My Backround

[muskingumboy]

Finally, I've found a place were I hope I can find some real answers...

Lets see, I guess I'm like alot of cops out there, I've wanted to be a cop for my whole life. And its getting close(hopefully). I've got one more semester in college, and then I will recieve a BA in political science. The thing is, when I was 18 or 19, I was aressted for criminal trespassing(was arested with my own father belive it or not). We were off roading, on land that many in the area had used for offroading, never thinking about trespassing.

All in all, will that misdomenor hurt my chances? it happened in Ohio, where I do want to be a police officer(state trooper). I've never quit, or been fired from a job ever. And I've worked the last 2 summers as a supervisor of security at a amusement park ot my home.

[siberianexpress]

Well, buddy, you won't know until you try. All PD's are different, some would DQ you for that, some would still give you a look, if you admit you made mistakes. Just go for it, and don't hide anything. I heard about a guy today that was in the final stages in the hiring process for a PD near me, and he didn't disclose an incident he was involved in when he was working at a past job, something about an assault charge that was thrown out. He was about to be hired, and he was DQ'd because he failed to disclose ALL his "scrapes" with the law. How bad does THAT gotta suck...........he was a few days away from being hired, and all the sudden, he's got nothing.And if other PD's get wind of this guy, they won't give him a chance if he applies. PD's talk to each other.

[rdp]

An arrest for a trespass........seems a lil' severe. It causes me to think there is a deeper story than just a trespass.

How old are you now???

You need a few years from the incident.

What happened with the case?

[muskingumboy]

Well to get more into the details of the incident.....its was criminal trespass, a 4th degree misdomenor(lowest in ohio to my knolwedge). The cops that aressted me, my dad, my brother, and my girl friends dad didn't even put cuffs on us. and had all four of us ride in one car that didn't have a cage, I even rode in front. The cops didn't charge us, it was the land owner. The cops even told us they didn't want to arrest us, but they had to at the requst of the land owner. and no moranda(spelling??) right were ever given.

At booking, they didn't put is in a cell, they just took our finger prints, and then they bail money. The officers in booking, were laughing about it, and knew it was "petty". And then told us to find them next we wnated to go off roading, cuz if they were riding nothing like that would ever happen.

We had a lawyer represent us in the trial(we didn't have to go). And the lawyer pleaded no contest onour behalf. The judge droped the charges on my dad, and my girlfriends dad. And fined me and my brother $275.00 cuz we were the drivers of both vehicals.

This happened when I was 19 in the spring, and I'm 23 now.

[muskingumboy]

cool....so I got pulled over tonight...in a narcotics operation on I-71

they said my tint was too dark.....I laughed.....then they asked to search my car for narcatics. I of course, complied, since i don't do drugs. And they ran my DL and it came up clear, how sweet it that?
I told them about wanting to be a cop, and they told me i should have no problem as soon as I graduate from school.

They were Cincinnati cops though, and said I should work for a "real" department, Like CPD, and notthe Ohio State highway patrol....I just smiled....and waved as I drove off....

april is the test for OSHP....june-july, CPD....which one should i go for?

[mcsap]

Check with a local PD. Ask them , " if I were to apply with you guys and have a 4th deg. Misd Trespass conviction, would that be bad ?" Either way, check with your attorney about getting your conviction ( no contest is a conviction) EXPUNGED from your record. You will need an attorney. And if asked , say yes I was arrested and yes I have a criminal history. Don't lie or try to cover it. Admit you made a mistake ( and it was minor in my opinion) and that you have learned from it.

And to your arrest, did the cops HAVE to mirandize you ? No they didnt. You were caught in the act. What more do they need, a confession ?

[muskingumboy]

And to your arrest, did the cops HAVE to mirandize you ? No they didnt. You were caught in the act. What more do they need, a confession ? [/B]

good point, thanks


but the officer tonight said that it didn't come up when he ran my DL.....

he said to check my criminla history....and see if its there....if its not, just admit it in brfore your plograph test....so they know...., from what I've read here....honesty will get your father in that phase then lying.

[siberianexpress]

Not everything comes up on your DL, only motor vehicle citations. You could have been charged with murder, and your DL would still be clear.

[HamptonTravels5]

What police departments are really concerned about is felonies committed, because if you're a convicted felon, you are not allowed to bare arms in this country. Departments look for felonies and repeated acts of misdemeanor that shows you have no regard for the law. You know, they want to see if you're just a bad person :-) Besides those things would be drug substance abuse, and serious traffic violations (like too many points on your record, in which case your major concern should be improving your driving). Departments look at financial history to basically see how responsible you are in making payments (or if you seriously defaulted on loans, in which case your life will be made miserable). But some departments could be very picky, like Hampton, VA, who doesn't want any applicants to have ever filed for bankruptcy, and some departments could be a bit loose, like Chesapeake, VA, who would allow you to be hired if you're currently participating in a drug rehibilitation program (which could be a scary thought for some). Some departments may require that you don't have any more than minus 2 points on your driving record and some may be a bit liberal with that, like Chesepeake who requires that you have no more than minus 6 points (in which case, people who fit that category should be mainly concerned with their driving). So, each department is different, some a bit more picky than others. You just have to go ahead and apply anyway and see what happens.

The main thing to think about is to never, NEVER keep secrets even if what you did doesn't come up on your records. If they ask you if you ever committed a misdemeanor, they want to know if you ever COMMITTED one, not if it's on your record or not. I heard of one guy who failed to tell a naughty thing he did because he thought that it wouldn't be on his record. He was disqualified, failing to understand that it's not records that the departments are concerned about, but the fact that you actually COMMITTED something, whatever it may be. And as I was told one time by one background investigator, even if you committed something bad when you were just a child (like vandelism), even though you didn't get charged for it, it doesn't mean that it wasn't wrong. And if you vandelized property while you were 7 and they ask you if you ever committed a misdemeanor, you need to say YES. Because during the polygraph test, if you're asked that question, you might be thinking about what you did when you were a little brat and therefore the test may show that you lied.

My thing is that it is better to be TOO honest than to keep your mouth shut about certain things. The polygraph test is really used to check if the info you put on your application is accurate, so I wouldn't imagine the polygrapher to ask you off-the-wall questions.

State police not being real police? Well, perhaps if they get rid of those forest-ranger hats, perhaps....just kidding!!!! :-) I will say this, though, that state police has the coolest looking patrol cars.

[muskingumboy]

Originally posted by HamptonTravels5
that state police has the coolest looking patrol cars.

My thoughts exactly.......

[mcsap]

A misdemeanor charge is a "court case" involving prints, photo's and an FBI criminal history. No matter the charge it doesn't look good. HAving said that, a M-1 Assault is crtainly a lot worse than a M-3 trespass.

I cannot do a criminal history check from my in car computer ( yet), all I can check is the status of your drivers license , not even your driving record is available in car. At the station I can pull everything else up.

Expungement is a way to clean up your criminal history. If you have a conviction and are thinking of applying to be an LEO, you had better check into this.

BTW, this does NOT mean that you can go around saying " I was never arrested". That would be a LIE. You could say that my record was expunged.