Need advice on my background, please

[GoDirectly2Jail]

And just to be clear, I agree with Roger and DeltaV... I am just in debate mode today... it is finals week so I am presently slightly insane...

I knew you were insane, now i have PROOF! :eek: :D

[DeltaV]

This is not the OJ case we are talking about here, but trivial misdemeanors that were rightfully dismissed.

How do you know they were rightfully dismissed? Were you there sitting in the courtroom and reviewing the evidence? Or are you just taking his word for it? Obviously the investigating officers heard his side of the story as well and didn't believe him.

As far as I am concerned, not guilty means not guilty. And dismissed with prejudice means "not guilty."

If not guilty means not guilty, then why mention the OJ case? Are you naive enough to think that same thing doesn't happen numerous times a day in courtrooms all over the country? Not guilty means just that--not guilty. It doesn't mean innocent and it definitely doesn't mean that the defendant didn't commit the crime. It simply means that a jury didn't convict because of lack of evidence, jury nullification, because they were too stupid to understand the evidence, or because they were swayed by some attorney.

ethically, he deserves the same consideration as someone who has never been arrested (just my opinion).

No he doesn't. Most people never get arrested. Even fewer people get arrested a handful of times. That's something one really has to work on. As Roger pointed out, consistent negative contact with police indicates bad decisions and underlying issues whether that contact results in arrests, citations, FIs, or nothing.

"Due process" was my attempt at using legal jargon out-of-context: you are basically saying he is guilty of the crimes without taking into consideration his account of what happened and any exculpatory evidence.

Arrests show up on criminal histories no matter what the disposition of a case ends up being. I ran a criminal history on a subject several weeks ago who had almost 20 fraudulent check charges over the past five years or so, however never had a conviction. Does that mean that the guy never passed a bad check or does it mean that the state just decided they didn't have the evidence to proceed with the cases and/or get convictions because they just want to prosecute the slam dunks? Reading some of the reports, I know the answer.

The bottom line is that there is no "due process" in the LE hiring process. You don't have a constitutional right to a job in LE and yes, we look at all sorts of things when we are conducting background investigations. Yes, we can disqualify someone simply because of an arrest--whether or not the case even got prosecuted.

There are a LOT of applicants who have never once been arrested. Maybe the original poster is an angel who has only been wrongfully charged and never done anything wrong in his life. Oh well. He still probably won't get hired because of his past arrest history. Each of his arrests had something to do with his associations, which goes to character and decision making. Making bad decisions that result in frequent police contact are going to get you disqualified.

[AmarulaCream]

Ok, I am now bending over and thanking the lord for what I am about to receive... :p

You win. Nice rebuttal.

[oldtimer1973]

Folks, I am glad to see that I have been resourcful with this forum. Thank you all for your comments.
In the 1st set of charges, I was with 4 other guys who had all took plea bargains. I did not. I did not throw one punch as I was peeling people apart trying to break the fight up. I do not believe that I should take a plea for something I did not do. The alleged victims in this case had to pin someone with the doctors bill as someone had swung a golf club and hit a victim in the hand and destryoed it. I was the only one left. T he public defender who was assigned to the case interviewed the victim and he said he would testify to anything I wanted him to say as long as I paid his doctors bills. This victim was asked if he had said this while under oath in court and said that he DID say this. They all had sketchy testimony. After that incident I never spoke to those "friends" again. I did testify to the truth.
In the most recent incident as I said the 2 females were drunk or high. What they had done was preimptive strike. They called before I could get to a phone. As the area was unincorporated, the 1st officer on the scene was the town police. 2nd was the county sheriff(his jurisdiction). The passenger gave no statement at all. The driver was vivid with her description. Come court myself and my attorney were standing outside talking to my character whitnesses (a bus driver for the local school district, and a government contractor who works behind 2 hevily secured military gates) when the DA come out of court and said he spoke to the alleged victim and said she now has changed her story claiming that she saw my thumb not my penis. If that not bad this is. When the 1st LEO arrived on the scene he spoke to the 2 victims together. I believe it is department policy that they be separated when interviewing as to not poison the water . When the 2nd LEO arrived he got a different story from the alleged victim. She had told LEO #1 that she had noticed me behind her at street A. She now told LEO #2 that I was 1.5 miles further south along the road than she had told the 1st and that now I pulled in behind her. Any LEO who is a good investigator would just look at the discovery(as I did) and see the descrpencies everywhere.
WOW! Some asked for the good things. I am a team motivator. In retail world I built a team that ran lean and mean and produced double digit increases. I coach kids wrestling and am involved with an organization that helps disabled hunters in the field.
I also believe that sometime people really do get the S--- end off the stick.

[Roger Dat]

Two tough situations to have gotten yourself into. Let me say this, stick to what you DO know, dont second guess what a cop did or didnt do, as you have not had the training NOR do you know the policies and procedure for the department. We arent saying that this stuff has you sunk but you will be up against some HIGHLY qualified people who will be offered a job long before you.

[oldtimer1973]

Roger D, While I do apreciate your passion and your commitment to brethren, both contacting LEO's made huge mistakes. The policy and procedural information was 1st provided to me by my attorney who sat on the bench in the county I was cited. 2nd by an LAPD Detective. No guessing or assuming here just what did happen. I do understand by the statement I did make about policy and procedure could have made someone believe I was just shootin at the wind though. No intention.

[mxwelch]

I am hoping to hear from a BI. I do have an FFL which does reflect on me positively.

That means absolutely nothing as far as getting hired goes. A FFL is given to anyone who meets the requirements and the requirements are nothing compared to what most, if not all departments are looking for.