Would your department hire me?

[tkeyes13]

After spending about 10 minutes on this forum I can say I am rather discouraged and feel like I will be wasting my time pursuing a unobtainable career. I'm going to do a brief rundown of events in my life that would be potentially disqualifying.

16 Yrs Old:
Started smoking marijuana couple times a week
Took painkillers a few times
Arrested for breach of peace for slamming a door at school which was nolled.
Received an infraction for simple trespassing and possession of alcohol by a minor which I pleaded not guilty to.

I am currently 17 years old, soon to be 18 in October. I decided I wanted to become a cop when my HS officer committed suicide. It's kind of my inspiration because he doubted me in real life.

I dropped out of High school to earn my GED. I fell a year behind due to bad grades. My plan is to earn my GED and going to college in spring of 2011 to get a Bachelors in Criminal Justice. If i stayed in HS It would slow me down by graduation in Summer of 2011 and starting college in fall of 2011.

I plan to start applying for departments when I turn 21 which I will have my Associates in Criminal Justice. Since about 3 months ago I've stopped doing any unlawful acts, I'm smartening up and changing who I use to be. Being about 3 years and 5 months of lawful behavior.

So the question is, If i turned 21 and had an associates degree, would your department hire me? Would having a bachelors make a difference or is my youth behavior 100% DQ. Thanks for your honesty.

[retdetsgt]

Push your time past 21 quite a bit and develop a good work record somewhere also. You're not a prime candidate to say the least, but if you can show that you've matured a great deal and cleaned up your act, you have a good chance. But being 21 with an associate's degree isn't good enough. You've created too much carnage already for that and three years isn't enough to impress anyone much.

Off the top of my head, I'd say 25 years old with a perfect living record and then try.

[tcop733]

I decided I wanted to become a cop when my HS officer committed suicide. It's kind of my inspiration because he doubted me in real life.

That's a, hmm kinda, man I can't even put it into words.
Anyways, teens go through adolescence with all kinds of issues.
It's a very confusing time in life, and very challenging.

You're now 17, an age most states recognize as being an adult as far as criminal responsibility goes.
So, you now need to keep your nose clean for the next several years ahead. The past is the past, it's gone and you can't do anything to change it now.
What you can control is how you act from this day forth. I'm also talking about your driving too. Try to obey the traffic laws and not rack up numerous traffic violations on your driving record.
You plead not guilty to the charges against you. What was the final disposition of those cases?
You were 16 at the time, right?

[tkeyes13]

Thanks retdetsgt, you've shined some light on my day, i'm 100% serious about becoming a LEO and i'm glad to know I still have a chance. I was expecting to be rudely told no and find a different career like a lot of the other threads.

Once I realized I that I wanted to be a PO, I stopped doing anything that would jeopardize my chances. Its something that i'm actually really excited about doing. I have a great deal of respect for cops and what they do. It upsets me that so many don't approve of what cops do. I've changed who I use to be and done a great deal of maturing.

That's a, hmm kinda, man I can't even put it into words.
Anyways, teens go through adolescence with all kinds of issues.
It's a very confusing time in life, and very challenging.

You're now 17, an age most states recognize as being an adult as far as criminal responsibility goes.
So, you now need to keep your nose clean for the next several years ahead. The past is the past, it's gone and you can't do anything to change it now.
What you can control is how you act from this day forth. I'm also talking about your driving too. Try to obey the traffic laws and not rack up numerous traffic violations on your driving record.
You plead not guilty to the charges against you. What was the final disposition of those cases?
You were 16 at the time, right?

I was 16 the whole time during my breach of peace. It was nolled and I did 20 hours of community service and would be dropped when I was 18. I'm not sure if I was 16 or 17 when I received the infraction as it was really close before/after my birthday but everything in court was settled when I was 17. I received 30 hours of community service to drop the infraction.

[GoDirectly2Jail]

After spending about 10 minutes on this forum I can say I am rather discouraged and feel like I will be wasting my time pursuing a unobtainable career. I'm going to do a brief rundown of events in my life that would be potentially disqualifying.

16 Yrs Old:
Started smoking marijuana couple times a week
Took painkillers a few times
Arrested for breach of peace for slamming a door at school which was nolled.
Received an infraction for simple trespassing and possession of alcohol by a minor which I pleaded not guilty to.

I am currently 17 years old, soon to be 18 in October. I decided I wanted to become a cop when my HS officer committed suicide. It's kind of my inspiration because he doubted me in real life.

I dropped out of High school to earn my GED. I fell a year behind due to bad grades. My plan is to earn my GED and going to college in spring of 2011 to get a Bachelors in Criminal Justice. If i stayed in HS It would slow me down by graduation in Summer of 2011 and starting college in fall of 2011.

I plan to start applying for departments when I turn 21 which I will have my Associates in Criminal Justice. Since about 3 months ago I've stopped doing any unlawful acts, I'm smartening up and changing who I use to be. Being about 3 years and 5 months of lawful behavior.

So the question is, If i turned 21 and had an associates degree, would your department hire me? Would having a bachelors make a difference or is my youth behavior 100% DQ. Thanks for your honesty.

Question for you OP: if no department ever hires you, what do you realistically expect to do with a criminal justice degree?

The point is that a degree in english or communications would be just as valuable to an LEO, but are much more versatile in case your path ends up not being in criminal justice.

[tkeyes13]

Question for you OP: if no department ever hires you, what do you realistically expect to do with a criminal justice degree?

The point is that a degree in english or communications would be just as valuable to an LEO, but are much more versatile in case your path ends up not being in criminal justice.

Well after doing some research, I found out having a degree in CJ doesn't necessarily improve your chances of being hired as your going to learn most of it in the academy anyways. I will more then likely go into a field with computers then. I like working with computers and I am good with them.

When you say "if no department ever hires you" does that mean you believe I will have a hard time ever securing a job in LE or are just saying that to go along with the concern of having a degree in CJ?

[Safety Steve]

Live right, go to school, and get steady employment till age 25. The gentlemen above are correct in my opinion.


Be Safe.

[tkeyes13]

Live right, go to school, and get steady employment till age 25. The gentlemen above are correct in my opinion.


Be Safe.

Again thank you. I think that is a fair compromise for my youthful mistakes. I'll take the few extra years to build a solid background, credit, and work history. Hopefully doing so, will increase my chances of becoming a LEO.
I've never had the feeling of being so certain in my life of what I want to do. I've had a few careers in my mind in the past but never have I been as anxious and excited to pursue it. Its a great feeling.

[GoDirectly2Jail]

Well after doing some research, I found out having a degree in CJ doesn't necessarily improve your chances of being hired as your going to learn most of it in the academy anyways. I will more then likely go into a field with computers then. I like working with computers and I am good with them.

When you say "if no department ever hires you" does that mean you believe I will have a hard time ever securing a job in LE or are just saying that to go along with the concern of having a degree in CJ?

The latter.

[tkeyes13]

The latter.

Thanks for clearing that up.

[mobrien316]

You could also go into the military for four years, keep your nose clean while serving, and when you get out your application will be looked at much more favorably by most agencies. Several years of honorable service in the military (with no arrests or other issues) will pretty much nullify some mistakes made at age 16.

[tkeyes13]

Thanks for the advice mobrien316. I am definitely considering military service to enhance chances and i'm glad to know it will help me out. In your opinion what would help out more, 4 years of military service or a bachelors degree?