Dear Recruiter?

[x SpecOps x]

I have applied to several agencies in MD. I was DQ'd for drugs, from some not all. But I am going to give you a brief rundown of my background.

Drugs-I was given mushrooms in 2000, which I later found out were drugs. I am by no means a drug connoisseur. I didn't know what they were. I ate a small piece and didn't feel anything. I have never involved myself with any other drugs. This is my biggest problem.

Criminal-Trespassing charge in 2002, 1 year probation. This charge is now expunged. Absolutley NO FELONIES!!!

Driving History- 1 speeding ticket on my driving record in 2003. Another ticked for not wearing a seat belt. I recently pulled a copy of my driving record and this is all it showed.

Work History-Terminated because theft in 2002. I was escorted out of the mall be police. I was not detained, arrested or charged. The officer just told me to go home. The amount I was accused of taking was $3,000( I don't know the exact number). I didn't not take anything it that amount and they tried to say I knew about other people stealing, I was a part of the "criminal enterprise" and I would take the fall. I told them I will only be responsible for what I had taken. The amount was $280 something. I told them in order to charge me they would have to prove their accusation. I never went to court and never heard from them again.

Credit-Fair not great, 1 or 2 doctor's bills

Overal what would you say my chances are for LE? I'm 26 with some college.
I have learned from my experiences and plan to prevent other from making the same mistakes that I did. Please be honest with me? I am willing to do whatever it takes to make it. I just can't waste my time if I don't have a chance.


Thanks in Advance

Spec

[bdunndchi]

You're past isn't terrible. I know a lot of people that have been hired with a worse history. The drugs part is very minor. The part that I would be concerned about would be the termination for theft. You will just have to explain what happened, and that you have greatly matured since then. The credit and driving history are also very minor. None of that should DQ you from a lot of depts. Just keep applying and learning more about the process each time.

[PhilipCal]

A whole lot is going to depend on the policies of the agency you apply to. In many cases, your record, (drugs, allegations of theft) will become issues. Keep in mind too, that as far as a law enforcement BI is concerned, there really is no such thing as an "expungement".

[irishlad2nv]

Not the greatest past, but not the best either. The Drugs and the Theft/Termintion will be the key benefactors. Stealing from an employer is looked upon heavily when applying for LE. The trespass charge, well that won't look goog either, but even if it was "expunged", they will find out. FYI, all court records are available online now in Maryland. Traffic, Criminal, Civil.

Being that you are 26, and the theft/termination took place only 5 yrs ago, you were still an adult, correct? Those "mistakes" should have been left behind years before then. Just some thought.

Doesn't hurt to still apply, but don't be suprised to be turned down as well. You were honest in here, thus far. Best of luck.

[jakflak]

Drugs-I was given mushrooms in 2000, which I later found out were drugs. I am by no means a drug connoisseur. I didn't know what they were. I ate a small piece and didn't feel anything. I have never involved myself with any other drugs.

There are a lot of departments that will auto-DQ you for any hallucinagenic drug use (even unintentional). However, there are departments that will still hire.

Criminal-Trespassing charge in 2002, 1 year probation. This charge is now expunged. Absolutley NO FELONIES!!!

I'm a little confused by that; you would have been about 21 at the time. I've never heard of a criminal conviction (with sentence) being expunged for an adult.

However, there is no such thing as expunged in a background investigation. You were convicted and it will hurt your chances.

[QUOTE=x SpecOps x]

Driving History- 1 speeding ticket on my driving record in 2003. Another ticked for not wearing a seat belt.

No big deal, just be honest.

Work History-Terminated because theft in 2002... The amount I was accused of taking was $3,000( I don't know the exact number).

This is really going to hurt you. Embezzlement (especially at the felony level) is a huge red flag. As a cop, you're going to be handling a lot of very valuable things with only your integrity making sure those things get to where they're supposed to go. Most departments will really be reluctant to hire you for that reason.

To be blunt, your chances are really slim. However, I don't think these things will necessarily preclude you from being hired. I'd recommend trying smaller departments.

[x SpecOps x]

[QUOTE=jakflak]There are a lot of departments that will auto-DQ you for any hallucinagenic drug use (even unintentional). However, there are departments that will still hire.



I'm a little confused by that; you would have been about 21 at the time. I've never heard of a criminal conviction (with sentence) being expunged for an adult.

However, there is no such thing as expunged in a background investigation. You were convicted and it will hurt your chances.

No big deal, just be honest.



This is really going to hurt you. Embezzlement (especially at the felony level) is a huge red flag. As a cop, you're going to be handling a lot of very valuable things with only your integrity making sure those things get to where they're supposed to go. Most departments will really be reluctant to hire you for that reason.

To be blunt, your chances are really slim. However, I don't think these things will necessarily preclude you from being hired. I'd recommend trying smaller departments.

Here is the story on the expungement; I went to pickup some things from my exgirlfriend. She requested that I do so by phone. I got there and her new boyfriend was there also. No big deal. He starts mouthing off to me. I didn't respond. I tell him I just want my things and I wanna go. She starts mouthing off also. I don't pay any attention to her either. As I'm leaving, she stand in the front of the doorway and he stand directly behind me. I am defenseless because I'm carrrying a box of video game equipment and other valuables. She says "I wanna know why you hurt me"?. I tell her that "You should've told me that you were married to a police officer". She starts to cry and then shoves me. I told her please let me go, I just wanna leave. Her boyfriend punches me in the back of the head and she starts to hit me also. I drop my box, while getting pummelled and I fight both of them off of me. She had given me a busted lip and I had a knot on the back of me head from him. She went to the kitchen and I hauled ***. She came downstairs with something in her hand and I didn't stick around to see what it was. I took off and never looked back. That weekend, Baltimore County Sheriffs come to my house and served me with a criminal summons. As most of you can imagine, I was livid when I received it. The charges were: Assault and Battery, Phone Harrassment, Trespassing. I just stood there and cried becuase I was very angry. She wanted to meet for lunch and I declined. She called me wanting to talk and I declined again. She finally caught me in public at a restaurant and told me she was sorry. I told that what your doing isn't right. I did nothing wrong, but defend myself. You're going to put me in jail for nothing. I didn't say anything more. We finally went to court and I was ready to defend myself and my name. The D.A. called me asside and told me that the charges would be dropped, but I would be charged for Trespassing. I said that she invited me to get my things. He said neverthless you must accept something for your actions. I told him that is was "self-defense" and I did nothing wrong. He said accept the deal or face jail-time. I did accept and received 1-year probation. Thanks for reading.


I don't know of any smaller departments in MD. I want to become an officer, but everytime I have applied, I'm declined. I don't even make to the background investigation.
I've only been declined from MSP, PG County, MDTA and Fairfax County.

Law Enforcement is the only thing I can see myself doing for the rest of my life. I am not here to dishonor or belittle any officer. Please Administrators, do not ban me, I am just pleading my case to someone who will listen.

I am willing to lay my life on the line to protect the good citizens of any city or state.

Thanks for reading/listening...

[jakflak]

[QUOTE=x SpecOps x]

The D.A. called me asside and told me that the charges would be dropped, but I would be charged for Trespassing. I said that she invited me to get my things. He said neverthless you must accept something for your actions. I told him that is was "self-defense" and I did nothing wrong. He said accept the deal or face jail-time. I did accept and received 1-year probation. Thanks for reading.

That still doesn't sound like expungement; it sounds like a plea bargain.

[Traffic_82]

IMO the theft as an adult is the killer.

[x SpecOps x]

[QUOTE=jakflak]

That still doesn't sound like expungement; it sounds like a plea bargain.

I received 1 year probation. After 3 years in MD, you can expunge any misdemeanor. May I ask what do you do you mean by a "plea bargain"?

[irishlad2nv]

[QUOTE=x SpecOps x]

I received 1 year probation. After 3 years in MD, you can expunge any misdemeanor. May I ask what do you do you mean by a "plea bargain"?

You may want to look into Corrections. You just might have what it takes to get into LE. Not everyone does.

If you are not even making it to the Background Investigation, well you may want to seriously look into your past and see if there is anything else holding you back.

The charges you mentioned, along with the Trespassing, those are very serious charges when you want to get into LE. And you should have caled the Police yourself after that incident.

And again, even if you do "expunge" this from your record, you will still have to disclose all of this.

[jakflak]

[QUOTE=x SpecOps x]

I received 1 year probation. After 3 years in MD, you can expunge any misdemeanor. May I ask what do you do you mean by a "plea bargain"?

A plea bargain is generally when you either have several charges against you (like you did by the sound of it) or a very serious charge. If you have little or no criminal history, the DA (or prosecutor depending on where you are) may offer to make some of the charges go away, or drop a serious charge to a less serious one if you agree to plea guilty. Once you've accepted a plea bargain, you've been convicted and have a criminal record.

Expungement, however, is when they 'erase' something from your criminal record. If you get arrested again, it wouldn't necessarily count against you. If, for instance, you get convicted of 2 DUI's (this is in my state), the 3rd one will be a felony. If one of the DUI's was expunged, the 3rd one would be counted as your 2nd and wouldn't be a felony.

However, expungements mean nothing in a background investigation. It's all still there for the investigator to see, and they won't pretend you didn't get convicted of it. It still counts against you.

Expungement always happens after the fact. If you had a year of probation, that was your sentence for your conviction.

[Dustin H]

Buddy, I'm not judging you, please don't take this the wrong way. But... I don't think I department could hire someone to arrest people that are making the same mistakes you once did. It's one thing to have smoked once or twice, but I just think you have a little too much baggage. Not that you are a bad person by any means, EVERYONE, including myself has. But a department might feel as though you would let someone go that was in the same situation as you were. I think corrections might be a good alternative, then maybe with more time between your mistakes, it might work. Also, check PG county, I know they aren't nearly as strict as say, AACO, BC, MSP etc. Good luck!!

[Mirrain]

You'll never know unless you try.

Couple of things however:

1) If you told me you didn't know you tried mushrooms, i'm not going to believe you. If your friend gave you something to eat, you had to know what it was, or at least it was a drug. If not, I would be afraid of the things you could be tricked into doing.

2) If you were present for theft or whatever as an adult, lay down what you were involved in. Rationalizing something is a fast track to being DQ'd. Regardless if you took it or not, hanging around with dumb people who do can get you on the wrong side of the selection into this profession.

Lastly, nothing is too terrible that it would blow your chances all together. You are going to have a challenge however with a few of those things. Keeping in mind some of the responses here are from non-LEO's. No one is perfect, yes you have more than a couple of blemishes on your record but if you are still eligible, go for it. Just remember, even those who are have never had any problems in their past aren't always scooped on the first try. Be patient, and start working on being a saint in your community.

[marty33]

In California you would have very slim to no chance of being hired. Anywhere.

Mushrooms are a hallucinogen, and are an automatic DQ at most departments. The theft/embezzlement is huge. No Chief/Sheriff, etc. is going to take a chance on a new hire with that type of issue. There is a reason that you keep getting DQ'd, and that reason is your poor decision making in the past. Sorry, but I would move on in your search of a career field.

[x SpecOps x]

Why do some agencies encourage you to reapply after time?