driving record

[Andersondeputy]

Oh and by the way, I work with guys that smoked pot and did a myriad of other things and they are good officers.

You are a vastly different person at 21 than you are at 25. Make contact with the agency you want to apply with. Talk to their Recruiting Officer even if its informal and put a face with your application. Its easy to dismiss a stack of paper with a bad driving record but its harder for them to just dismiss you out of hand if they can put a face with you. Go on a ride along, volunteer in some way, Dont just be an application.

My FTO and former chief of one of our city departments smoked dope, not recreationally, but habitually his whole teen years. One of your deputies did time on a chain gang in the 60's. Its not who you were its who you are and what foot you can put forward. Oh yeah I almost forgot, one of our newly promoted investigators ran over a kid, while working at another department. I dont think yoru driving records that bad

[Andersondeputy]

I am gonna go ahead and **** everyone off on the forum.

I always read these what if scenarios...what if I smoked pot, what if I stole stuff , what if I lied. And everyone on here is always doom and gloom. Fact is it depends on the agency, just how truly severe your record is, and a million other things that cant be taken into consideration. My driving record is horrible. I mean HORRIBLE. Its about 5 pages long. When I was a teenager I couldnt pull out of my driveway without getting a ticket. I had two points suspensions between the ages of 16 and 18. I even had a driving under suspension. I went to several small departments and was disqualified several times. I finally went to a huge department that I figured would definitely not hire me and guess what they did. They just looked at my record, saw I had no DUI's no wrecks and nothing other than just tons of speeding and that was it. My interviewers said, hey you were 16. So regardless of these naysayers go ahead and apply. Worse that can happen is they tell you no.

[Spee-Dee]

Spee....

I like you....I really do.

Aww, thanks.

But you gotta admit its just plain funny and astounding to listen to two like minded individuals lamenting on their 'issues' ....and neither gets to the point of "HEY!...maybe if I don't break the law...I won't have to wait years and do all this special stuff to get past it on my applications!"

The thought did cross my mind once or twice...

No, actually, I haven't got any speeding tickets since I decided that I wanted to join the RC's. When I did think about it a long time ago, I thought it was something that I'd never be able to do, but then for some reason (I don't know why) I ended up on the RCMP rectruiting page and looked at the requirements and realized that it's something that I could actually have a chance at. I know a lot of people say that LE is something that you want to have to do your entire life since you were a little kid, but I don't think that's entirely accurate. When I was a little kid LE was not really a career choice that was introduced to young girls. Choices were always something like being a teacher, nurse, home-maker, secretary, cashier, etc. Nothing really masculine. I even had a Christian Ethics teacher who told us that "putting a woman in charge is like putting a donkey in charge." Now that I'm older and more educated I can see that I have more options.

All of my policial encounters within the last 3 months have been in line at Tim Hortons. I think that's somewhat of an improvement to on the side of the road.

[zap]

What's that supposed to mean? You're in shock because of my driving record? I haven't even gone into detail about it, and I won't, as it angers the other people on here.

Spee....

I like you....I really do. But you gotta admit its just plain funny and astounding to listen to two like minded individuals lamenting on their 'issues' ....and neither gets to the point of "HEY!...maybe if I don't break the law...I won't have to wait years and do all this special stuff to get past it on my applications!"

(hell...I DIDN'T break the law and am having a bear of a time getting on because I was accused)

[MAD_MAX333]

hhahahah yes it does anger people, however i do like their honesty...

[Spee-Dee]

*sound of jaw hitting top of desk*

What's that supposed to mean? You're in shock because of my driving record? I haven't even gone into detail about it, and I won't, as it angers the other people on here.

[zap]

You sound EXACTLY like me except you have less speeding tickets than me and you're a year older and I have a 30 day licence suspension for getting three of those tickets. However, I probably have more km on my licence than you do. (250,000 + km) I was informed that for me if I keep my record clean for a few years and do a lot of good positive things such as volunteer work, that I can weigh out my bad driving record. I'd say give that a try for a few years and then apply. If you get nothing because of you driving record you'll at least be able to use your volunteer work for other job opportunities.

On a side note, about your "above average reaction time." If you're speeding at night along a highway, you're reaction time is pretty much useless, because you'll be over-driving your headlights. When that deer or moose, pedestrian (we have them up in northern Saskatchewan) or whatever it is you have along your highways comes into your sight, by the time you see it, you won't be able to stop for it. Even if you're driving the speed limit at night, you're still probably over-driving your headlights. Hit animals will probably bring your insurance rates up, destroy your car, and even possibly kill you.

*sound of jaw hitting top of desk*

[Spee-Dee]

i was kind of hoping your replies would be more positive. I'm not really an unsafe driver. I have way above average reaction time, handle a car very well, always follow the traffic laws. The one speeding ticket was in an area that goes from 35 to 55 and I was literally 320 yards fromt he 55 mph sign, going only 42 mph. It's just a town that loves to hand out tickets to everyone no matter what. But I doubt that I'd even get a chance to explain anything, and even if they did they'd probably see it as an excuse and not want to hear it anyways. I'm going to have a Bachelors in English and Sociology in a few months, and I've already taken and aced practice exams. I can easily complete the athletic parts in well under the required time. (I can run 1.5 miles in about 10-11 mins, and can do about 15 more situps than required in the same amount of time. I've got a good work history and good grades in college. The only real "black mark" is my driving record, and stealing chapstick when I was 12.

I'm going to apply anyway, and I'm applying to a bunch of other jobs and grad schools also. Aside from LE I don't know what i want to do. I guess I'll just have to see what happens. I'm not just some cocky hs grad who thinks LE will be a "cool job". I want to make a difference, and get into investigative work or criminal psych. Thanks for the oppinions.

You sound EXACTLY like me except you have less speeding tickets than me and you're a year older and I have a 30 day licence suspension for getting three of those tickets. However, I probably have more km on my licence than you do. (250,000 + km) I was informed that for me if I keep my record clean for a few years and do a lot of good positive things such as volunteer work, that I can weigh out my bad driving record. I'd say give that a try for a few years and then apply. If you get nothing because of you driving record you'll at least be able to use your volunteer work for other job opportunities.

On a side note, about your "above average reaction time." If you're speeding at night along a highway, you're reaction time is pretty much useless, because you'll be over-driving your headlights. When that deer or moose, pedestrian (we have them up in northern Saskatchewan) or whatever it is you have along your highways comes into your sight, by the time you see it, you won't be able to stop for it. Even if you're driving the speed limit at night, you're still probably over-driving your headlights. Hit animals will probably bring your insurance rates up, destroy your car, and even possibly kill you.

[Soon2Be]

I have way above average reaction time, handle a car very well, always follow the traffic laws.

? If you always follow the traffic laws how did you get such a driving record?

Not trying to give you a hard time, but that doesn't make sense to me.

[MAD_MAX333]

............

[PhilipCal]

Driving Record

Sounds like we didn't tell you what you wanted to hear. On this forum, we assume you want honest answers to your questions. That's what you got. Your driving record isn't going to help you as it stands right now. My agency would almost certainly DQ you for it. Try to understand that we get many fully qualified applicants with good driving/criminal records. Apply if you so desire, but don't be too surprised if departments don't exactly come knocking on your door. Work on keeping your record clear for a few years.

[nanook08]

i was kind of hoping your replies would be more positive. I'm not really an unsafe driver. I have way above average reaction time, handle a car very well, always follow the traffic laws. The one speeding ticket was in an area that goes from 35 to 55 and I was literally 320 yards fromt he 55 mph sign, going only 42 mph. It's just a town that loves to hand out tickets to everyone no matter what. But I doubt that I'd even get a chance to explain anything, and even if they did they'd probably see it as an excuse and not want to hear it anyways. I'm going to have a Bachelors in English and Sociology in a few months, and I've already taken and aced practice exams. I can easily complete the athletic parts in well under the required time. (I can run 1.5 miles in about 10-11 mins, and can do about 15 more situps than required in the same amount of time. I've got a good work history and good grades in college. The only real "black mark" is my driving record, and stealing chapstick when I was 12.

I'm going to apply anyway, and I'm applying to a bunch of other jobs and grad schools also. Aside from LE I don't know what i want to do. I guess I'll just have to see what happens. I'm not just some cocky hs grad who thinks LE will be a "cool job". I want to make a difference, and get into investigative work or criminal psych. Thanks for the oppinions.

[SWH]

Ok, so I am wondering how much your driving record affects your chances of getting hired as a P.O. I'm 21 right now, and I've had a few tickets. Never in any accidents, no drunk driving or anything like that. Just a front plate ticket, a n equiptment violation, and a few (~4) speeding tickets. None of them were very excessive, none for more than 10 over. I know that they look at your driving record, but I don't know how much it weighs. I just want to know your oppinions on this and how you think it'll affect me.

Repeated convictions of the same VTL offense show a disregard for the law, I would wait a few years before applying, but some departments really don't care that much and will hire you anyway. Of course, in NYS, those departments are in the NY Metro area, so you may be SOL.

[Bodie]

We would say you are an irresponsible and unsafe driver and an accident in the making therefore dq'ld here.

[redstag]

The amount of tix you have would be enough to keep you off of Marion Co. and IPD, the speeding is gonna hurt your chances anywhere, given your age you have too much. Now here, if you can keep it clean for the next 5 years, you should be okay, though now it is getting to where they really want a clean slate and at least an Associate degree. The town 5 miles south of here requires a Bachelor Degree in Criminology just to walk in the door.

The times they are a changin'