Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

Hello everyone,

New here, have recently received a score of 100 on a local police exam so I have been pouring through the forums and there is tons of useful information. I apologize if this has been asked, I searched but could not find a good answer.

I received an application packet to fill out. It asks the question Have you ever been arrested and "Have you ever been convicted of a crime?"

13 years ago when I was 15 a friend and I were caught shoplifting a $20 item from a dept store. I was given an ACD (adjournment in contemplation of dismissal) after 6 months.

Criminal Procedure Law in New York says that an ACD "shall not be deemed to be a conviction or an admission of guilt," and that the "arrest and prosecution shall be deemed a nullity and the defendant shall be restored, in contemplation of law, to the status he occupied before his arrest and prosecution."

Based on this, am I able to answer NO to these questions? Or for a police application am I just better off answer Yes to either or both? Any help is appreciated.

They will likely be able to see it regardless.

Be honest about the incident, detention, charge, and disposition. It will not keep you from being hired if it is the only such incident in your background from many years ago.

Congrats on your score, and good luck!

-Citicop.

Thanks for the response. I do plan on bringing this up, I guess my question would be can I answer YES to having been arrested and NO to having been convicted? I suppose it shouldnt be a big deal having been so long ago.

Yes you were arrested, no you weren't convicted. I think the prudent thing would be to answer in that fashion with an explanation. Also, good luck.

From my experience in the past, even though it does make sense what the NYS CPL says, however it shows better integrity to tell your investigator, because its gonna pop up in the investigation anyway.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I think its probably best to be up front about it regardless. It was 13 years ago, and I have never had another incident since. I (hopefully) don't imagine they would make a big deal of it.