Question regarding background... (Opinions appreciated)

[dieseldog94]

In regards to my background, I come from a family of law enforcement, many members of my immediate family serve in different states as officers and my grandfather(whom of which raised me and is my biggest supporter) is a retired police chief and commissioner of Jersey City, NJ, here in Florida.

I am interested in pursuing a career as a Deputy with the Sarasota County Sheriffs Dept. down here. Many of my closest friends, mentors, former football coaches serve at all levels of the department.

I am 23 years old, former collegiate athlete that left school early due to family problems back home, but spent the past 3 years both playing in the Arena Football League and trying to chase the dream of making an NFL roster.

I am a responsible father of a two year old boy, known well throughout my community as a leader and role model. I don't and never have done drugs, seldom drink alcohol, and do not partake in any illegal activities, however, when I was in college on spring break my freshman year in early 2007 I was cited for speeding in Kentucky on my way to FL. When I got to FL a friends father told me that since it was in Kentucky, as long as I didnt plan on being in Kentucky, to let it be and not worry about it. I was young and nieve, I know.

Throughout my travels playing ball, I rarely had the opportunity to drive, I was always in big cities with solid metro systems, so I never had a vehicle. But last year I moved back to Florida after being cut by an NFL club in preseason and was taking my ex-fiance's son home from karate practice and was involved in a fairly minor car accident. At which I was informed by the police officer that I was driving on a suspended license and was cited as knowingly doing so, which is considered a misdemeanor in the state of Florida. I payed the fine, went to my court date and went through the diversion program successfully so that was taken off of my record. Got my license cleared up and everything was good.

Then this year, in August, I was taking my ex's son to the park with one of his friends, and was pulled over, this time for unknowingly driving on a suspended. Apparently due to a financial responsibility claim that I had no clue about. My insurance was current, I had purchased a new car, plates and everything, new license and all. But I payed the ticket and cleared it up.

My question is this, in your experience with the hiring practices. Will this hinder my ability to be hired on at my agency of choice or do they sometimes overlook these things in favor of other qualities in an applicant. I want this career for myself badly, as I want to protect and serve my community proudly.

I apologize for the lengthy post, but I felt background was necessary in order to get a legitimate outlook.

[marinepilot]

Other than the driving problems, you sound like you'd do okay. Unfortunately for you, your suspended status is going to keep you from becoming an LEO. Why is your license still suspended? Is it suspended in Florida or in Kentucky? If it is suspended in Kentucky, you better contact someone in Kentucky and make it right, otherwise you'll just keep on staying suspended, and without a valid license, you most definitely can NOT become an LEO.

As for the ticket that resulted from the accident, the driving while license suspended with knowledge, you may have taken care of it, but it's most definitely NOT off your record. Not going to the insurance so you don't receive an increase is different than not being on your record. I guarantee that any LE agency that starts looking into your history will see that you received that charge, even tho you may have done a pre-trial diversion. Also, maybe I missed it, but how long ago was the accident? That would make some difference too, because if you've been suspended since 2007 when you received your citation in Kentucky, that's gonna look real bad...

[dieseldog94]

I got the ticket in Kentucky taken care of and paid all of the reinstatement fees associated with the suspension. Im no longer suspended, the accident was in August of last year. I have done everything asked of me. I was just hoping that my honesty throughout the entire situation would help my case. A lot of my friend that work at the sheriffs dept. say that it shouldnt be a huge issue, but they are friends and I wanted to get outside opinions. I do everything I possibly can to bring positivity and direction into the lives of the people around me and know that I would make a great LEO, I have heard it from numerous people including the officers that I know.

Whatever I can do to help myself, any advice would be appreciated, as I was looking to start the academy self-funded in July of next year.

[mcsap]

Can a lawyer clean any of this up ? A second suspension isn't good. I can understand the first one but a 2nd one starts to look bad.