Looking to become a cop in Tacoma, WA. Afraid past will hurt me too bad...

[Hersey33]

Hi,
I have wanted to become a cop my entire life. I dreamed about it as a kid and it has always been on my mind. Out of high school, I did what I thought would help me and joined the Marines. I got out with an Other Than Honorable Discharge. I than proceeded to spiral down a bit, I smoked alot of weed and even did some E. I was getting ready to take the tests and and everything and backed out because I am became scared. I do not have a criminal background and have never been in trouble with the law. I was wondering, are those things that I did in my past automatic disqualifiers from becoming a cop, or what. Thank you in advance to all that respond. I very much appreciate you taking the time to read and respond.

[gbotj]

I know alot of agencies say a dishonorable discharge is a disqualifier, but not sure if its automatic. For the drug use, they will ask you how many times and each type of drug used and the circumstances each drug was used.

[Hersey33]

thanks, it wasn't a dishonorable, so I don't know if that matters, meaning it wasn't a dishonorable, but it wasn't an honorable either. It was basically, a me being a dumb kid and making bad decisions. But thank you for your response.

[utmatt]

Extacy will be an automatic dq for many departments.

[Stugotz]

You're up against some major odds. The other than honorable discharge will be scrutinized. Recent drug use, especially E, is likely an automatic DQ. Even if it wasn't "recent" (relatively speaking), it's still major narco that you have to admit to. The BG investigator will surely ask you, "If, like you say, you've wanted to be a cop all your life, then why did you use drugs?" You have to see it from a liability standpoint...

I don't mean to discourage you. Just trying to give you an idea of what you're facing, based on my experience in the selection process.

Best of luck.

[will0861]

I can tell you that as soon as most departments hear you tried E, your application will stop there. For example, the Orange County Sheriff's Department will tell you flat out that they will never hire you. I think it's the same with Riverside, and most other departments out here. A friend and I tested with them, and he did E once, and that was it. They told him to have a nice day.

Also, the fact that you always wanted to be a Cop is great but doing hard drugs with that career in mind, and AFTER you served in the Corps does not look to highly on your character. After serving in the Corps you should know better. I would say that your chances are really slim, since you have made some really poor choices, and the background investigators are not interested in excuses why you did drugs, or received an other than honorable discharge.

I don't want to crush your dream, but I've applied to enough departments that I have a pretty good idea what they look for. Your best bet would be to be as squeaky clean as possible, and put a lot of time between you and the drug use.

[jcioccke]

+ Your best bet would be to be as squeaky clean as possible, and put a lot of time between you and the drug use.

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Go to college, and get a Bachelors Degree. Make sure you have a stable job history, volunteer your time, maintain a good credit score. This won't happen over night. If you truly want to be in LE take these steps now, and after5 years of volunteering, schooling, credit, and stable work history may open that door.

[WM40]

One thing you might try that would help distance you from the OTH and the drug use would be to see if you could come back to active or reserve duty in any of the services. Some services (Army) will consider people with an OTH on a case by case basis. It would give you an opportunity to clean up the OTH. The time served would also put distance between you and the drug use. You may be limited in what specialties you can go into, e.g., might not be eligible for Secret or TS clearance. If you go this route be honest about the drug use when you apply.

Also, my sense is that larger departments with greater hiring needs are more forgiving of drug use, even harder drugs, but you need to have something in the record that assures them you won't start doing it again while you're on the job. For instance, I read not long ago that Seattle and Denver PDs had hired people who have used marijuana many times and sometimes cocaine and even in one case heroin. The FBI even has a specific set of guidelines stating that you are not automatically DQ'd if you used marijuana less than 15 or 20 times in your life and it has been at least 5 years since the last time and you have not used anything harder than marijuana more than 5 times in your life and it has been at least 10 years since the last time.

You might still be limited because some departments just have little or no tolerance for any past drug use.

I think advice about college, job history and credit score is also valid. Another skill that is highly sought after is a second language. It might make you competitive enough for them to overlook the other issues.

Hope this helps.

[APDSgt]

I understand you are in WA. But, in Florida you could NOT be an officer. State certification guidelines require an Honorable Discharge from the military.

Even if a dept would overlook the drug issues, you could not be certified in Florida. There are probably similar laws in you state, and they are probably available online.

The drug use would also DQ you. "A lot of weed" alone is probably enough to DQ you. The use os "E" is an absolute disqualifier, no matter how few times or how long ago.

[just joe]

Your discharge and use of E will DQ you from just about everywhere. The idea about going back in so you can get an Honorable down the road is not a bad one. I would also suggest a college degree and a stable work history.

[Meat]

I worked for Tacoma PD for over 9 years and can tell you for a FACT that Ecstacy is an automatic DQ at TPD.

[gbotj]

"A OTH is the most severe form of administrative discharge. This type of discharge represents a serious departure from the conduct and performance expected of all military members. OTH discharges are typically given to service members convicted by a civilian court in which a sentence of confinement has been adjudged or in which the conduct leading to the conviction brings discredit upon the service. OTH discharges can be accepted in-lieu of court-martial proceedings at the service-member's request. Persons facing OTH are guaranteed, by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the right to have their discharge heard by an administrative discharge board, which is similar to a court-martial but is not a public forum.

Recipients of OTH discharges are barred from reenlisting into any component of the Armed Forces (including the reserves), and are normally barred from joining the Army and Air National Guard, except under rare circumstances which require exception-to-policy waivers. As of September 2006, all 50 states had policies barring the reenlistment of UOTHC discharge recipients.

In addition, the majority of veterans' benefits are not available to individuals who receive an other than honorable conditions discharge, including the Montgomery GI Bill and (in most cases) VA healthcare benefits."


That + "E" = Better chance of getting struck by lightning, and having the winning lotto ticket in your pocket.