Buddy Wants To Be a Police Officer. Needs Help

[TriggerDude15]

My buddy is here with me right now, and he has a few questions for the police officers who may be on here.

He is applying for a local police department (not Portland).


He has a very very clean record. Never even had a parking ticket. Never used drugs, ect....

He does have past debt problems (credit card bill, it was less than $4,000) and a medical bill like $2,000 he couldnt pay. these were from about 5 years ago. He still hasnt paid them. Is this an automatic disqualification?

also, they are asking to list ALL 10 years of employment history. He did quit a few jobs without giving notice since they were abusing him. He plans on not listing those places. Can the police department find out?


thanks

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[AMT]

I just saw this. First off, I am not affiliated with the police.

I do however have a couple thoughts.....

1. Your buddy had bills that they didn't pay. After 5 years still hasn't paid them. Not because they can't, but doesn't want to pay them? That doesn't seem very honest.

2. The application says to list 10 years of employment history, and they don't want to? Not because they can't, but because they want to intentionally omit them? That doesn't seem very honest.

I'm guessing the police department is going to go through a screening process. This could include driving records, background checks, etc. Omitting this stuff could be cause for rejection.

(I guess in the right county/department your buddy would fit right in. )

 

[bolus]

not a police officer
Can I Become a Police Officer with Bad Credit?

but I imagine it is handled as a case by case basis with hiring. Im pretty good with interviews. I'd say he should plan to respond to questions about credit or work history. Come up with a good explanation and what he is doing to correct it. He does not need to volunteer any information like "I quit this job without notice because the boss was an asshat" but more like "that job wanted me to work under unsafe conditions (or whatever) so I left to find other work" if they ask about it. If they dont ask, dont say anything.

If they ask about the debt and poor credit score, then respond with an honest answer about why it occurred as well as steps he is doing to correct it. Like "I've talked to the hospital about my overdue medical bill, we have decided on a payment plan and I if I get this position I will be paying down my debt as a first priority."

If he does not have a plan to pay them off, then create a plan before applying

It will probably go better if the area he is applying for the job is more in need of officers as well

 

[DuneHopper]

List all information, they find anything you didn't list you will be dismissed. Big enough and you wont be able to reapply. You have to realize or your friend does any place you used a ss# will show up and when you makey up time gaps of employement thats a huge red flag or do not include credit they will know. Times are different even heard some places go back and check with highschools to see conduct and honesty. Do know many who have ended up contacting scout masters too.
Be open and honest, does anyone really want to start a job hiding stuff and let alone a LE ?
Not knowing the guy the fact he is considering not being forthcoming perhaps a career holding others accountable may not be for him. Hate to sound harsh.

 

[EPS]

Not law enforcement myself but I did have to go through a background check with my job and I did have credit problem 's do to medical bills also like he said above I told them I had a payment plan set up to pay them off .if you're not honest about this it could be a big problem in any job the first thing they think is money problems =Theft and a police officer would come into contact with things such as DRUG MONEY so unpaid bills could temp him to line his pocket 's

 

[No_Regerts]

List all information, they find anything you didn't list you will be dismissed. Big enough and you wont be able to reapply. You have to realize or your friend does any place you used a ss# will show up and when you makey up time gaps of employement thats a huge red flag or do not include credit they will know. Times are different even heard some places go back and check with highschools to see conduct and honesty. Do know many who have ended up contacting scout masters too.
Be open and honest, does anyone really want to start a job hiding stuff and let alone a LE ?
Not knowing the guy the fact he is considering not being forthcoming perhaps a career holding others accountable may not be for him. Hate to sound harsh.

If someone is applying to be a police officer, I suggest they are honest on the application and statement of personal history. I dont believe OR has pre-employment polygraphs, so this puts a huge emphasis on your background. If you have an explaination for something that looks damning, you can often include a supplemental explaination and reference it.

He/she needs to realize that you have to be credible in court. Showing a pattern of dishonestly will get them excluded from any future consideration.

 

[EPS]

By the way medical bills are common lots of people have medical bills but it's what your doing about them that counts five years and haven't made a payment looks bad

 

[albin25]

His age and education haven't been mentioned or even how long you've known him

What makes you believe that he didn't/doesn't do drugs and has a clean record? There will be a blood and pee test...
...he's already asking for help conspiring to lie (a lie by omission is still a lie).
What makes you believe that's his only unpaid/ignored debt?
What makes you think he hasn't had so much as a parking ticket?
What makes you believe he wasn't fired for "cause" at those jobs were he was supposedly "abused"?

Just advise your "buddy" to fill out the form honestly and let the chips fall where they may. Most police forces have already filled their quotas of deadbeat liars...if he tells the truth and is clean and honest, the result may surprise you. They're often short on honest applicants that made youthful mistakes that they are honestly working hard to correct.

I'm not being mean here, I'm just giving you grownup advice.
I genuinely hope he gets what he deserves, if he deserves it and does the work.

 

[Boboclown]

also, they are asking to list ALL 10 years of employment history. He did quit a few jobs without giving notice since they were abusing him. He plans on not listing those places. Can the police department find out?

Can? Sure. Will? Yeup. Is it worth it? Nope. Unless they say its optional, and it won't be, he needs to disclose that information.

 

[clearconscience]

He needs to be completely and fully honest.
List EVERYTHING!
They will do a complete BGC, talk to his references, and they will ask those references for more references. They will pull a Credit report.

I would think if he hasn't bothered to pay his bills they wouldn't think twice about dropping him.

It only takes one lie, or perception of a lie and he will be black balled FOREVER.

Police Dept ls don't look for perfect candidates, they look for real people, with real world experience.
But they need people who put their honesty, integrity, and character before all else.

Think of it this way, if he's on the stand in someone's trial as a witness/arresting officer/investigator, etc and they bring anything from his past up, will it put him in a bad light?
Risk his credibility?

Tell them everything.
That one time you stole beer, every speeding ticket, every job you quit, that one joint you smoked, or 100.

Don't make excuses, just admit it, and how/what you learned from it.
Own his mistakes.

 

[EPS]

This is going to be my last post on this thread lol dude he's not trying to get a job at the local hamburger stand HE WANTS TO BE A POLICE OFFICER WTF do you think they just take any Joe Shlomo that walks in the door you didn't say how old he is if he's under 25 tell him join the military and get some experience in law enforcement there I'm out

 

[308]

They will sphincter check your firiend so don't even try to be dishonest. They may DQ him right off the bat for debt problems. He could fail the written or psych, bomb the oral and have the pleasure of waiting a year waiting for the dear John letter.

 

[AirWolf]

You've gotten some pretty good answers so far. There are no agencies in Oregon who do a polygraph, it's junk science anyway.

Any deception that is detected will result in a disqualification.

You can have bad credit and you can have been fired from a job as long as there are reasonable explanations. Do not omit any jobs, just be honest about why you left.

Refusing to pay a bill sounds like a bigger issue, he may need to get all that straight first before applying, I would.

 

[Mark W.]

There is a big difference between being honest and making an application look good. I once applied to one of the national mini markets and they gave me an honesty test. One of the questions was have you even stolen from an employer.

I said yes and then listed a few of the things I took like the occasional pop from a vending machine at a gas station or stuff like that.

They offered me a job and told me it was rare for them to find an honest person. They said everyone steels from their employer if only minor stuff. But the people who won't admit it are the ones who end up jacking cases of beer out the back door every night to their buddies. SO BE HONEST.

 

[CoastRange57]

He is applying for a local police department (not Portland).

He does have past debt problems (credit card bill, it was less than $4,000) and a medical bill like $2,000 he couldnt pay. these were from about 5 years ago. He still hasnt paid them. Is this an automatic disqualification?

He did quit a few jobs without giving notice since they were abusing him.

So he did not pay those bills or attempt to work out a payment plan ?? Just the hell with it, I won't pay them ?? Surprised collections has not caught up with him, They probably will when they sell the bad account to some dick collection agency. Just what a police agency wants, some collection agency coming after one of their police officers with a wage garnishment for non payment of bills.

He did quit a FEW jobs. A FEW jobs??? What is a few ?? So he had a few jobs where he was getting the shaft and just quit on the spot. A FEW jobs. He must be pretty poor at picking jobs.

Your buddy has a snowballs chance in hell of getting an LE job. Not saying how old he is, but a 4 year run in the Marine Corps preferably, or another branch of service would have dramatically improved his chances of getting into LE work.

I am not a police officer, one of my kids is, and I am neighbors and friends with 2 LE training officers. They are saying that this is the type of applicants they are seeing these days, and that there is plenty of qualified applicants for both police and fire jobs, they don't have to take less than stellar applicants.

And they will check deep in his background. They will check in his families background. They will find every place he ever worked for a legal paycheck. Any of us could find that out about anybody else paying the right amount of money to the right investigation agency. I run deep background checks on people several times a year.

If your friend is set on police work I would suggest looking for work in a more rural or isolated area where they have a hard time getting officers and you could probably start at about 36K a year. Try coastal northern California, or rural Nevada areas.

 

[Kruel J]

So he did not pay those bills or attempt to work out a payment plan ?? Just the hell with it, I won't pay them ?? Surprised collections has not caught up with him, They probably will when they sell the bad account to some dick collection agency. Just what a police agency wants, some collection agency coming after one of their police officers with a wage garnishment for non payment of bills.

He did quit a FEW jobs. A FEW jobs??? What is a few ?? So he had a few jobs where he was getting the shaft and just quit on the spot. A FEW jobs. He must be pretty poor at picking jobs.

Your buddy has a snowballs chance in hell of getting an LE job. Not saying how old he is, but a 4 year run in the Marine Corps preferably, or another branch of service would have dramatically improved his chances of getting into LE work.

I am not a police officer, one of my kids is, and I am neighbors and friends with 2 LE training officers. They are saying that this is the type of applicants they are seeing these days, and that there is plenty of qualified applicants for both police and fire jobs, they don't have to take less than stellar applicants.

And they will check deep in his background. They will check in his families background. They will find every place he ever worked for a legal paycheck. Any of us could find that out about anybody else paying the right amount of money to the right investigation agency. I run deep background checks on people several times a year.

If your friend is set on police work I would suggest looking for work in a more rural or isolated area where they have a hard time getting officers and you could probably start at about 36K a year. Try coastal northern California, or rural Nevada areas.

This. Becoming a LEO is way tougher than most gigs. I tried 20 years ago and made it all the way to the personal interview with 5 high ranking officers in the department. They make you sweat, literally. And I got nervous. I was 22, and stuttered a couple of times with some tough questions. I saw one of them scribble down a note and knew I was cooked. The question had to do with how far away an armed suspect was in relation to me before I would shoot.

 

[Kruel J]

And frankly, I'm ok with not making it in. My buddy did. It changed him for life. I'm still me.

 

[CoastRange57]

One of my other sons applied to the OSP a few years back. Did the initial testing and went to the physical trials in Salem one Saturday.

They had to run 2 miles in some kind of time frame. He ran into a buddy there and they got to talking a bit as they ran. They had to run 8 laps.

They were going along and asked the trooper who was overseeing the trial if they had done 8 or 7 laps. The trooper said they had done 8 laps so they stopped. Trooper came over and handed them their DQ slips and said you guys only did 7 laps. Keep better track of it next time you apply.

They then said to him, well you told us we had done 8 laps. He said
" Well yeah, I lied. Because nobody ever lies to the police right ?? " Keep track of it yourself next time and do not depend on somebody else whom you have no idea about to tell you the truth about what you did. Better luck next time.

 

[SHPD_Retired]

Bad credit is not an automatic disqualifier but I have seen in keep many people from getting a career in law enforcement. Moving from job to job without showing that each step in an upward move is also not going to help. Many departments want college degrees or at least being in school or being in a Reserve Program. If he does not list previous employers and the department finds out then they can terminate him immediately because that would be lying on the application. He would be better off telling the truth and trying to explain what was happening.

 

[clearconscience]

One of my other sons applied to the OSP a few years back. Did the initial testing and went to the physical trials in Salem one Saturday.

They had to run 2 miles in some kind of time frame. He ran into a buddy there and they got to talking a bit as they ran. They had to run 8 laps.

They were going along and asked the trooper who was overseeing the trial if they had done 8 or 7 laps. The trooper said they had done 8 laps so they stopped. Trooper came over and handed them their DQ slips and said you guys only did 7 laps. Keep better track of it next time you apply.

They then said to him, well you told us we had done 8 laps. He said
" Well yeah, I lied. Because nobody ever lies to the police right ?? " Keep track of it yourself next time and do not depend on somebody else whom you have no idea about to tell you the truth about what you did. Better luck next time.

That's awesome.

I did the phys test for Tillamook City back years and years ago. It was this child like obstacle course you had to run through 6 times. It was a lot harder than it looked.
I got the best time out of anyone there that day and was feeling pretty amazing.
Until the Officer doing the timing told me it was pretty good, but when she did it she had a better time by .20 secs. And she had pneumonia.
Deflated me a little. Later after the panel interview she told me she was a long distance runner, and marathon runner.
I'm like well no ish you beat me!