My Background and Where I Might Stand Relative to other Police Applicants

[JPP24]

Hello all just wanted to give you bit of info about my background and wanted some opinions on where I might stand with regards to applying to PD's or getting DQ'd. I'm a 25 year old male from the Southern CA (specifically LA County area) and am looking to start applying to some local Police Departments here in CA.

The Good:

- Have a bachelors degree in Urban Studies and a minor in Ethnic Studies. Graduated with a 3.3 GPA from a reputable UC school.
- Good credit history
-No parking/speeding tickets/DUI's or any other type of traffic violation on my driving record.
-No criminal record
-Speak a second language fluently Tagalog (language of the Philippines, I know Spanish would be a lot more useful here in CA but unfortunately I don't speak it)
- I'm in good physical shape 5'9" around 170lbs, weight train regularly and run regularly.

The Bad:

-Smoked Marijuana about 7-8 times College the last time was in 2006.
-Got admitted into Grad school at a local Cal State and went there for one quarter, but had to withdraw from school due to grades ( note that I was one Academic Probation when I withdrew from Grad School had two B's and one F as my grades)
-Had a volunteer internship with a local City Hall here in LA County, was a volunteer intern for the City for a year, then I just stopped showing up ( note that I didn't have any problems with my supervisor and did good work, but its possible my supervisor could say something negative on behalf of me no longer showing up without telling him).


So thats pretty much it, just wanted to know where you guys think I stand on my background. Do I have a shot at any PD with this type of background? Thanks in advance to those who give any sort of input.

[mcsap]

Hello all just wanted to give you bit of info about my background and wanted some opinions on where I might stand with regards to applying to PD's or getting DQ'd. I'm a 25 year old male from the Southern CA (specifically LA County area) and am looking to start applying to some local Police Departments here in CA.

The Good:

- Have a bachelors degree in Urban Studies and a minor in Ethnic Studies. Graduated with a 3.3 GPA from a reputable UC school.
- Good credit history
-No parking/speeding tickets/DUI's or any other type of traffic violation on my driving record.
-No criminal record
-Speak a second language fluently Tagalog (language of the Philippines, I know Spanish would be a lot more useful here in CA but unfortunately I don't speak it)
- I'm in good physical shape 5'9" around 170lbs, weight train regularly and run regularly.

Your good is good.

The Bad:

-Smoked Marijuana about 7-8 times College the last time was in 2006.
My PD requires 5 yrs clean.-Got admitted into Grad school at a local Cal State and went there for one quarter, but had to withdraw from school due to grades ( note that I was one Academic Probation when I withdrew from Grad School had two B's and one F as my grades)

Hey , you still got a Bachelor's

-Had a volunteer internship with a local City Hall here in LA County, was a volunteer intern for the City for a year, then I just stopped showing up ( note that I didn't have any problems with my supervisor and did good work, but its possible my supervisor could say something negative on behalf of me no longer showing up without telling him).

Not BAD but a minor negative. Maturity may have not quite been there for you. Hopefully you have your head on strainght now. GO apply. You have some minor dings but look SHARP , act SHARP and be SHARP in any appearances at a prospective PD.




So thats pretty much it, just wanted to know where you guys think I stand on my background. Do I have a shot at any PD with this type of background? Thanks in advance to those who give any sort of input.

Answers embedded.

[marinepilot]

Not great, but not horrible either. The marijuana would not be an issue here near where I live, as long as that's all you ever did. I would be more worried about why you just walked away from work and never went back nor gave any explanation to your employer. Like mcsap said above, maybe you just weren't mature enough at the time. You would need to definitely impress on any BI that you would not let that happen again as you've grown so much since then.

As said above, give it a shot. The worst they can say is No. Just make sure to come back and let us know how things are going!

[JPP24]

Thanks for the replies and the input fellas. I figured that some of the bad stuff I listed on there would detract from my positives, but I definitely have matured and learned from just walking away from my internship. I'm definitely going to start applying to some PD's around here, i've heard that the application process can be long so I am also thinking about applying to become a volunteer probation officer in Orange County as they have a volunteer program there.

PS when filling out my initial application (not my BI form) do I list the grad school I went to as well? (I only went there for one quarter so I don't want to take credit and make it seem like it was some special accomplishment but also I don't want to omit it to make it seem like i'm hiding the fact that I had to withdraw). Thanks again fellas for your input. Anybody else with any information/opinions to add is welcome to do so also.

[Kimble]

PS when filling out my initial application (not my BI form) do I list the grad school I went to as well? (I only went there for one quarter so I don't want to take credit and make it seem like it was some special accomplishment but also I don't want to omit it to make it seem like i'm hiding the fact that I had to withdraw).

If it asks for it you put it, if it doesn't you don't. Don't over-think the application, but also don't intentionally withhold something it specifically asks you to make yourself look better (it will look worse when it's found out). My current agency just wanted names of schools I graduated from, others I've applied to wanted more, just depends.