money i would be making with DPS, i sincerely want to help, protect and serve the people of Texas. As cliche as it must sound, i believe i have found my calling.
That said, as a youngster there are several things i am concerned about and am hoping they don't end my career, even before it can begin. I will be 100% honest, and straightforward here. These are things i am not proud of, but things i do take full responsibility for:
Age 14: At the end of one school year, some of my friends broke into an abandoned workshop (Rural area), then came to school and told me about it. I told them what they did was wrong, and how crazy they were for doing it. That weekend i was at one of their houses when a few other friends showed up wanting to show me the building. I caved, and followed them there. Once we showed up, we walked in and they had destroyed the toilet, sink, several mirrors and the front door. In a lapse of judgement, i got caught up in the moment and broke a jar of strawberry preserves on the concrete work floor.
A week goes by, and they get caught. They give up my name as one of the people who had damaged something and our parents rounded us up, and called a local police officer who scared the whits out of us all. No charges, citations, arrests were made. Just a very stern talking to. We spent most of that Summer cleaning and repairing the building, and also paying for the damages ourselves.
Age 17: By this time i had evolved into my teen angst/rebellion phase.
Incident #1-I smoked marijuana a total of four (4) times. Twice after school, once with a girl i was trying to impress, and my last instance which i will list below.
After school one day, i get invited to a friends house to hang out in a residential section of a small town (Approx. 2000 citizens) where we all went to high school. We get to talking and one thing leads to another and before i know it we are all sharing a joint in his shed in his back yard. 15 minutes pass by, and all of a sudden we hear a knock on the shed door. I answer it and it is a local City police officer telling us all to exit the shed. He smells the MJ in the air, and searches all five of us one by one. He finds nothing on me, as i was not a regular smoker and never actually purchased any MJ in my life. However, he does find a joint on my friend and issues him a citation. No one else was ticketed, or cited. Our parents were called, and we were picked up.
I received a stern talking to, and a good life lesson. Since then, i haven't touched the stuff.
Age 17: Incident #2 Received speeding ticket in the same small town, worked it off in community service. Washed all the police cars, painted some fence, mowed the town, and patched some pot holes.
Age 18: I received a speeding ticket in Tulsa, OK where i was living at the time. The police officer was very kind, and wrote what time and date my court appearance would be on the ticket. In a major lapse of judgement, i forgot about the ticket and soon found out i had a bench warrant out for my arrest for failure to show for court. I did get it taken care of immediately after finding out i had a warrant.
Since that time, i have been stopped a total of three times. All were verbal warnings. One for speeding 64MPH in a 55MPH zone. One for speeding 73MPH in a 65MPH zone and one for having a tag light out.
I know DPS has strict requirements, and want the best of the best. I'm somewhat concerned that my prior history may be seen as a red flag during a background investigation and hopefully will not DQ me for a mistake i made many moons ago.
I have been in zero accidents, have a great credit rating, and excellent work history. I also believe i exhibit some valuable personality traits such as honesty, ethics, hard work, maturity and humanity.
Again, sorry for the long post. I very much appreciate and value your input here. Even if it is something negative, i certainly want to hear what the professionals have to say.
Thank you for your time gentlemen!
Jake
My name is Jake. I am Twenty Five years old and have long been interested in law enforcement, and have always admired and respected those that work in the field.
I am currently enrolled in College and will be finishing in May of 2015. I have studied an array of subjects, but most prominently US Government, Spanish, and just about any History class i can get my hands on.
After finishing school (Age 26), i plan to put in my application with Texas DPS for the position of State Trooper. I can honestly say, it's my dream job. I can't and haven't been able to get it off my mind for years. When i see DPS on the Interstate, or highway i get the biggest grin i could imagine anyone getting. Heck, i even have dreams about the job as silly as that sounds.
Before starting school again one year ago, my father had intended and offered to hand over the very lucrative family business to me, the eldest son. As much as i sometimes enjoy his line of work, i personally cannot see myself being happy doing what he does for the rest of my career. I honestly don't care how much less money i would be making with DPS, i sincerely want to help, protect and serve the people of Texas. As cliche as it must sound, i believe i have found my calling.
That said, as a youngster there are several things i am concerned about and am hoping they don't end my career, even before it can begin. I will be 100% honest, and straightforward here. These are things i am not proud of, but things i do take full responsibility for:
Age 14: At the end of one school year, some of my friends broke into an abandoned workshop (Rural area), then came to school and told me about it. I told them what they did was wrong, and how crazy they were for doing it. That weekend i was at one of their houses when a few other friends showed up wanting to show me the building. I caved, and followed them there. Once we showed up, we walked in and they had destroyed the toilet, sink, several mirrors and the front door. In a lapse of judgement, i got caught up in the moment and broke a jar of strawberry preserves on the concrete work floor.
A week goes by, and they get caught. They give up my name as one of the people who had damaged something and our parents rounded us up, and called a local police officer who scared the whits out of us all. No charges, citations, arrests were made. Just a very stern talking to. We spent most of that Summer cleaning and repairing the building, and also paying for the damages ourselves.
Age 17: By this time i had evolved into my teen angst/rebellion phase.
Incident #1-I smoked marijuana a total of four (4) times. Twice after school, once with a girl i was trying to impress, and my last instance which i will list below.
After school one day, i get invited to a friends house to hang out in a residential section of a small town (Approx. 2000 citizens) where we all went to high school. We get to talking and one thing leads to another and before i know it we are all sharing a joint in his shed in his back yard. 15 minutes pass by, and all of a sudden we hear a knock on the shed door. I answer it and it is a local City police officer telling us all to exit the shed. He smells the MJ in the air, and searches all five of us one by one. He finds nothing on me, as i was not a regular smoker and never actually purchased any MJ in my life. However, he does find a joint on my friend and issues him a citation. No one else was ticketed, or cited. Our parents were called, and we were picked up.
I received a stern talking to, and a good life lesson. Since then, i haven't touched the stuff.
Age 17: Incident #2 Received speeding ticket in the same small town, worked it off in community service. Washed all the police cars, painted some fence, mowed the town, and patched some pot holes.
Age 18: I received a speeding ticket in Tulsa, OK where i was living at the time. The police officer was very kind, and wrote what time and date my court appearance would be on the ticket. In a major lapse of judgement, i forgot about the ticket and soon found out i had a bench warrant out for my arrest for failure to show for court. I did get it taken care of immediately after finding out i had a warrant.
Since that time, i have been stopped a total of three times. All were verbal warnings. One for speeding 64MPH in a 55MPH zone. One for speeding 73MPH in a 65MPH zone and one for having a tag light out.
I know DPS has strict requirements, and want the best of the best. I'm somewhat concerned that my prior history may be seen as a red flag during a background investigation and hopefully will not DQ me for a mistake i made many moons ago.
I have been in zero accidents, have a great credit rating, and excellent work history. I also believe i exhibit some valuable personality traits such as honesty, ethics, hard work, maturity and humanity.
Again, sorry for the long post. I very much appreciate and value your input here. Even if it is something negative, i certainly want to hear what the professionals have to say.
Thank you for your time gentlemen!
Jake
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