Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

To anyone who is a current/retired state trooper if you could please shed some light on the situation it would be great!
My husband was offered a conditional employment opportunity. He filled out his background packet and when to the physical fitness test. Upon completing the physical fitness part and beginning to fill out the polygraphy booklet a detective approached him and said, something in your packet disqualified you. He encouraged him to apply again and had him leave the test center.

I am curious now as to what disqualified him? It obviously was not an automatic disqualification and not permanent. Here are some things I feel it may or may not be?

-My husband's family whom he has not lived with in 6 years has a history of DUI-guilty and harassment-dismissed(father) , harassment and disorderly conduct(brother), although most of these were dismissed. His sister also has a guilty plea to shop-lifting ($48 merchandise). And mother has a harassment which she plead guilty to.

-My husband when he was 17 plead guilty to a disorderly conduct, he was driving a car while his friend shot a paintball gun around a small town. And he also had a harassment charge at 17 for picking up his cousin in a car and leaving the scene, it was dismissed.

-My husband has a collection on his credit against him for $50 which has been disputed numerous times, but it not his.

So there it is. Any idea which is the cause of him being disqualified and any suggestions on how to go about filling out his booklet the next time he applies for the PSP?

Welcome to the site!

It had nothing to do with his family; the background investigators only care about his past. You can't pick your family, and nothing they do will be held against you.

His criminal past (leaving the scene, disorderly conduct, harassment) may well have something to do with it. None of them are permanent problems, and time will help, but it could have been that for sure.

I understand about the principle of not paying a bill that's not yours, but if it's messing his credit up (and his job may depend on it) why not just pay the $50?

Also, your screen name, while not technically against the TOS, seems a bit misleading. Your husband was DQ'ed from a process, and (unless he is on another department which you failed to mention) isn't really a patrolman, then... is he?

-Citicop.

Citicop, are you a member of the PSP? Not being smart, just curious.


My husband is currently an officer at another department, not state.

We were thinking of paying the $50, however, if we do so it will then sit on his credit report in negative history for the next seven years which does not look great either.

How much time could this possible take, he has not been in trouble since those two occassions and those were almost 8 years ago.

PW-

Nope, not PSP. (Not even in Pennsylvania... I'm in Missouri...)

If it was 8 years ago, and he's currently working in Law Enforcement in the State, then I honestly don't see what it was that kept him out. Did he ask the detective or his BI what it was? Usually if it's background related, they will tell you... I would be surprised if they wouldn't tell him.

Also, the background is usually done before conditional offers in my experience...

Not sure if it's different there or not...

-Citicop.

It is a bit strange. Conditional employment is offered after a written test and oral interview here. Next you do physical fitness and hand in the packet of background information that day, as well as fill out a polygraph packet. He had passed the physical part and while filling out the polygraph packet they said something he had written in his background information packet disqualified him and encouraged him to reapply. They would not answer any questions and will not tell you as to what it is that disqualified you. So we are kind of stumped and not sure what happened at this time? But would like to figure it out for future testing with the PSP.

I dont see ANY of the reasons you listed as being a DQ , especially for a current officer. Maybe it was as a result of the background investigation ? Is there someone in his current department that had some dirt on him ?

If it was 8 years ago, and he's currently working in Law Enforcement in the State, then I honestly don't see what it was that kept him out. Did he ask the detective or his BI what it was? Usually if it's background related, they will tell you... I would be surprised if they wouldn't tell him.

Also, the background is usually done before conditional offers in my experience...

Not sure if it's different there or not...

-Citicop.

You don't know PSP lol. They look at local guys like morons.

You don't know PSP lol. They look at local guys like morons.

I find that hard to believe, Greg...other than superficially perhaps.....but then you would know better

I find that hard to believe, Greg...other than superficially perhaps.....but then you would know better

Not so much the road guys, moreso the higher-ups. I had a trooper tell me that they tell them in the PSP academy they are better than municipal. I also find the ones that never worked locally prior think they are better than us...

Point is working at a local dept. doesn't mean any more to them than any other job...

Point is working at a local dept. doesn't mean any more to them than any other job...

geeeze

PSP has a statewide standard for training and hiring.

Local PD doesn't. This isn't as much of a difference that it used to be but it still exists. A small PD near me just had a fatal crash. They ( 3 officers) don't have any real advanced accident investigation experience so they called in PSP to handle the crash. As they would for any other major incident. They aren't even a 24 hr PD. The last guy goes off at 0200 and PSP is on call for them.

My PD is 24/7. We have our own ......everything. Recontructionists , detectives ,arson investigator , child abuse investigator etc. We don't need to call in PSP for anything.

SO, they do in a sense feel that they are superior to the local PD's due to outfits like this. But the day and age where the locals were " dumb hicks" is pretty much over. Sure, there are some small PD's where the nephew of the Chief got hired because he was the npehew of the chief ( yes this happened near me and he didn't last long).

But in the nearly 25 years I have been on the job, things have CHANGED. We now gets calls from PSP asking for our help and expertise. I have done some DOT inspections for them when their guy wasn't available etc.

But in the nearly 25 years I have been on the job, things have CHANGED. We now gets calls from PSP asking for our help and expertise. I have done some DOT inspections for them when their guy wasn't available etc.

I come from such an intense teamwork background that I assumed cops saw each other as a member of the overall law enforcement team....but I admit that probably is really naive. Afterall, if there's one thing they get right on tv, I'm guessing it's the internecine fighting and turf battles between agencies.

Unless something has changed in the past 3 years (which it entirely may have), the conditional offer of employment from PSP isn't until after the physical agility test. When I took the test, the physical test was step 2, and a couple hundred applicants were still in the running at that point.

It's very possible that the harrassment DC charge disqualified him. PSP gets thousands of applications every test since they're the top paying agency in most, if not all of the state. That means they can be, and are, VERY picky. They use even minor violations in someones background to weed people out.

PSP has a statewide standard for training and hiring.

Local PD doesn't. This isn't as much of a difference that it used to be but it still exists. A small PD near me just had a fatal crash. They ( 3 officers) don't have any real advanced accident investigation experience so they called in PSP to handle the crash. As they would for any other major incident. They aren't even a 24 hr PD. The last guy goes off at 0200 and PSP is on call for them.

My PD is 24/7. We have our own ......everything. Recontructionists , detectives ,arson investigator , child abuse investigator etc. We don't need to call in PSP for anything.

SO, they do in a sense feel that they are superior to the local PD's due to outfits like this. But the day and age where the locals were " dumb hicks" is pretty much over. Sure, there are some small PD's where the nephew of the Chief got hired because he was the npehew of the chief ( yes this happened near me and he didn't last long).

But in the nearly 25 years I have been on the job, things have CHANGED. We now gets calls from PSP asking for our help and expertise. I have done some DOT inspections for them when their guy wasn't available etc.

Wow impressive. This goes back to my issue with towns having police departments who really can't afford them. It's like buying a Mercedes when you are a cashier at McDonald's. Doesn't make them bad cops though.



It's very possible that the harrassment DC charge disqualified him. PSP gets thousands of applications every test since they're the top paying agency in most, if not all of the state. That means they can be, and are, VERY picky. They use even minor violations in someones background to weed people out.

Yep. I knew a guy who was DQ'd for not disclosing a fight he was involved in while in high school. They have no lack of good applicants.

I would write a formal letter to the recruitment unit and get an answer.

I'd imagine that since they said apply again, it must have something to do with amount of time between an incident. PSP is not getting nearly the volume of applicants compared to 10 years ago. At the recent rounds of the PRT, almost 30% plus didn't even show up.

Also, due to massive retirements moving forward expect 700-900 new hires in next 6 years.