Could I ever be a full-time cop again?

[Elmwood45]

Hello everyone!

I am currently a part-time cop and a full time probation officer. I used to be a full time cop when I was 21 years old. I'm now 24. After only serving a couple of days as a f.t. cop I started suffering from stress and anxiety from having too many things going on in my life. I was getting married, buying a house, moving and finishing my last year of school. And...to top it off I just got the job of my dreams. Unfortunately...it only lasted a few days before the stress got to me and I had to go see a doctor. I then talked to my chief about what was going on and he asked me to resign or I could possibly be fired in the future. He said I was a good person but where I was working just wasn't for me. I've since got married, moved in and finished school. I've been a part time cop for about 2 years now and things have been great.
I want to move up to full time again. What should I do? I've tried getting hired f.t. again but the old issue of what happened to me as a full time cop keeps popping up and I can't lie, but if I tell the truth I may not get hired. What should I do? What should I say? Should I tell them that I was too immature to handle everything that was going on in my life and therefore I resigned? Thanks everyone! Please email me at elmwood3109@peoplepc with responses.

[Toeknee112]

What do you mean by "part-time"...are you a Reserve officer? Even though you have all of the other things in your life straightened out, remember that doing LE full-time is pretty stressfull in itself. Washing out after only a few days does not bode well I'm afraid.

[coucousis]

You had your chance and unfortunately(or not) you could not go ahead with it...

There is quite a bit of people waiting in line to get a job like the one you were given the opportunity to do....
You will have to take out quite a lot of good arguments to get you back on the job full time now....

You stated that you are working "part time"..... If this is true... why would your departement not give you a full time job.... they are in the best position to evaluate your performance !!!! If they have'nt offer you to come back full time... There must still be some issues that you have to work out...

Police Departement will always look out for good cops.... If you can't emerge from others being a part time cop.... ask yourself what is going on! :cool:

[TheGodFather21]

First thing is that you always should tell the truth because if you don't it will always come around to bite you in the butt when you least expect it.If you tell the truth and don't get hired then i guess thats the way it was susposed to be but i think that you will not get hired if you have really got your life straight and can handle all of the stress and anxiety.Are you working part time for the department that you started off with.If not why don't you try to go full time with the department that you are working part time for because they have seen how you work and handle stress.

[Somebody]

Well, speaking from experience, a similar thing happened to me. I really wasn't doing well in field training, so I resigned. They didn't want to hire me back, so I went elsewhere and was hired. I am doing very well now. Sometimes you just need to step back, take a breath, and then charge back in.

Be honest as to why you resigned, I was told by my BI that my honesty about my past is what got me my current position.

[todd5874]

I agree. Put the past behind you and go for it elsewhere. If you've got your stuff together, congratulations. Good luck.

[mcsap]

If you are working as a part time officer, it would suggest that the transition back to full time SHOULDN'T be traumatic. However, any agency that you apply to needs to know the full background story as they are taking a risk. To them, there is no guarantee that you won't repeat what previously happened and that is not a risk some departments are willing to take.

If I were you and sincerely wanted to go back full time, start applying and see what happens.

[Elmwood45]

Ok...to answer your questions: My police department has a very small budget. I work for a village PD that is currently down to 3 FT cops and the rest are paid PT cops. I don't work for the same PD that I resigned from due to my anxiety problems. I really appreciate the responses I got from everyone! I'm currently in pretty good physical and mental health. I am working out....trying to get some muscles going on! I tried to get on with the local Sheriff's Dept. but I got "canned" from the process after the final interview with the Chief Deputy. He kept asking me about what happened to me as a FT cop and I told him that I resigned due to many things going on in my life. He then asked me if my chief was unhappy with me and I stated yes. I told the truth and I guess I got "canned", but I can still sleep well at night knowing that I did what was right. I don't lie and I don't want you guys to think that I would lie in any interview...but I wanted some advice. Thanks so much! I'm getting ready to apply with 2 more departments and I will tell them everything! See ya! Replies welcomed...

[Smitty]

Good on you Elmwood...your integrity is the only thing nobody can take away from you.

Good luck in your search.

[Stump]

Quite honestly, I don't know if you should become a full-time cop (it wouldn't be AGAIN, because you never did it the first time). Those stressors that you indicated that messed up your chances are common stressors, to be perfectly blunt. EVERYONE has stress in their life. Hell, when I was hired, I was working 2 part time jobs as well as this one plus helping with an ailing family member that lived 90 miles away. You deal with it. I don't know if it is a good idea to add to the stresses in your life if you couldn't deal with it the first time around. What if your wife has a baby? Or your new house needs a major repair? Or (God forbid) a family member becomes sick? Or even if your car breaks down? ....
If you really want to try this again, I strongly urge you to see a counselor and learn techniques on how to deal with stress. At the very least it will look good to an interviewing panel. This way, they'll be more apt to believe that you won't up and quit again if the going gets a little too hard.
Good luck to you.