Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

So, I have a OWI from Indiana that I got in Aug. '11. It's a Class "C" in Indiana and I have not heard anything from the courts or anything since the arrest. Would this affect my chances of join MPD? Other than the OWI, which I'm fighting, there is nothing else on my record. I'm 21 and just graduated from college and got my B.A. in CJC. Any advice would be helpful.

So, I have a OWI from Indiana that I got in Aug. '11. It's a Class "C" in Indiana and I have not heard anything from the courts or anything since the arrest. Would this affect my chances of join MPD? Other than the OWI, which I'm fighting, there is nothing else on my record. I'm 21 and just graduated from college and got my B.A. in CJC. Any advice would be helpful.

Be honest with MPD on this and see what happens. Plan to give it some time before they will consider hiring you.

Plan on having a VERY hard time getting hired any time in the next five years. You have a pending DWI charge... a conviction could mean the suspension of your license... how could you reasonably expect a department to take you seriously until you can show you've matured?

And keep in mind that police hiring is competitive; you can't just get hired by meeting the minimums. You have to beat out everyone else who is applying for the position. Most of them will have NO arrests at all, let alone one that's not even 3 months old yet...

I don't know of a single agency that will hire somebody with a DWI arrest 60 days ago. Citicop is right on...five years plus. NYPD is now at a standard of at least seven years and even then it depends on the circumstances.

You are anonymous here , whats your defense agasint the DUI ( OWI) ??

You are anonymous here , whats your defense agasint the DUI ( OWI) ??

Without going into any details, I was driving a rental car and my tire popped and I called a tow truck to change the tire, due to the fact that it was a rental. The tow truck person said it would about 50 minutes, so I sat in the car, turned off, with the keys NOT in the ignition, with my hazard lights on so it can see my car. Well, the LEO's showed up about 45 minutes of me waiting and got arrested for OWI, blew a .08 at the station.

1) .02 burns off in about an hour.
2) 45 minutes of waiting plus driving to teh station means you burned off .02
3) Means when your tire popped you were at least .10 and DUI by all state standards.

You were drunk by the legal definition. You neglect to tell what you were doing before you got behind the wheel.

And what is your defense....you were not driving?

Our statute allows an arrest if we get you within 2 HOURS of driving. You were over an .08 when you were driving. We don't have to prove ANY unsafe driving , just that you did drive and were at least a
.08.

Like I said, I'm not going into much details, hopefully something can be worked out with the courts, seeing as this my first offense and I want to go into law enforcement. Everyone makes mistakes.

Like I said, I'm not going into much details, hopefully something can be worked out with the courts, seeing as this my first offense and I want to go into law enforcement. Everyone makes mistakes.
1) The courst do not care what you want to do...only what you did.

2) You are in no way ready for a LE job based on your second sentence. A mistake is something that happened as an accident, as in not on purpose with no intent to do wrong. You made a decison to drink. You knew how many dinks you had and knew you were past the legal limit. You didn't call a taxi or make arrangements for a safe ride. You made a decision to then take keys and put them in an ignition and drive a car. You made choices. Several. None were a mistake. They happened because you picked them. You want them to give you a gun, badge and power to take away somebodys rights. You want them to trust you to make split second decsion under severe stress and pressure, yet two montsh ago you made multiple bad decisions under no stress and pressure. You put yourself first rather than then good of others.

LE backgrounds focus on arrests and arrest reports more than teh disposition. Every cop knows what somebody is arrested for is usually much clsoer to what happened than what the court disposition is. We all have had a solid case go to plea bargining for something much less. The court disposition does not matter at this point.

Additionally, besides the criminal matter, Indiana suspends the driver license of first time offenders. So not only do you have a criminal case, the DMV is showing is a license suspension. A littel digging and here is the sentencing for a first time DWI:

Jail time: If your BAC level was between .08% and .14% you will have to spend a minimum of 5 days in jail or you may perform community service in lieu of jail time. The maximum jail sentence if your BAC level was .15% or greater can be as much as 1-year in jail. The first 48 hours of the jail sentence must be served consecutively.

If there were any passengers under the age of 18 in the vehicle at the time of the arrest, the first offense will be treated as a Class D felony for which the minimum jail sentence is 10 days or 360 hours of community service may be ordered in lieu of the jail sentence.

Fines: If your BAC level was between .08% and .14% you may have to pay up to $500 in fines. If your BAC level was .15% or greater you may face up to an additional $5,000 in fines.

License Suspension: Your driver's license will be suspended for at least 90 days and up to 2-years for a first offense. You will be eligible for a hardship license after the first thirty days of the suspension period, please see the section above on the administrative hearing process.

Before the Indiana DMV will reinstate your license or issue you a hardship license, you will be required to file an SR22 form with the BMV showing proof of financial responsibility in the form of a Indiana SR22 insurance policy and pay a $130 license reinstatement fee.

Community Service: If your BAC was between .08% and .14% you may be able to perform a minimum of 180 hours of community service in lieu of the jail sentence.

Alcohol Treatment: You will be required to complete a state approved alcohol or drug assessment and the court may require you to attend a state approved alcohol or drug abuse treatment program.

I woud look into another career field for the next several years.