So you can flunk college and get hired but fixing a credit issue is worse?

[kevf1986]

Maybe someone can help me out here. I posted a thread about a week and a half ago when I initially began using this site about my interest to get hired, my past work experience in a LE agency, and the fact that I was concerned because I succumbed to some credit troubles when my roommate(my sister) tragically past away from ovarian cancer. I was told by several of you to
kick rocks. Being trapped in a lease, unable to find reliable replacement roommates, and no option to borrow money or move home-can't do much when your broke. Guess you should've been born into a rich family and not had any relatives with medical problems. After bringing my credit report to a local recruiter he explained even with bankruptcy chapter 13 there was nothing in my background that would "screw" me or "bar" my employment opportunities. In fact, he made some recommendations to help me out, and encouraged me to apply to his department he gave me his contact information if I needed any advice throughout the process.


BUT- I have viewed a recent post regarding someone claiming to flunk out of college concerned if that would affect his ability to get hired by a LE Agency and some of you sworn officers responded and also admitted to flunking out of college as well at some point in your college tenure ...how is that not an issue in getting hired by a police department? I'm confused, if you dished out thousands of personal dollars or utilized government money through financial aid and irresponsibly flunked out of college how is that something a department would over look? To me thats rather unimpressive. Even I know part of the police academy is taking some challenging law enforcement and criminal justice based academic courses and being a law enforcement officer requires rather above-average intelligence and comprehension.

Maybe just me but if I did your background and saw you lolly gagged through college whether you eventually got a degree or not I think I would question whether you would waste my budget money for hiring officers because you couldn't handle the academic courses in the police academy. If you had a tough time with college why should I be so confident you will soar right through the academy and its academic requirements? Because you have good credit or have never been fired from a job, or you "eventually" passed college and got a degree? I'm turning the tables a little bit here but for a good reason. I don't think any responses will justify this, but I have heard of candidates flunking out of the academy for failure to keep up with the academics and I have also heard of candidates not being selected because of poor GPAs or academic standings from their respective college and high schools. Even in police explorers I had to maintain a B average in my school to remain in good standings with the post. Guess there are loopholes everywhere. Its funny the truth comes out yet I see some of you sworns knocking so many people on this site when some of you have slipped through the background issues yourselves it appears. Maybe in Oregon (retdetsgt) if you have ever had a financial hardship they don't want you but if you flunk a year or two of college thats negotiable? Here in Connecticut my uncle tells me flunking college courses won't get you very far in a police background. College is a starting point to getting a degree for the real world. Flunking shows that your not taking your future seriously, and all that shows me is that depending on where you live you can be stupid and get hired as a cop but not broke? Its a crazy world we're living in. But what do I know, I'm only a cry baby because "I wasn't told what I wanted to hear". Well heres some truth for some of you-flunking college means you displayed a huge lack of responsibility. If you distributed insufficient effort toward academics, that shows carelessness. If you flunked courses that means you may also not have understood the material which should've subjected you to seeking supportive help or tutoring, extra credit assignments, etc. in order to maintain reasonable grade point averages. Did you do so poorly because you spent your entire college time partying rather than doing school work? If you didn't care and flunked, and got hired immediately anyways all that shows me is you have a very close relative or friend in the department you work for or connection with someone political in town, or you went through the process with a lot of other crappy applicants-which is also rather unimpressive. Who knows, I'm no expert but I believe I made my point.

Some of you sworns may have read this and got offended. Not meant to offend anyone, just making a point. I've read threads where I have seen some of you really bash people right out the door when they have done really nothing that would keep them from ever getting hired in their lives and their asking for advice not to be disrespected or discouraged. Not much advice I see being given as opposed to don't bother, don't hold your breath, your irresponsible, your a pot head, etc. etc. Why? If you think you are being so brutally honest by giving such condescending feedback the trend is that the threads just become argumentative which follows with the LEOs arguing right back-is this site here to help or just knock people for fun? If someone's background is horrendous and police work is out of the question, just tell them. Mocking people and insulting them is quite unprofessional. Assuming everyones an idiot is also very tunnel visioned, especially when you yourself have made certain mistakes in your adolescence. I'm cancelling my membership to save you the trouble of banning me if you think I'm a rude member but I think everyone else will respect the point I just made. No one's perfect, or have always been perfect- not even people who are cops now. I'm not saying departments should lower their integrity or standards to hire a bunch of people that have made poor life decisions-but the standard your setting on this site is that if you ever made any mistakes in your life police work is completely out of the question-which after receiving your advice from my post and advice from a local recruiter I've determined yours is very poor. I saw another applicant post that that he was going to a police academy and a sworn responded and said something completely negative suggesting that he wasn't going to get in or pass. REALLY? Lost track of what kind of site this was. Thought it was a valuable resource for reliable law enforcement information but it seems like some LEO's are using it as a funny past time to insult or ridicule people who are interested in police work. Can't say I support the site anymore after reading the threads, and then seeing the only positive responses were made by LEO's that have admitted to making similar mistakes in their own adolescence. I guess if your a cop now and failed college at some point its cool for someone else who failed college to get hired too-how does that make any sense?
Good luck everyone. If you deserve to get hired you will. If your good-willed, mature, and genuine you will get your shot. If not, good luck in your endeavors.
Thanks to all the brothers of the thin blue line for putting their lives on the line every day.

[RockemSockem]

Too long of a post to read word by word ... but after gleaming over it I would say this:

1. Yes, some cops who post here are sometimes rude to people for seemingly no reason. There are a LOT of people who post here, verified and not verified. It's a public message board and they aren't violating the TOS. So quit whining and get over it.

2. When you ask a question about getting hired, people will answer you from their experience at their agency. You don't have to like their answers, and perhaps they don't even like the answer. But they ARE giving you THE ANSWER. Perhaps some departments look worse upon credit problems than problems in college. Why? Who knows. Does it make sense? Who knows? But whomever told you that was just giving you an honest and straightforward answer as best as they could.

Take this, , lie down, and call me in the morning.

[Citicop]

The answer to both issues is the same:

Time.

If you have a report card full of F's from last year, it shows a lack of maturity that will hamper you from getting hired. But if they are from some time ago, and you have done other things in the meantime (military experience, go back to school and do well, etc.) then it shows that you have changed and put time and better decisions between you and your sub-par past.

Just like a credit issue isn't a lifetime DQ. Take steps to repair your credit report and score, keep up with things from now on, and in a few years it will be a relative non-issue.

Either way, feel free to apply now. All they can say is no (which they might; the economy is making hiring within Law Enforcement more competitive than I have ever seen it in my career). If they do say no, just keep working to improve and re-apply when some time has gone by.

We call it like we see it on this site. You may disagree with either the message or the method in which it gets said, but we are, after all, the ones with the experience here. We don't want to discourage you, but we do want you to know what you're in for. Tellling you "everything will be fine" and that you'll have no problem getting hired might make you feel better for a while, but if it isn't true we'll be setting you up for a bigger disappointment later.

-Citicop.

[Cat_Doc]

I'm no expert.

Factual statement.

[kevf1986]

Quit whining? I don't think anywhere in my post I whined about anything. One thing I can tell you is if you were too lazy to read my entire post you shouldn't have commented because you missed the entire point of it. There was no whining only facts and questions based on what the threads say. I forgot if you say anything which could potentially make some people on this site look bad your automatically a whiner or not fit to be an officer. Definitley the reason I discontinued use. Have fun.

[kevf1986]

Of course. I'm no expert because I made a point rather then thanking all of you for being rude and hypocritical. Have a great one.

[Cat_Doc]

A real man, after stating a couple of different times that they were leaving, would have left.

A maturity-challenged youth, intent on stirring the pot and self pity ranting, would stay in the room stomping their feet.

Which one are you?

[kevf1986]

CitiCop thanks for your post. Probably the only respectable post I've received or read on this site. At all. And again, its not about being p***ed off because I have problems in my background and I don't think I'm being told what I want to hear. I knew they would cause concerns, thats why I joined this site in the first place..-to ask. I was moreso here to ask for advice on how to resolve the issues in the best possible way, but was told by almost everyone to kick rocks which was surprising. Thanks for the summary though.

[RockemSockem]

A real man, after stating a couple of different times that they were leaving, would have left.

A maturity-challenged youth, intent on stirring the pot and self pity ranting, would stay in the room stomping their feet.

Which one are you?

Yep. And I think we have an answer to that last question now ...

[kevf1986]

I don't know CAT_Doc? You felt the need to respond? Did my post remind you that you too may have had some issues with your background that you were fortunate enough to have gotten hired through yourself? Can't figure out why your in such a shamble to portray me as a immature youth when really my post was quite to the point and written with no unprofessionalism whatsoever. The only person that has shown any side of maturity as a sworn is CitiCop. You arguing with people through threads all day makes me wonder how you handle yourself at work.

[Cat_Doc]

I'm done using this site because I think you are utilizing it to be rude to prospective police applicants which is not what it should be meant for.

I'm cancelling my membership to save you the trouble of banning me if you think I'm a rude member but I think everyone else will respect the point I just made.

Definitley the reason I discontinued use.

Man-Up, boy.

Either stay here and become a productive member, even if you don't get everything your way, or go somewhere else to play.

Idle juvenile whines are not easily tolerated by real street warriors.

[Kimble]

This thread has become nothing but a b!tch session (granted your first post didn't do so, but all subsequent replies you've given have), and as such, serves no purpose.

If you don't like the community on this site, the internet is composed of trillions of sites, including other forums. Be our guest to find one more to your liking.

[Cat_Doc]

You arguing with people through threads all day makes me wonder how you handle yourself at work.

Laughable.

I've been a cop longer than you have been alive, yet you are on here attempting to lecture men and women actually doing a job that you are merely attempting to get.

Man-Up, boy.

[Citicop]

This is no longer productive.

kevf is not happy with the tone of the answers he has gotten thus far, and the members of this siite are unlikely to change based on his complaints.

kevf: if you choose to stay on the site, the no holds barred, hard truth style is part of the package. I don't want to drive away new members, but you need to understand that we would do you no favors in the long run by sugar-coating our answers for you.

I hope you choose to stay, but it is your decision.

-Citicop.