Can One Become a Police Officer With an Arrest Record?
Amid all the justifiable concerns raised about the inherent stresses of police work, one point is often overlooked: becoming a police officer is far more competitive than most private sector jobs. Beyond the minimum educational and physical qualifications, however, no requirement causes greater concern than the presumption that would-be enforcers of the law display a good moral character--in other words, no criminal record. The degree of resistance that applicants face depends on several factors, from the type of criminal offense on their record, to the political situation that affects the department they hope to join.
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Background
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Across the board, American police agencies insist that applicants seeking to hold others accountable start with a clean record. Applicants must face a battery of measures designed to weed out unsuitable candidates, including credit checks and polygraph examinations. In general, most departments advise that some leeway is possible for juvenile or misdemeanor offenses, but not felonies--which are an automatic bar to state and federal employment. As the author of "So You Want To Be A Cop" notes, even non-felony moving violations--such as reckless driving--can sink an applicant's chances.
History
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The standards accepted by most metropolitan American departments cannot be divorced from their origin. Training and standards differed widely until the 1920s, when a drive for greater professionalism--led by advocates like the FBI's director, J. Edgar Hoover--began to take hold during the Depression-era 1930s. The excesses of notoriously corrupt city departments like Hot Springs, Ark., or St. Paul, Minn., where detectives openly tipped off wanted criminals--and, in some cases, took their money--led to the adoption of civil service, which aimed to eliminate political patronage hiring.
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Geography
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Standards vary notably in other nations. According to www.bluelinejobs.co.uk, a site geared to United Kingdom applicants, "very minor criminal records" are no longer an automatic disqualification, though serious offenses remain grounds for rejection. Similarly, Denmark's police force does not consider applicants with criminal records. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, however, the chief constable has the last word on an applicant's job readiness, based on the applicable criteria for their respective agencies.
Warning
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Although the official discouragement of felonious police officers appears ironclad, the reality has proven different in cities run by political machines, or when qualified applicants were not forthcoming quickly enough. A Nashville, Tenn. TV station discovered more than 100 felons working as police officers throughout the state. Their offenses ranged from assault to possessing drugs and soliciting prostitutes. Nor is the problem unique to America. In March 2009, an investigation published in Scotsman.com found 170 felons carrying badges in the Edinburgh metropolitan area. Nearly half the departments that submitted information to the newspaper had not fired a single offender.
Potential
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Aberrations like the Tennessee experience aside, applicants looking to join American police agencies must expect their conduct to be held beyond reproach--whether on or off the job. Departments tend to be organized along tight-knit, conservative, military command lines, which naturally favors a personality that can fit within that framework, yet still pass the criminal background check--one that remains the gold standard, it appears, for keeping public confidence.
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References
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