Really important question regarding my background investigation...

[maverickraven]

Hey everyone, and thanks for reading this. I had a really important question regarding the background investigation process. Ever since I told my managers that I might be leaving because I was trying to become an officer, things have been getting progressively worse... But things really came to a head when I found my assistant manager having an affair with a co-worker. The short version of it is, I found some really incriminating letters they had written to each other, and he found out I had seen them. That was about three weeks ago, and since then, things have been really bad. He rejected my sick leave (which I actually needed because I have a pretty bad eye infection) and would give me problems all the time. Most recently, he called human resources on me, claiming that I was avoiding customers and job duties. It looked like I was going to get fired, so I admitted everything. I told the HR rep that I had told the manager of the store about the situation and that she had chose to do nothing (which was true) and that this has been going on for a while now and that no one has done anything about it out of fear. The girl who the assistant manager has been fooling around with has been getting all sorts of privileages and what not. My question is, and I'm sorry about the long winded explanation, should I tell this to my background investigator? I'm really afraid that my managers will say something to try to mess up my chances at becoming an officer. But I also know that this is a big case of drama that will make me look less desirable than perhaps another candidate... I have a cop friend that says I should just tell the investigator up front and that he will appreciate my honesty, but my cousin who is a cop for 30 years or more says to not mention it, and that should the managers say anything, I will have a chance to explain myself later. What should I do?

[knecht]

I would be honest about everything. I am not the best person to answer this, but that is my personal preference. Also, it sounds like you have a pretty interesting job :)

[maverickraven]

Lol, you seriously have no idea... interesting isn't even the word to describe it...

[Iceman33]

Hey man,
I'm being backgrounded too and my backround detective wanted the name and phone # of an ex-girlfriend :eek: who would assassinate me if she had the opportunity. :rolleyes: The background investigator assured me that she (and I would assume most other background detectives) will take her information with "a grain of salt" if they chose to speak with her as long as they knew what to expect ahead of time.

So, as mentioned above, be honest and I

[erikechris]

I have a background question too. Two things that I'm afraid will blow my chances with getting in. First.. a DUI (misdemeanor) 6 years ago. Second, about 6 months ago my wife's friend called the police on me because of a fight "she and I" had. My wife and I were NOT fighting. My wife got into the middle of our conflict by grabbing me and trying to pull me back, I jerked her off of me and she fell. She hurt her knee, and broke her tooth because she fell flat on her face. She was drunk! So was her friend. I was NOT. Here's the long story.. My wife and her friend were out and didnt get back in time to pick up her friends daughter from Cheer practice. I was at our home getting it ready to move out of. I was cleaning.. they were partying. My wife calls me and asks me to pick up her friends daughter from practice. Our house was 1 minute from the school. I hesitated, but agreed. I was not happy with the situation, but I'm not going to leave a little girl stranded at a school because her mom is irresponsible. So, I picked her and her friend up. I didnt know this, but her mom was responsible for "picking up her friend and taking her home". I just picked them both up and brought them to my house. About 30 minutes later a man pulled up and it was the friends dad. He was fumed! He shook my hand and said he appreciated me picking her up. He told me my wifes friend had promised to bring her home since he took the girls to practice. He went on to say this wasnt the first time and he was sick of it. He didnt even want to see that womans face. I told him I was sorry but I didnt know anything about taking her home. I was just asked to pick them up from the school. So.. I get a phone call from my wifes friend screaming at me. She was so heated I couldnt even understand her on the phone. They pulled up to our house. My wife stayed in the car. Her friend got out and started screaming about what a loser I was. She went to my neighbors house (which was where her daughter was). She started yelling at him telling him I was irresponsible.. bla bla bla. I walked over there and told her to talk to me. She started getting into my face .. cussing me out, and yelling at me. I told her what I thought of her drunken state and how irresponsible she was. The next thing I know someone was grabbing me from behind, pulling on me. I shook her off of me (I didnt even know it was my wife at the time). She fell and then started screaming. I realized it was her and felt awful. She was furious and told me to stay away from her. Her friend started hitting my neighbor in the chest. He told her to get off his property. She refused. She kept screaming at both of us. I really wish WE would have called the police at that point. SHE would have been arrested for sure! Anyway, I tried to talk to my wife but she wouldnt listen. She just cried. She was really drunk. So.. they left. I kept working. About three hours later the police showed up. My wifes friend had called the police and tried to convine my wife to tell them I abused her. My wife .. now sobering up... told the police it was not my fault, we were not even fighting. She told them she had instigated it and that I didnt even know it was her, nor did I intentionally push her. The police wrote up a report, took pictures of her tooth, and then came to my house to arrest me. We told them our side, but they still arrested me. I spent a two nights in jail. My wife was hysterical. She accused her friend of trying to break us up. Which she was. She was going through a divorce and didnt want my wife to be married so she could party with her. My wife wrote a letter to the judge telling him what really happened. She admitted to being drunk (they both had three Long Island Ice Tea's at a bar and then her friend drove about 90mph to get to our house). She told the judge in the letter that her friend was drunk while driving (with her child in the car), she also witnessed her hitting our neighbor. However, it never went anywhere. They told me if the DA wanted to prosecute then I would have a court date. I still have not heard anything. I just got a call from our local police as to a ride along. They said they would do a quick background before I could get one. They never mentioned the arrest. BUT.. I know it will come up. What will this do to my chances of getting in? I just want to know before I start this grueling process and I find out there is no way I will make it due to this crazy situation... PS.. my wife no longer associates with this drug addict, alcoholic, poor excuse for a mother :)

[reuters]

For the poster above...I would get a copy of the police report and read through it. You can try to tell the BI the information surrounding the events, but if the report says you pushed your wife and you were arrested, you might have some problems getting hired. It really doesn't matter if your wife was drunk, if the friend is a drug addict...etc...what the BI is going to be concerned about the most if your actions in the incident. The information leading up to the event is secondary. Anyways, get the police report, then talk to a recruiter. Also, 6 months is fairly recent, I imagine you would have a hard time getting hired at any agency. If it happened that recently, I would also hire an attorney.

For the original poster...I had a similar situation with my first background for my current civilian LE job. It wasn't nearly as bad as you mentioned, but there was some tension at work because I told the officer manager I was leaving. I told my BI and the hiring Lt., and they were very understanding about it and reassured me that if she claims I was a bad employee, they would take it with a grain of salt. If the problems at your current work is because of your desire to work in LE, most BI's will be very understanding, and will make a note of it in your file for future reference. Also, if your employer does try to mess up your chances, at least you have your bases covered if you tell the BI beforehand. I would tell your BI now...it shows that you have the initiative and honesty to do the right thing.