Question:
Subject: decision on a career in law enforcement
I m undecided on whether I should continue trying to get back in to law enforcement. Back in 1999 i was terminated from my police dept, they put because of dishonesty. I was never dishonest to my sgt in my personal issue at home. as a matter of fact he never asked about the situation because of the upcoming court date. my children were left home alone because my ex husband told me he had a babysitter and didn’t. an officer arrived to my home and asked me and i told her that my ex was coming. it later dissolved into dishonesty because my ex said that he did not know anything about the kids being home alone. i only told the officer what i was told by my husband at the time. so supposedly to my dept i lied to an officer. i went to court and it was thrown out of court. i have waited so long to try and return due to the charge that my dept has put on my record on file in their office. my kids are now grown and 20 and 17. i strongly want to defend my citizens and love the brotherhood when i was in the academy. i was terminated two days before my graduation. one police dept told me to get it off my record, but i don’t know how to change something of that nature. i don’t know if i can keep trying to be an officer or not, that is my question. in the last ten years i have been upstanding and now divorced my ex due to his non supportiveness. i hold an important position now , but it is not my zest or happiness. i do not wish my name or email to be used due to the fact that i am undecided on what to do.
Answer / Comment:
Honesty is very important in police work. If an officer is found to have lied to a supervisor or lie in a police report, it affects their integrity and their testimony in court can be challenged if the defense finds out they have lied or been found untruthful. Officers that are found to have have lied are almost always terminated. In the police academy they can fire for just about anything and can let people go even for off-duty related incidents.
On the other hand, your situation sounds like it was a personal matter, not work related, although it was serious enough to go to court and the department felt they did not want to take a chance with you.
It’s hard to know all the circumstances of your incident in just the few sentences you’ve written but honesty is what will get you back in law enforcement if that is your desire. Apply all over and get as far as you can. When you get to an oral interview or a polygraph test, make sure you openly discuss the incident with the person doing the interview so it doesn’t seem you are holding anything back. Explain the situation and put it all "on the table". Your honesty should outweigh a situation from 10 years ago unless there’s more to it than mentioned here. To a lot of departments, honesty is much more important than something someone did 10 years ago and hopefully you’ll get a chance to explain that it wasn’t dishonesty that got you terminated.
Departments will appreciate your willingness to explain the situation and hopefully they will give you a chance. It wont be easy but keep trying if that is your goal. Some departments may turn you away but others may give you a chance. Hope it all works out
I can speak from personal experience that being 100% honest is the way to go. I was given the ultimatum of “quit or be fired” by my old department in MD. After my resignation, it took me only about 3 years to get back on the streets, but it was a long 3 years. I hated every other job I had, and at one point had just about given up. My honesty in an interview paid off and now, not only am I back on the job but was recently promoted to LT- after only 13 months with my new department.
If you truly love the job, stick with it and good things will happen for you. A smaller department may be the way to go (mine has 9 sworn officers), but it’s exponentially better than any other job in the world.
Thanks Bill,
That is an inspiring comment that you left and because of what happened , yes that is why i have waited almost ten years. I guess there is the part of me that loves the brotherhood and being out to help people in need,along with serving your city or town. I have also helped two couples have children and that was my only way to give back to society. Surrogacy is great, but it is nothing better than doing what you love. Good luck and I am happy you have been promoted. YOu sound as though you deserve all that you have earned in your field. I take policing serious so I do hope I will be answering calls in the near future. Thanks again and God Bless YOu and Your Comrades iN your department.