Cocaine use

[Joeyd6]

complelety disagree about cocaine use being an auto DQ. i think it totally depends on the department. here in the philadelphia region, most departments will not DQ for cocaine use,

Not sure where you have been, but in the Philadelphia Region, it IS AN AUTO DQ with ANY use, including the Philadelphia PD. Cocaine is a Cass II schedule narcotic whose mere possession is a crime and character flaw let alone use. Coke is not a "little weed" which is schedule 4.

And the Philadelphia PD has taken a strong stand on such as result of recent events, including Kaboni Savage and Alhinde Weems. And lets not forget the FBI/DEA/USDOJ task force in place investigating the cocaine issue down there. And the PA State Police have a DQ in place for such use. Cross the bridge into NJ and it is a automatic DQ. That is not the majority of departments.

[Drew27k9]

complelety disagree about cocaine use being an auto DQ. i think it totally depends on the department. here in the philadelphia region, most departments will not DQ for cocaine use,

I totally disagree. I am from the Philadelphia region and I never heard of a department that didn't automatically disqualify for prior cocaine use.

[cntryboy0531]

I know personally of one case where someone was hired after disclosing prior use of cocaine in the hiring process, he was even sponsored through the academy here. He works for a large, reputable department. HOWEVER, these are the pro's he put on his application.

Retired Career army Sgt. Major. 22 years I believe.
College Degree
Time on the ground in COMBAT, several times over.
Good service record with the military.

He experimented a few times before joining the army. I went to the academy with him in 2005. He is a very rare case. Only reason why he was hired was he proved to the agency he is a responsible person, and has not touched a narcotic in over 20 years. Again, a very rare case, and in 99% of situations, hard drug use will get you shown the door.

[SnapShawt]

I'd say even for someone like HIM that is extremely unusual. While we are grateful for his service, he would be auto-DQd. Applies to one and all, regardless of past and/or redemptive activity.

[Group9]

That sounds like how Thomas Norris got into the FBI with only one eye. In former HRT founder Danny Coulson's book, he wrote that when he was lobbying for Norris to be offered an FBI agent slot, he was told it would be setting a precedent that they couldn't reverse to let a person with only one eye in.

Coulson shot back that in his view, that precedent would be that any other one eyed, former Navy SEAL, Medal of Honor winner, who applied and was otherwise qualified to be an agent would probably have to be hired as well. :D