Fwd: First stage/Poly

[Sunsfan80]

This was posted in "ask a cop" as well

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read my thread & possibly reply. I am in the first stage of hiring for a police dept in my state and I have a few questions for you guy's. It's hands down the career path I have always wanted to be in and I am ready to give it my all. I fully intend on being 100% open and honest about my past if asked on the poly graph test. One of the questions on the background test that may be on the poly is , " have you ever committed a felony and not been caught for it?"

My concern and question is this. Let's say that someone applying for a police officer's position has never had any prior drug use, not even smoked a cigarette and rarely drinks alcohol has committed a crime in his past ( 4-6 yrs ago)that may be considered a felony depending on the prosecuter and judge. He was never caught for it. Nothing like Murder, Rape, Burglary.. Something on the lines of fraud relation.. If admitted on a poly graph , could the dept he is hiring with take that admission and prosecute him for it?
If he doesnt even know if the crime committed was in fact a felony, or that he could face charges had he been apprehended could he not consider that a felony?
What should he do?

Just a hypothetical question/senario that I am sure someone has faced while going through the hiring process.
Again, I appreciate any help or in sight one can offer me..
Maybe someone is aware of a thread within this site they could just link me to and save someone typing out the answer or suggestion.

Any help would be great!

[Roger Dat]

Odds are pretty high that at some point during your poly whether its the interview before hand or while your hooked up that you'll be questioned about certain things relating to your integrity one of which will be have you ever commited a crime etc. I was asked a few different relevant questions such as since the age of 16 have you done anything unethical, have you commited a crime and not been caught for it in the past 5 years besides traffic violations, and have I done anything that would have had me fired from employment.

IF you did something that could be constured as a Felony than you will probably have a difficult time obtaining a position if it comes to light during the poly. Especially if that act occured after the age where you are considered an adult in your state. Your only course of action is to be honest and see what happens.

[Sunsfan80]

Odds are pretty high that at some point during your poly whether its the interview before hand or while your hooked up that you'll be questioned about certain things relating to your integrity one of which will be have you ever commited a crime etc. I was asked a few different relevant questions such as since the age of 16 have you done anything unethical, have you commited a crime and not been caught for it in the past 5 years besides traffic violations, and have I done anything that would have had me fired from employment.

IF you did something that could be constured as a Felony than you will probably have a difficult time obtaining a position if it comes to light during the poly. Especially if that act occured after the age where you are considered an adult in your state. Your only course of action is to be honest and see what happens.

Thanks for the advice.

Appreciate it!
Do you think they would arrest me if I came clean on a felony that I originally got away with or ?

[tatersalad]

Yes, the department can investigate the admissions and prosecute you. I'm not a cop, but I think it all comes down to the how serious the crime was and if it is worth the department's time. If you admitted to selling pot once years ago, they probably wouldn't bother. If you admitting to something like rape or murder then I'm sure they'd look into it.

[Sunsfan80]

Yes, the department can investigate the admissions and prosecute you. I'm not a cop, but I think it all comes down to the how serious the crime was and if it is worth the department's time. If you admitted to selling pot once years ago, they probably wouldn't bother. If you admitting to something like rape or murder then I'm sure they'd look into it.

How about fraud? :( Not proud by anymeans.. In fact ashamed..

[ColdFreezer02]

Oh man, this is rediculous. There are us honest people out there who have never done anything wrong and are trying to get a spot in a PD or SO and then there are people like you , which is like a lot of people on here, who know you have commited a crime and still want to be a cop. It's so frustrating when I see this because you are just wasting the PD time because they will find out. There are enough corrupt cops out there, we don't need to add to it.:mad:

[Sunsfan80]

Oh man, this is rediculous. There are us honest people out there who have never done anything wrong and are trying to get a spot in a PD or SO and then there are people like you , which is like a lot of people on here, who know you have commited a crime and still want to be a cop. It's so frustrating when I see this because you are just wasting the PD time because they will find out. There are enough corrupt cops out there, we don't need to add to it.:mad:

Oh cry me a river, Mrs. Coldfreezer.:p

I made a mistake..Just because YOU are Mrs. Perfect doesnt mean that they're arent other good people out there that learned from a mistake. It's not that I tried any one single drug, murdered someone or fled from the police in a high speed chase across the city or sold drugs..

I was young and dumb and it was either that or starve! Literally..Listen, I'm not going sit here and justify my actions to you or a board, just take note I didnt commit the crime out of pure excitment or thrill of a crime. I was out of work, broke, lived on my own and was behind on bills. What I did allowed me to eat for a week or two till I started a new job.
And if it's like you say, and there already enough "corrupt officers" out there, then maybe I am not wasting my time or theirs.. Wonder how they got on??

It's because people make mistakes and learn from them. Not all of us grew up with Mom and Dad holding our umbilical cords smacking our hands for every mistake we "almost " made. Again, not speaking just for myself. There are allot of people that are on the force that have made mistakes , weather it be to steal from work, cheat on their wives, smoke some form of drug and wake up and realize it's the wrong path and straighten up.

To others that have offered usefull info I thank you.

[Roger Dat]

Easy there guys lets keep this constructive, lets not be too critical of each other. Yes he commited a crime but we do not know the circumstances surrounding that. ALSO its important to remember that he is NOT attempting to hide this but does plan on disclosing it to his BI or polygrapher. Everyone deserves a chance to get hired.

Will he? I dont know its an uphill climb with an issue like that but he is trying to face his chances and see what happens. With that being said he wouldnt be hired with the agency I am going for but he may have a shot somewhere. Lets try to keep things in perspective.

[Sunsfan80]

Easy there guys lets keep this constructive, lets not be too critical of each other. Yes he commited a crime but we do not know the circumstances surrounding that. ALSO its important to remember that he is NOT attempting to hide this but does plan on disclosing it to his BI or polygrapher. Everyone deserves a chance to get hired.

Will he? I dont know its an uphill climb with an issue like that but he is trying to face his chances and see what happens. With that being said he wouldnt be hired with the agency I am going for but he may have a shot somewhere. Lets try to keep things in perspective.

Agreed.

This man speaks the truth

[ColdFreezer02]

LOL. In a normal situation I think it is okay but when you think you have comitted a FELONY there is a major problem. Okay go in and see where it goes with your BI, because I doubt you gert past the first stage. Also Roger Dat, I live in Ulster County and you knwo that up here and where you are there is no way they would let that by. Poughtown is ver rough and very competitve. Don't you think FELONY FRAUD is a disqualification? I don't know anyone that would hire him here, thus the reason he is wasting other candidates time.
Hey buddy you should be in ail instead of being looked at for a police job.

[Sunsfan80]

LOL. In a normal situation I think it is okay but when you think you have comitted a FELONY there is a major problem. Okay go in and see where it goes with your BI, because I doubt you gert past the first stage. Also Roger Dat, I live in Ulster County and you knwo that up here and where you are there is no way they would let that by. Poughtown is ver rough and very competitve. Don't you think FELONY FRAUD is a disqualification? I don't know anyone that would hire him here, thus the reason he is wasting other candidates time.
Hey buddy you should be in ail instead of being looked at for a police job.

Please spell check and re-write as I am not able to understand 1/2 of this post. Something you may want to address prior to becoming a Police Officer as a chunk of the job is writing reports. We wouldn't want "Poughtown" as confused as I am when I read what you type. Let's just hope that they are not as strict about spelling and grammar as they are with felonies and people who have made a mistake or two.

Every state is different, with different prerequisites and disqualifications . Obviously where you are my situation would not work. In my state I may have a good chance at this.

Also, if you were 1/2 as wise as you think you are you would notice that in my thread I even said I do not know if it would constitute as a felony or not.. Next time read a tad more thoroughly prior to cavorting to conclusions about someone.

I will keep this thread posted on my progress and what happens.
Thanks again for the contributing members that have helped me.

[ColdFreezer02]

You are right, I did do a poor job of writing that last post. As an english major, I slap myself for that. Poughtown doesn't refer to you in anyway, but RogerDat knows what I am talking about. Hey, if spelling is my only problem compared to FELONY fraud, I'd take it any day. Last I heard you couldn't go to jail for spelling things wrong.
Oh and I read in another post that you were going to conceal the fraud during the process or at least try to. Is that the kind of cop you would want protecting your rights. Not me.

[ColdFreezer02]

Wait, I count only 3 mistakes. There was nothing hard to read about what I wrote.:rolleyes:

[Sunsfan80]

You are right, I did do a poor job of writing that last post. As an english major, I slap myself for that. Poughtown doesn't refer to you in anyway, but RogerDat knows what I am talking about. Hey, if spelling is my only problem compared to FELONY fraud, I'd take it any day. Last I heard you couldn't go to jail for spelling things wrong.
Oh and I read in another post that you were going to conceal the fraud during the process or at least try to. Is that the kind of cop you would want protecting your rights. Not me.

You read and comprehend like @ss. Seriously. Sorry, but you do.
And yes I would take spelling errors over a POSSIBLE fraud anyday.

My other thread was simple. I was concered that if I admit to something will the dept possibly arrest me. Frankly, I would love to be a cop but it's not worth sitting in jail/prison over if I just have to wait about 2.5 more years I will be out of the Statute of limitations by then. Make sense now?

[ColdFreezer02]

I seriously doubt I read and comprehended anything wrong there buddy.