background & application ?'s(needed)

[chino]

Hi everyone this is my first time. I've read a couple of posts but i have a concern and maybe somebody can help me or let me know if i'm a lost cause when it comes to obtaining a career in LE. I applied for a Deputy Sheriff position in Va. On my application i put i had not experimented with any illegal drugs. I'm 33yrs. old i did when i was 19yrs. old. after i did my written/agility tests the next step was the polygraph. the instructor gave us some advice and said for the polygraph just disclose everything, it's not what you've done but if you lie about it. he said he had tried speed a longtime ago. I experimented with marijuana when i was 19yrs. old and i didn't put it on my appl. because it was so long ago. It weighed on me after that day because i felt as though i don't want to get hired then later on get fired for something like that. I disclosed it in the polygraph. also he had my background there too. a couple things i left out was that i had to attend anger managment because of a fight that i had gotten into 5 yrs. ago, when i caught my signficant other cheating. i completed the program and since then haven't been in any kind of trouble not so much as a parking ticket. then also i was charged with the same thing 5 yrs. prior to that, but it was dismissed. also i got sent home after graduating basic training in the army back in 94' for performance issues(when i was 18). after the polygraph i felt like a career criminal but i'm not. I've done some dumb things in the past as you all have just read. my driving record is good no tickects since 2000. based on what you all have just read is it or will it be possible for me to ever obtain a career in LE. Or am i forever doomed? I didn't get the job with that department. I'm thinking of applying somewhere else, but i'm skeptical! Do any of you all think i'll ever have the slightest chance or should i just forget it? thank you for your replys or opinions!

[jlink38]

Because you lied to a department, you pretty much messed up your chances of ever being a LEO. You deliberately lied about your past drug use, and that is an integrity issue.

[Kimble]

If you don't have the integrity to be honest on your background questionnaire, you don't get the chance to become a cop, period. You lied, which is exactly why the polygraph is included in the hiring process. Look for work in another field, as any department you apply to will check for other departments where you've applied (even if you try to lie about that and not list them), and once they see you've lied on one application, it can follow you to future applications elsewhere.

If you apply elsewhere, I'd say the only shot you have it to try actually being honest (both with your past drug usage and the fact you lied about it elsewhere), and let them decide if they can still bring you on board. The more you try to cover your tracks and hide these sort of thing, the more you're killing any chance of ever getting a job in this field.

[Roger Dat]

Lying equals automatic DQ. Any other department you apply with will most likely talk to who you applied with. Find another line of work.

[SnapShawt]

I'd say you're cooked period. You lied on the application, and other departments will check this one (as has been said, even if you don't list it), and that will DQ you. Also, the military ELS discharge for performance issues is going to hurt very badly.

Best advice is to find another career.

[dinarguy]

You know whats funny? There are people that apply for law enforcement positions, in which they lie about doing drugs, or something else...but that does not mean they are disqualified, they just have some explaining to do. The funny part about this is that person who applied COULD have been granted employment if they were truthful about their past, but something as simple as lying can hold them back (I mean simple as in something which is easy for someone to do) if they are caught lying.

[Kimble]

There are people that apply for law enforcement positions, in which they lie about doing drugs, or something else...but that does not mean they are disqualified, they just have some explaining to do.

That's absolutely false. If you get caught lying about your background information your application is done, and you are disqualified indefinitely. They don't give you a second chance to explain why you lied.

[jlink38]

The funny part about this is that person who applied COULD have been granted employment if they were truthful about their past, but something as simple as lying can hold them back (I mean simple as in something which is easy for someone to do) if they are caught lying.

Right, the OP experimented 14 years ago, there aren't many departments that will auto-DQ for mild experimentation from 14 years ago.

[Wanabe]

Ros i think he is trying to say if he told the truth he prob. would have been hired, but ruined it all by lying.