Police Recruitment Criteria
Applying for a police department or other law enforcement agency, such as a sheriff department or state trooper, requires an extensive background check that expects an applicant to meet strict criteria. Those criteria vary depending on the agency; however, most will evaluate your criminal record, education, residency, driving history, job history, finances, family and health.
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Criminal History
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Police department applicants are required to have a clean criminal history. Most police departments will not accept applicants with any type of past criminal conviction, whether it be a misdemeanor or felony. Even if past convictions are expunged from a record, such as a in the case of many juvenile convictions, they must still be brought forward during a background check and will, most likely, still disqualify an applicant from the process. With most law enforcement agency, any type of past criminal conviction or involvement is most often considered an immediate disqualification.
Education
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Education beyond a high school diploma is not essential as an applicant. As part of the application process, applicants are, however, required to pass English exams that include reading, writing and grammar to demonstrate competency in future report writing skills. While education beyond high school is not often required as an applicant, it does give an applicant an advantage if he is in a position where there are numerous applicants and/or more applicants than positions available for hire. Most often, departments prefer applicants with an associate's degree or higher because it shows that the applicant values education and has taken steps to advance his career.
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Driving History
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Driving history is also examined in applicants. If an applicant has numerous moving traffic violations, parking citations and/or accidents, he will not be considered a good candidate. Safe, responsible driving, although often at high speeds, is a requirement amongst law enforcement officers, and a poor driving history is not acceptable.
Employment
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Throughout the background portion of the process, an applicant's job history will be thoroughly reviewed. Gaps in employment are looked at as negative and questionable since agencies will speculate as to what the applicant did to support himself during those times. Agencies will also investigate job attendance, evaluations, reasons for leaving jobs and number of jobs held in a period of time. An applicant with an erratic job history, one that shows not being able to maintain a job for long periods of time or one with numerous disciplinary violations will be disqualified from the application process.
Finances
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An applicant's financial history is also reviewed in the application process since this is a direct correlation with the applicant's maturity level. An applicant must have established and maintained a positive credit history with minimal late payments and negative strikes on his credit. If an applicant has recent judgements against him, such as bankruptcies or foreclosures, he will most often be denied and not considered for the position. After an applicant has repaired his credit history and several years have passed since judgements have been made against him, he may be able to reapply and demonstrate that he has re-established a positive credit history.
Family
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Along with looking into an applicant's employment, education and credit history, a police department will also investigate an applicant's family and acquaintances as part of the background process. An applicant must have maintained good relationships with family members and acquaintances, avoiding any type of domestic violence, abuse or neglect situations. He must also be up to date on any applicable alimony and/or child support payments. Since being a police officer is a demanding job, agencies also like to see that an applicant has the complete support of his family in becoming a police officer and passing the academy. Completing the police academy and the job itself requires a lot of time and dedication that a family must sacrifice, therefore, their input and opinion about the applicant's interest in the job is important.
Family
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Lastly, an applicant's health, both physical and mental, will be evaluated. In order to complete the rigorous academy, an applicant must be in top physical shape. He must demonstrate, through extensive physical assessment including blood, vision, urine, hearing and cardio tests, that he is in shape enough to meet the minimum health requirements of being a police officer. Police officers often have to pursue suspects on foot, climb walls, restrain suspects that are resisting arrest and be involved in physical struggles with suspects for, at times, long periods of time on the street. If an applicant is not in good health, he will not be able to defend himself or his partner while on the streets. In addition to physical health, an applicant's psychological health is also examined during the application process. An applicant is given a written psychological battery test, often consisting of thousands of questions that help determine his psychological state of mind. An applicant is then given an oral evaluation by a police psychologist to establish whether he is ready for the psychological demands of the job, including taking someone's life if it is deemed necessary.
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References
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